A photographer friend gave me a head's up on a great potential photo op: the appearance of a Snowy Owl at the Watch Hill Lighthouse. Since I was about to have to hand the Sigma 150-500mm supertelephoto back to its rightful owner, who'd graciously let me keep the beast for more than half a year, I thought I'd try using it along the shore for what might have been the last time. The light was failing—it was close to 4 pm when I arrived—I wasn't able to adequately hold the behemoth steady—my hands are not yet strong enough—and the Snowy Owl, a rare winter visitor from the tundra, wasn't making its presence known. I tried photographing sea ducks, but the results were pretty awful, given their non-stop movement in the waves and my inability to capture them at high enough speed. Sure wish the Sigma had come with a tripod collar! I was not, however, completely skunked. This "little brown bird," probably a Song Sparrow, was hanging out in enough light to be photographed reasonably well. He doesn't look particularly happy about a visit by a member of the natural history paparazzi corps, but I suspect the bird would enjoy the portrait.