I figured my lunch walk at work would be a better venue for trying out my new camera lens. The sun dallied in and out of the clouds, holding out the promise of good lighting. I headed for the youngest section of the forest where lots of birds hang about, attracted by the berries on invasive shrubs or the bird feeders stocked with seeds.

As predicted the birds were numerous. An American tree sparrow flew into the branches above me as I walked. White-throated sparrows and chickadees moved about in the brush. Unfortunately little birds are twitchy. They constantly move as they search for insects and berries or a turn at the feeder, needing lots of food energy to balance the heat which is quickly lost from their little bodies. I lifted my camera to catch a slower moving cardinal, only to discover that the seemingly clear view of him was in reality obstructed by a mass of little branches, all of which the automatic focus tried zero in on rather than on my bird. Sometimes it takes a computer to demonstrate all the complicated tasks our brains perform behind the scenes, like filtering out the irrelevant branches in order to picture the whole cardinal.

I took what pictures I could until the batteries suddenly died. As I stood there, recapping the camera, a red-shouldered hawk flew up into some trees a little ways from me. I put the camera away and pulled out my binoculars to admire the raptor. He or she flew away when I start walking again. Other animals also filter out irrelevant information from the environment. Unfortunately most are aware that humans need to be watched.