One of the Clean Up Crew

This afternoon I went out to my photoblind in the Little Lake valley to restock the bird feeders and put in a little bit of bird photography. I haven't been out there in close to two weeks! On the drive out there I was really surprised to see a whole "kettle" of Turkey Vultures all lined up down a fence line going out into the valley. There were a bakers dozen of them just sitting there. I squeezed slowly onto the almost non existent shoulder. I checked my mirrors for approaching traffic and made a couple of images of the closest one hand held out the passenger window. Such a nice image of one of natures clean up crew. Turkey Vultures are natures way of disposing of all of the dead animals. They are a much needed species. God's light and love to all, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600 lens at 428mm handheld. AV Mode,ISO 800,F6.3 at 1/200th of a sec.

Clearlake Part 1

This last Thursday I went over to Clearlake to do some kayak photography and meet some friends for lunch that were camping at Clearlake State Park. Photographing there is always a treat because there is an abundance of bird life. Having a great lunch with friends was an added bonus.(Thanks guys) I got there just a little past sunrise to catch some of the best light. Right after leaving the boat ramp I paddled across Kelsey Creek and photographed a Great Egret. The weather was beautiful with a mix of clouds and sun. Ducks and vultures were flying overhead. The lake was extremely low due to the drought. It is down about ten feet or so. As such many of the birds that are normally hidden way back in the tules are along the edges. I spotted several Virginia Rails and I was able to photograph one of them for some time. It is rare to catch one fully out in the open. My best find was watching a Great Blue Heron catch and eat a Hitch fish. I have it below from start to finish. I'll post some more from Clearlake on Monday. I have a shorter sequence of a great Egret eating a minnow.Such a wonderful place to appreciate God's creation. chris All images created with an EOS Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens from a Native Watercraft Ultimate 14.5 Kayak using a custom made camera support and a Bogen 3055 ballhead. The scenic images were created with a Canon 10-22 wide angle lens.

Interesting and Weird Facts About Turkey Vultures to Know and Forget

Turkey Vultures “Cathertes Aura” is Latin for cleansing breeze. They are also known as Turkey Buzzards and in the Caribbean they are called John Crows. They are found from southern Canada all through the continental US to the tip of South America. During fall they migrate to the western and southern coast of the US and down into South America. When they migrate they form large swirling flocks called kettles.They are one of the few birds that have a sense of smell. In fact they have the largest known olfactory system of any bird which they use to locate their favorite food carrion or dead animals. When they are sitting in a group in a tree above a dead animal the group of birds is called a wake. One other unusual physical feature about them is that they don’t have a voice box. This limits them to hissing a a screeching sort of grunt as they can’t sing. They will often make such a noise when alarmed and taking flight. If cornered Turkey Vultures will vomit on their attacker. Even baby vultures will do this when startled. Because vultures feed on dead carrion they lack feathers on the head and feet. This limits the time needed for preening and prevents bacterial growth. It also gives them the red headed appearance that remind people of them resembling a turkey. Hence the name “Turkey Vulture”. One of the more bizarre facts about them is that they can’t sweat. As a result of this they will sometimes pee on their legs in the summer heat to cool down! This process is called urohydrosis. That’s pretty wild and stinky as well! They are also one of the few birds that has a rather large wing to weight body ratio. Their wings are very large for their body allowing themselves to gorge on food when they find it and still be able to fly. Because of this when they haven’t eaten in awhile their wings have too much lift. So to keep from rising they tip back and forth as they are flying to lose lift from their wings. The last fact that I will leave you with is that when they dry their wings in the sun with their wings spread out it is called a horaltic pose. I'm sure that is a lot more than you will ever need to know about Turkey Vultures. God bless, chris Images created with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens

I Wish Someone Else Had a Camera

This is photblog #2 for today. But I had such a good time I had to post it. This morning I motored on out to the Burris Ranch in the Little Lake Valley to restock my bird feeders. Just before I turned into the ranch I noticed something in the road ahead. "What in the world is that?" I thought to myself. As I got closer I realized it was five Turkey vultures gathered around a dead raccoon. After restocking the bird feeders I went back to my to pick up and grabbed my camera. I figured I would make a slow approach through the pasture close enough to get some nice close up images of the vultures. As I picked my way downhill I observed that I had gathered an entourage of three horses. I would walk slowly and the stop, at which point one of the horses would move forward and nudge me in the back. I kept telling them to go away but they doggedly kept following me. Once I stopped and turned around and they flared. Not a good idea because all of the vultures flew off except one. Begrudgingly I accepting my observers as I carefully made my way to the fence at the edge of the road and braced my camera against a convenient fence post for support. Every time I would lean forward to look into the viewfinder to take an image I had three horse breathing on my neck and nudging me in the back.It was pretty humorous. I really wish there had been someone there to photograph the horses with me. I hope you are having a glorious weekend with lot's of joy and laughter. God's blessings to you, chris

That's a Fine Kettle O' Vultures

This morning I was quite the busy boy. I worked out,did the recycling, photographed some birds and had lunch with Lenore. All in a mornings work! I went out to the Burris Ranch because I wanted to photograph some birds on a mossy rock. The only birds that came in were Dark Eyed Juncos. It's that season of the year where I'm only getting to see just the local birds as other birds are or have already migrated southward. After getting out of the photoblind a kettle of Turkey Vultures (yes that is what a group of turkey Vultures is called) began forming in the thermals above the pasture next to my blind. I stayed and watched them for about fifteen minutes. A couple of times they broke off into separate groups but then they came back together again. At one point I counted just over forty vultures. I couldn't get the whole kettle in as I had my telephoto lens on.All in all a very nice morning. God's love and blessings to all chris

Birds

I spent three days last week photographing birds out at the Burris Ranch.

Here are a few of my favorites from those three sessions. It was some of the best bird photography I had had in awhile. God's love and blessings to everyone, chris

Morning Mix

This morning started off early with photographing the fog around St. Francis Castle. Actually a tall flat topped Redwood Tree that reminds me of a castle. This was followed by a short workout at the gym. A quick breakfast with Lenore and then I went out and set up a couple of bird feeders on the Burris Ranch for some photography later this year. On the drive home I found some vultures drying their wings along a fence line that looked really cool. On the final turn towards home I found the ever present Wild Turkeys feeding beside the road. A great way to start my day.

God's blessings to all,

chris

Days in the Making

Some wildlife images are just pure serendipity. You are walking or driving along and you just happen to find some bird or animal. Usually though it's not pure serendipity as you were looking in places you would expect to find deer or wolves or what ever animal you were searching for. You did your homework and were searching in habitat and at a time where you could expect that form of wildlife to be there.

Many wildlife images however are the result of a bit more planning and hard work. They involve not only finding the proper habitat and time but involve setting up a photography blind. Then a lot of patience and hours sitting in the blind waiting. For the viewers of wildlife images it doesn't matter. What they see in both cases is the end result. They don't see what went into the creation of the image.

The simple vulture images shown in todays blog are of the latter type. I found a dead raccoon and set up my blind nearby. It took several days before the vultures started feeding on the carcass. This morning I went into the blind and waited. Finally after about forty five minutes one lone vulture came in and started feeding. The lighting was very low so I had to wait for times when the vuulture would look up and not be moving for a fraction of a second while I pressed the shutter release.

A special note about Turkey Vultures is that they find their food by both sight and smell.

God's precious light and love to all,

chris