cool birds & stuff

We went on a little family outing to the VINS Center the other day to go see the cool birds. The boys loved seeing the raptors, especially the bald eagles and peregrine falcon. I personally prefer the owls, they're a bit more cute and cuddly (though can also look pretty damn deadly/creepy). My favorite owl there is the snowy owl, who unfortunately spent our entire visit hiding right behind the fence so I wasn't able to get any decent pictures of her this time.

Also, I took the opportunity to break out our 70-300mm zoom lens. We bought it used from a friend a few years ago partially because it was a good deal, but haven't had many opportunities to use it other than a few trips to the zoo back in SF. I'm so used to my 35mm fixed lens that adjusting to such a narrow field of focus (not to mention the FIVE FOOT minimum focusing distance) was really, really weird. But, I got some cool shots.

Bald eagles, looking all patriotic and stuff. Also, those are some nasty looking claws.

 

Golden eagles

 

Eastern screech owl. Or, gremlin. Or furby. Take your pick.

 

Great grey owl, looking all cute and fuzzy.

 

One of the few decent shots I got of the peregrine falcon, which btw is the fastest animal on the planet (can go over 200mph when divebombing prey)