Cottle Lake Blues

Hi There,
Just came back today from another visit to Cottle Lake in Linley Valley. Lots going on there but a very challenging environment for photography. All of the birds there seem spooked about making a close appearance. In the past it has always been a real Tanager Town and home for the Black-Headed Grosbeaks. This year is no exception apart from the fact that you can't get within 150 feet of them. Lots of Tanagers in the alder trees and Grosbeaks singing from a distance but not one picture with any real clear composition. You can often hear Tanagers and Grosbeaks before you see them and the air is filled with song most of the time.
I must have spent close to three hours today in silence waiting for an opportunity for a photo with no luck. I may need to change my methods or try to find another location. It would seem that most of these neo-tropical birds each have their own personality. Two years ago at Neck Point I found a Tanager nest and was able to photograph the parents as they fed their young from about 20 to 30 feet away. The nest was right next to the path and only about 10 feet off of the ground. I didn't realize at the time that this was something very rare and not often repeated. Another time last summer that I managed to get close was when the immature Tanager was branching close to the ground. The male adult followed it in order to feed the chick and I was then able to get a couple of full frame shots. This was short lived as the chick kept changing branches every half an hour or so.
I will include a couple of pictures in this post that I got last week. I must appologize for these photos as they are not up to my usual standards. These are only suitable for display as small thumbnail images on the blog as they are quite a large crop. Certainly not the lighting or composition that I have been after the past few weeks. I'm not sure if these birds are different from the ones that I see there now but they came quite a bit closer than this week's visitors.
Until my next installment. Take care and happy birding,
Steve