Day 158 - I think.... it's a house finch

I took all of one photograph today. Just one. And this is it.

I got home from work, looked back to our gravel drive just below the side porch and saw this brilliantly coloured little guy. He's actually a frequent visitor to our side drive but I can never seem to get him to stay put long enough for me to find the camera and get a decent shot of him. He's a bit of a nervous little fellow.

So today I changed tactics. I gave up trying to shoot over the railing but, instead, to shoot through it, using the railing as a sort of camouflage so as not to scare him. Of course, that put me at the mercy of the Olympus' auto-focus, which generally doesn't do well with objects between the camera and the subject. It tends to find the closest object, especially if it is anywhere near the centre of the frame.

That's why I'm so pleased with this shot. I somehow managed to get the autofocus to read past the slats in the railing and capture the bird. Of course, he's not quite centred but what can I do? You take the shot life gives you.

And then I had to work out what kind of a bird he is. House finches and purple finches can look so much alike. But I think, based on the shape of his head, the vibrancy of his colour and the fact that the colour is limited to his forehead and his chest, that this little guy is a house finch. And he's beautiful.