Rick's birds

 Rick has a much better camera than I do but has found it difficult to get it focused fast enough to capture birds. He spent a couple of his walks trying to improve this.

Chickadees are pretty fast so it can be difficult to get the bird in focus, rather than the branches, before it flits off.

Cedar Waxwings. Backlit so I had to lighten it up on the computer. I am assuming the right hand one is a fledgling.

In flight, even more difficult.

Then, sitting at The Edge, he was able to practice on a passing Eagle. I loaded the pics up on to my computer, lightened and added contrast. My computer wasn't happy with the process as the files were "raw", whatever that means??

I cropped, lightened and added contrast.

He also sent the raw files to his friend Steve who, with a much more sophisticated computer program, produced this.

 

The pine tree, down the bank, at the edge of the lake, is home to lots of birds and occasionally a hawk will sit on the top.

First time I have seen a Turkey Vulture there.

 I am still finding that I don't have as much energy as I would like and, as I am moving towards vegetarianism, Nicola suggested that I might not be getting enough protein. So this week I went to see a dietician. Well, the news is, its tough to get enough protein on a plant based diet. I am supposed to get 61gms per day. I have been nowhere near that.

I went to Bulk Barn to find some protein sources to add to my usual soy products, eggs, nuts, cheese and legumes. The pasta, in the picture, is the most protein rich with 36gm in a 100gm serving. But I was only able to eat half of that at a meal.

The dietician also pointed out that it is not just protein that I need to watch but also the omega 3s, amino acids and iron that meat and fish provide. However I don't plan on giving up seafood altogether and I already take an iron supplement. Its a work in process.