I went tried to go birding last weekend. The west Texas heat was so oppressive, and the bird activity so abysmal, that I quickly turned my focus to photographing butterflies, dragonflies, and some other cool stuff.

I’m just now getting around to putting the pictures up. There are some really nice ones, like this guy — a Roseate Skimmer (Orthemis ferrugineas).

Roseate Skimmer — Orthemis ferrugineas

In addition to the insects, I also managed to get several nice shots of a really cool reptile, and several of birds. So be to check out the whole album.

Several readers have emailed me to ask, “What’s going on? Why no posts?” While I’ve been a little busy, the truth is, I’ve gotten something which gives blogging a little competition for my loyalty.

This is a Canon EOS 30D digital SLR with Canon’s EF 100-400mm f4.5/5.6 telephoto lens (for those that care about the equipment). For those that don’t, let’s just explain it this way. It’s a camera that can take pictures really fast (5 shots a second) and makes things big with the lens.

It can produce pictures like this…

Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus)

I’ve put up some of my initial shots in the gallery for your enjoyment. With the new camera, you can expect to see more wildlife shots, especially of birds. I’ve also increased the size of the pictures in the gallery, to better showcase my work*.

These initial shots are just that — initial. I’m still trying to learn a lot about photography with a camera such as this, and expect that my pictures will only get better as I become more comfortable and experienced with the camera.

Also, real blogging will resume shortly… Thanks for your patience in allowing me to take this break.