Snowy Day Backyard Birds

At the beginning of this week the snow came floating down. By the end of the storm we had just under six inches of snow on the ground. I set up a bird feeder and a perch about eight feet from our back bedroom window. Immediately after I filled the feeder the birds began coming in. Because it's winter I managed to capture all of the most common birds from our backyard. Dark Eyed Juncos, Chestnut Backed Chickadees, Red Breasted Nuthatches and Steller's Jays. I had a great session and the birds enjoyed the free food. God's love and blessings to all, chris All images were created with a Canon EOS 7D MkII camera with a Canon EOS 100-400 IS v.1 lens. Fill flash was provided by a Canon 550 EX flash.#TeamCanon

Pinks, Purples and Pastels

Lenore's Lilac is starting to bloom in the backyard. Yesterday afternoon and this morning I put it to use for some bird photography. It's a beautiful bush with a range of colors in the blossoms from pink to purple. I wanted to capture an image of a Chestnut Backed Chickadee but they were uncooperative so I settled for the Steller's Jays, Dark Eyed Juncos and a Red Breasted Nuthatch instead. There were very few clouds in the sky this morning so my time for photography was very limited before it got too bright. I hope that you had a blessed Easter, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM. The camera was on our bedroom window sill supported with a ground pod and a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 . Shutter speeds varied.

Those Cute Little Juncos

Today we got a little break from the rains. There were a few scattered showers but it didn't rain this afternoon giving me the opportunity to photograph some Dark Eyed Juncos for about a half an hour in the backyard. I set up a lichen covered branch next to the bird feeder for the birds to land on. It was pretty dark out with the clouds overhead so I was forced to use a pretty high ISO of 1600 with my lens wide open at F 5.6. With the shadowy forest in the background I came away with some pretty nice images. This one was my favorite. God's light and love to all, chris Image created with a Canon 7D on a Manfrotto 055XPROB tripod with a Bogen Heavy duty ballhead. I used a Canon 100-400 IS lens at 300mm. Camera settings used were Manual Mode, ISO 1600, F 5.6 at 1/500th of a sec. #TeamCanon

Delightful Morning

We awoke this morning to the sound of light rain. It was music to my ears! Not only were we getting some much needed rain but a light rain makes for pretty nice lighting conditions for doing bird photography. I headed out to the Burris Ranch in the Little Lake valley near Willits, Ca. where my photoblind is in the ranches garden. Pretty soon I'm going to have to move it to a new spot to make way for next summer's garden. After I restocked the bird feeders the birds started coming in at a pretty constant rate. There were Dark Eyed Juncos, House finches, Acorn Woodpeckers, Oak Titmice and Steller's Jays. Top dog of the feeder were the Acorn Woodpeckers. Pretty much everyone moved out of their way when they came to feed. The Steller's Jays were probably next down on the rung followed by the House Finches and then the Juncos. The Oak Titmice were just plain bold. They would sneak in and grab seed no matter who was at the feeder. Of course everyone scattered when the resident Red Shouldered Hawk would fly by! I created a lot of really beautiful images. Here are a selection of them for you to enjoy. God bless and have a great weekend, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD Lens. AV mode, ISO 800, F stops and shutter speeds varied. Camera was on a Manfrotto 190 PROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 ballhead.

Oh the Little Juncos!

Today the wind is blowing and the rain is coming down.It sounds like music to my ears on the roof! I think we will be staying put by the wood stove today. Plus my pick ups engine warning light came on yesterday on my drive home. Not a good sign. It looks like a visit to Cal's Garage is in the line up of activities for tomorrow. I pray it is something simple. This winter the most common species of bird has been remarkably absent from the feeders around my house. Dark Eyed Juncos have always been a familiar sight out in my yard but not this year. Last week when I was photographing Acorn Woodpeckers in my photoblind out at the ranch they were one of the more dominant species coming into the feeder. It was so good to see them again. Here are some images I grabbed off my desktop from then. They are such cute little guys! Enjoy and may God bless your Sunday, chris All of the junco images were created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens. Manfrotto 190 XPROb Tripod with a Bogen 3055 Ballhead. Camera settings used- AV mode, ISO 400,f 8.0 or 5.6. Shutter speed varied . #TeamCanon #Bringit

Backyard Birdies and a Squirrel

I spent a fruitful time waiting for the Mountain Quail to show up at my feeder yesterday afternoon. For several days last week they were showing up like clockwork right around three o'clock in the afternoon. I got into the photoblind shortly before two thirty and I waited. I think the quail must have moved to a new time zone because they never showed up. I was content to photograph Spotted Towhees and Dark Eyed Juncos along with a Douglas tree Squirrel that showed up as well. A good time was had by all. God's love and blessings to everyone, chris

My Little Junco

I'll admit it. I slept in today. My son Jay had some friends over late last night and I stayed up even later to talk to them. I haven't seen any of them as they have all been off to college.This afternoon I got productive and worked on a new set up for bird photography in the backyard. After it was completed I had to try it out to see how well it was working.There were very few birds around and I found out why when a Sharp Shin Hawk came ripping through narrowly missing snatching a Junco off of a perch.No wonder they were so skittish. I did manage a few images of the Dark Eyed Juncos. This one was my favorite. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Backyard Birds

Here are selection of bird images from this weeks backyard bird expeditions. There were quite a few Juncos as they are the most common bird in my backyard. God's love and blessings to all, chris Dark Eyed Juncos 1,3,4,5,9 Steller's Jay 2 Chestnut Backed Chickadee 7 Golden Crowned Sparrow 6,8,10

Splish Splash I was Takin' a Bath

Yesterday the weather outside was downright winter like. It drizzled off and on most of the day. This didn't stop the Juncos from diving right in to take baths. They would hop right onto their favorite rock in our garden pond. Look around a little bit and then get to splashing.They were a lot of fun to both watch and photograph. God's blessings to all, chris

The Usual Cast of Characters

Late this morning I sat in my photoblind waiting for some birds and squirrels to photograph. Perhaps there was a hawk or a predator nearby because I waited for well over an hour before the usual wintertime creatures came to the feeders to get seed. Once they started I had a parade of Dark Eyed Juncos,Douglas Tree Squirrels, Steller's Jays and Western Gray Squirrels coning into the feeders.

God's light and love to all,

chris