As you have probably figured out by now if you read this blog much, I have a lot of little song birds that frequent my feeding stations. Most of these little birds are very fast and can turn and twist on a dime. These skills allow them to escape predators and quickly flee dangerous situations. It also makes them very interesting to watch, but difficult to photograph. Understanding their usual behavior helps a lot, but they don’t always do what you expect. When I first started trying to photograph birds in flight, I started with larger birds such as herons, egrets, spoonbills, and cranes. I have been slowly practicing with smaller and speedier birds. It’s still something I’m working on, and who better to practice with than the ones I see each day. This cute tufted titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) was flying in towards a perch, when it suddenly decided to bank sharply to the left and turn abruptly. I was shooting its flight in burst mode, and was lucky enough to capture the turn. After the unexpected turn, though, I lost the bird in my viewer, and the next several shots were of literally empty air. The wings are not quite as well in focus as I would have liked, either, but when I saw it on the computer screen, I rather liked the feeling of speed and action that it gives the image. This is definitely a learning curve, but I’m really enjoying it and most days I have no lack of subjects, so I will most definitely keep at it.