One of these mornings I’m going to get myself back over to the vernal pools at Phoenix Park to visit the birds — and hopefully spend more than 45 minutes, which was all I had on my last trip. Even in that small amount of time, I saw Crows, Ravens, Canada Geese, Goldfinches, Black Phoebes, and a handful of Killdeer.

It was actually a bit ironic that the normally elusive Killdeer provided me with some much-needed satisfaction while I was trying and failing to capture the Black Phoebe. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t manage to keep my camera focused on those beautiful little flycatchers swooping repeatedly across the surface of the water. Meanwhile, the waders were content to eye me from the farther shore and let me snap to my heart’s content as they foraged — just as long as I kept my distance!