Lately I’m really enjoying using my Sigma 150-600mm zoom lens to zero in on the local birds. It’s become a bit of a personal challenge to shoot as many different types as possible, especially those I never realized were all around me. But even when that fails, it can still be fun to capture familiar birds like Acorn woodpeckers or Scrub jays doing their normal bird stuff, interacting with other birds, or just sitting with the sunlight falling on them at the perfect angle. I shot these pictures during the past week in my yard, in the woodlands around Lake Natoma, and out at Folsom Lake.

Scrub jay in the late afternoon sun

Windblown

A pair of Tree swallows near Horseshoe Bar

I think this big-eyed bird is a Cassin’s vireo

California towhee

White-breasted nuthatch near its nesting hole in the tree

Acorn woodpecker rearranging the kitchen cupboards