With yet another round of COVID-19 ripping through many countries it can be difficult to identify and celebrate thankful moments in our lives.

This article shares some handheld bird photographs captured on January 6, 2022 at LaSalle Park in Burlington Ontario. There is no specific theme with this article, other than to introduce what may be a series of Thankful Moments postings.

We’ve all grown tired of lockdowns and restrictions. It is important for each of us to find nuggets of joy in our lives and to celebrate them. So… the images in this article may not be the most innovative, or most creative… but they do represent the fact that I am still here. I’m still healthy. And, I can still get out with my camera to enjoy glimpses of nature.

Perhaps sharing these photographs may bring some joy, solace, inspiration, or some kind of enjoyment to you. During these challenging times that is sufficient reason to keep on creating postings for you folks.

From time to time I may post additional Thankful Moments articles like this one. Truth is there are simply many public indoor venues that are far too dangerous for me to visit at the present time. Life brings us whatever it brings us. It is up to us to make the best of each day.

All of the photographs in this article were captured handheld using an E-M1X fitted with an M.Zuiko 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 IS zoom and MC-14 teleconverter. I used Pro Capture L in combination with Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking for all of the photographs featured in this posting.

NOTE: Click on images to enlarge.

Thankful moments can be found with small common creatures, like this sparrow leaping on a tree branch.

I sometimes forget the regal demeanor exhibited by many birds. Observing swans in action can yield many thankful moments as we can see in the images that follow.

During my visit to LaSalle Park I also captured some Thankful Moments photographing some of the ducks and geese that were in the area.

My final two images in this Thankful Moments article were made possible by some incredible technology… specifically Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking and Pro Capture L.

I noticed a mallard that was being pretty aggressive with other ducks. I did my best trying to track with it using Pro Capture L as it swan rapidly about. Then the action exploded when it, and the duck it was pursuing, both launched into flight. The next two photographs were the first two from that image run.

I simply would never have been able to capture these final two images without Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking and Pro Capture L. Some of you may have read criticisms claiming that Bird Detection AI is ineffective… just ignore all of those comments. There is plenty of misinformation on the internet. Bird Detection AI Subject Tracking, along with Pro Capture L, are absolutely incredible technologies that expand what is possible with a camera.

If you’ve made it to the end of this article, then grab your camera and create something with it. Anything. That creative action is life affirming and can lead to Thankful Moments of your own making.

Technical Note:

Photographs were captured handheld using camera gear as noted in the EXIF data. Images were produced from RAW files using my standard process in post. Crops are indicated. This is the 1,114 article published on this website since its original inception in 2015.

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