Another Session With the Chickadees

This morning we awoke to light rain and it was cold. I spent a few hours in the backyard photo blind with the chickadees and squirrels. They were really active due to the incoming storm. I guess they wanted to get as much food as possible before the heavy rain starts. I'm looking forward to photographing some other species of birds later in spring when it warms up a bit.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Mt. San Hedrin

This afternoon Lenore and I drove up to the top of one of the little hills on the south end of Willits in the Little Lake Valley. I wanted to create a panorama of Mt. San Hedrin in the Mendocino Range. Mt. San Hedrin is named after the supreme council of the ancient Hebrews. The peak is 6,186 feet above sea level. It is often covered in snow through out the winter months. Later on when we got home there was the most incredible sunset with all the snow on the mountains turning pink.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

It's Melting

One of the joys of living where it doesn't snow too much is that I get to enjoy the snow and I rarely have to shovel it. Snow falls and usually in a few days or so it all melts off. This morning I went for a drive to see if I could find some elk out in the Sherwood Valley . The valley is really beautiful and it hard to imagine that it once was home to a decent sized town and a sawmill. All that remains is one home on the far west end of the valley. I searched for the elk and didn't find any. Most of the elk have moved off into the Spring valley Ranch. So I took an image of the big red barn on the ranch from a distance. I also found a few rabbit tracks and weeds covered in frost. On the return home up the ridge I discovered a doe and a yearling Blacktail Deer in one of their usual haunts. It was a beautiful morning out in the melting snow.

God's precious light and love to all,

chris

Snow Falling in the Redwoods

This morning we awoke to about six inches of snow and the snow is starting to fall again this evening. It made for some beautiful scenics. Especially on the mountains to the east of us. Jay, Annika and friends had an awesome time extreme sledding. The power went out but we are warm and snug with our woodstove and propane stove.

God's blessings and love to all,

chris

Another Gift From the Woodpile

I got another surprise today when I was collecting wood from the woodpile. Right next to my hand when I was pulling out a piece of wood was a set of pink jaws. My first impulse obviously was to pull my hand away. There curled up in a ball was a ferocious Northern Alligator Lizard. It was barely moving from the cold and didn't like being woken up from its winter nap one bit. I took it over to our deck rail on a piece of wood as it slowly awoke . Then I took a few images of it before I put it into a section of the woodpile we won't be using for awhile. It's truly amazing what they do to survive the winter.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Playing With the Birds Again

This morning found me again photographing the birds in my backyard. I was getting ready for the snow in the forecast and I wanted my feeders set up perfectly and my blind in position for when it comes. I was able to get some really good Steller Jay and Chestnut Backed Chickadee images from todays session. No decent squirrel images at all. All the critters were really jittery and nervous today. I think the falling barometer really affects their behavior.

God's blessings and love to all,

chris

Everything in the Kitchen Sink

I love to use textures in some of my photography. Because of that I have a large collection of just texture images that I have photographed over the years. Today it was cold and windy out so I wandered into the kitchen looking for something to photograph. Actually I ready had the copper scrubber in mind I just managed to find a few more things in and around the kitchen sink while I was at it. When I was done I applied a few of the textures to some images in my files.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Backyard Birdies

These are the last of the backyard birds from the past few days of snow.
God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Just Squirrels (Sciurus griseus)

I spent several hours today editing images on the computer. Sometimes I miss editing slides from before digital. I found quite a few Western Gray Squirrel images that I liked.They are such an inquisitive species and lucky for me they just love the raw peanuts I put out in my feeders. I had a lot of fun photographing them off and on over the last two days.

God's love and blessing to all,

chris

Friday Morning Mix

Beautiful sunrise this morning over the melting snow. Lance couldn't wait to get outside and romp around in it. Labs just love snow and water. After dropping Annika off at school I sat in the blind for over an hour. There was a lot of activity from the local population of critters. Next I sat at the computer for hours editing images and even then I didn't finish. Some will have to wait for tomorrow..

God's blessings to all,

chris