Fabulous Finch

I had a great time photographing the finches yesterday out in the little Lake valley of Northern California. What a gorgeous day! I had a long wait sitting, waiting for the birds in my photoblind. Once they started coming in the action was non stop. My eye was glued to the view finder and my fingers were kept busy composing and clicking the shutter. There were both Lesser Goldfinches and House Finches. It was really interesting to watch the hierarchy of who go to use the feeders first. Control of the feeders went first to the female House Finches followed by the males. Next came the female Goldfinches with the male Goldfinches being last. Those poor males rarely got a chance at the feeders. Today I am posting my favorite finch image from the morning. I had to have Lenore help me decide. Between the two of us we narrowed to three images and my favorite was among the three. Enjoy the image and God bless, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM at 400mm on a Manfrotto 190XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 Heavy Duty Ballhead. My camera settings were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/2000 of a sec.#TeamCanon

Loving That Over the Shoulder Look

This morning Lenore and I were both up early. We had one of our cars serviced yesterday so we rode down together this morning to pick one of the vehicles up. I thought it would be a great opportunity to do some bird photography out in the Little Lake Valley on the ranch. When I arrived at the ranch the first thing I noticed was that all of the bird feeders were empty save one and it had four birds crowded around it with just a little bit of seed left. So the first job was to restock all of bird feeders. When I was done filling the feeders there wasn't a bird to be seen. I sat in the blind and waited and waited. All the while the good light was disappearing fast. I was almost to the point of nodding off when the birds started coming in. It started with a trickle and soon they were competing for spots at the feeder. Away from the feeder I spotted a White Breasted Nuthatch on the edge of a mossy log. I immediately swung the lens over to it. It caught the motion of the lens and looked back towards the blind over its shoulder. I was able to squeeze in two quick frames before it was gone in a flash. It ended up being my favorite image of the morning. I love that over the shoulder look. It really shows off a birds plumage. May you have a great evening. God bless, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM at 320mm on a Manfrotto 190XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 Heavy Duty Ballhead. My camera settings were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/2500 of a sec.#TeamCanon

Yummy Berries

The birds and squirrels have been enjoying the Pyracantha berries I have been putting up for them. On Saturday I wanted to capture one of the Hermit Thrushes I have seen coming and going. I have only seen them in early morning and rarely after that so I knew I had to get out there early. Some of you know from my last posting I was up and at'em before the sunrise. It was lucky that I was up early because I only got two chances to photograph the Thrush as it came and went. It sat off to the side and then suddenly it would dart in and grab a berry gobble it up before it took off. On the first try I captured it just after it had swallowed the berry. On the second try I got it with the berry in its beak and I was happy. Both images were captured with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM lens.Enjoy your day and God's blessings to you, chris