New camera and other things

Recently, we got a new camera since the old family camera was failing after taking thousands of pictures. The new one has 20X zoom, which is really nice because I like to take pictures of wildlife.
A blossom on one of our berry bushes.


A curlew who was being photogenic, even if it was rather hard to spot.


Blue wing teals. For some reason, the bird book says they're shy but they're not as wild as some other duck species in the area. (Perhaps less people hunt them?)


It works well for taking pictures of the moon too. I got this one when I went to let the chickens out a little before dawn.


On another note, I've been letting my chickens out at dawn, which seems to have helped increase egg production. I've read some things that say not to let hens out until they're done laying since they could lay outside, but from what I've seen, chickens seem to eat less feed and lay better if they're allowed out early. I think the benefits are greater than the risks, even if I got some surprise chicks last year for the first time. Here's some pictures of the hen and her chicks that I never got around to posting.


Since I hatched some chicks late last year, I haven't hatched any this year.


Here's another picture taken shortly before we got the new camera.


And now for a little cartoon I drew.
The real reason aliens abduct cattle.


Jessi