![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/sandhill-crane-9634d-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"sandhill-crane-9634d-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nAn update on two fronts.<\/p>\n
It’s been four days since I posted to my blog which is unusual for me, even given my fairly recent back surgery. So I decided it was past time to bring my readers up to date on a couple of things.<\/p>\n
Persistent and appalling shooting conditions (weather) for photography is the primary reason I haven’t been posting. I’ve been staying home instead of going shooting, resulting in a lack of recent decent photos. And I don’t like to post too many old photos or rerun too many older posts. When March rolls around, as it already has, our weather typically gets better and so do bird prospects so I hope to get back to some semblance of my usual posting routine very soon.<\/p>\n
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As long as I’m bringing folks up to date I’ll take the opportunity to inform readers of my recent and significant medical milestone. As of yesterday at 8 AM, for the first time in about seven months, I don’t have another doctor, physical therapy or MRI appointment looming in front of me. Yesterday my surgeon told me another appointment wasn’t necessary and I can do my PT at home without having to see a therapist again. Those damn medical appointments have screwed up more good-weather shooting mornings than you can shake a tripod at.<\/p>\n
My recovery from this third back surgery has been agonizingly slow but the positive trend has finally picked up noticeably. Full recovery could take as long as a year after my surgery date (September 26) but at this point I’m mostly pain free (unless I push it too hard and too fast, which I’m prone to do) and my life has been getting back to something similar to “normal”. I still have setbacks so the upward curve isn’t a steady one but the overall trend is decidedly positive.<\/p>\n
With spring on our doorstep the timing couldn’t be better. For the last week or so as I drift off to sleep I’ve been having visions of spring birds in my viewfinder. Last night it was…<\/p>\n
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1\/1000, f\/8, ISO 500, Canon 7D,<\/em>\u00a0Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/p>\n mated Sandhill Cranes calling to each other in flight. One night it was Sage Grouse performing on their lek and another time it was mating Red-tailed Hawks in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n