So after the disappointment at Montezuma on Friday, I ignored the GPS directions and drove south along the shore of Cayuga Lake to Ithaca.  I’ve been there enough over the past 6 years that I’ve come to know Ithaca pretty well, at least the area around the downtown and parks.  One of the first places I found when I started going up there was the Ithaca Bakery – if you’re ever in town, stop by for lunch, or dessert, or even just coffee.  Very cool place, kinda’ hippie-ish, but awesome food.  I grabbed lunch there before heading up to Sapsucker Woods.

This was just one of those days where my luck didn’t thrive.  I didn’t get skunked-out, but I didn’t have any Moose Peterson moments, either.  Came home with five shots from Sapsucker that were worth keeping, including this one above, where the Great Blue Herons are clearly venturing out of the nest.  I imagine that in another few days they’ll start testing their wings.Part of my dim success was my own fault – noon on a 85 degree day is not the ideal time to be out chasing birds.  Most of them have the sense to hunker down until evening comes around.  But at the very least, I got in nice bit of hiking on good trails, a little extra sun on my skin.

I try to keep aware of all my photographic options when I’m out – I may be chasing birds, but if the opportunity for another critter, or a spectacular sunset, or a lovely landscape comes along, I try to we open to them.  Unfortunately, I tend to get a bit of tunnel-vision.  So in that sense at least, a day without much luck with the birds at least forced me to pay more attention to other things.  Such as this Bullfrog sitting in the duck weed.  Think shooting frogs is easy, go give it a try sometime.  The buggers feel the slightest vibration as you approach, and they’re gone!

I’ll admit, I’m a bit of a sucker for water lilies, too.  Flower shots are all too often static and boring, and this one may be, too.  But I love the pure white of the petals, and especially the few small drops of water on this one.  Take this as food for thought – next time you’re out, try aiming the telephoto at different subjects than usual, and apply it’s abilities in new ways.

Here’s a last bird to close with – this is a juvenile Robbin, which I found on the trail.  I don’t think he had the hang of the whole flying thing yet, since each time I took a step closer, he’d hop away down the path.