For years, I sent my bird-photographer friends photos, and they sent me photos. Then I retired, and started going out there every day...and thus sending them pix every day...some said rather than do that, I should get a Flickr site...then they could see my pix in one place, and wouldn't have to store and keep track of them, and get deluged with daily emails...and I wouldn't have to remember which pix I sent to whom...so this site was created for my friends (hence the sometimes lengthy conversations)...all are welcome, of course...but I am not an artist, and I worked hand-held, and my most frequently used tele was Nikon's 300mm f/4D, which doesn't have a stabilizer...so if you're looking for superb photos, there certainly are many on Flickr...just not here...check my Faves bin for some good places to start...

My thoughts on gear: I couldn't afford a $12,000 lens or a $6000 camera body (or a $1000 tripod, for that matter)...but I also fully realize that doesn't matter...if the many terrific high-end gear photographers here used my gear, they would get better photos than I do with it...not as good as with their own gear, but still very good...and if I used their gear, my photos would be sharper than when I shoot with my own gear...but otherwise no better...it's the photographer, not the gear...I very much enjoy seeing great photos (and "meeting" new photographers) here...I have no problem with the fact that many of the photos in my Faves bin are far better than any of my own!

My own photos here are from around 2000 to 2020...I haven't been able to go out shooting since early January 2021 due to health issues, and all my shooting before 2002 was on film (the few 2000 and 2001 photos here were shot on film and scanned with home scanner....wish I'd scanned my slides of the male Red-crested Pochard I saw at Sepulveda wildlife lake in 1995...obviously an escape from a collection so wouldn't "count," but a very pretty duck)...

"Sepulveda" or "Sepulveda Basin" referred to in many of my captions is in the San Fernando Valley, in Los Angeles County, California...consists of wildlife lake/Sepulveda Basin Wildlife Reserve, cricket fields, "raptor field," recreational Lake Balboa and a segment of L.A. River near Sepulveda Dam...my favorite hangout for many years...