Back to Clearlake Part 2 (Back Up the Slough)

After checking out the Western Grebes we paddled about a mile up the slough. We spotted a lot of Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets. Green Herons leap frogged down the slough ahead of us as we went. It's pretty hard to get close to them. I have found over the years that the best approach is to slowly drift towards them and not hardly move at all. When I do move I try to keep my hands and arms close to my body and move very slowly. Florida photographers are probably laughing at this as they read it. When I photographed egrets down there I had them walk right up to me! Using the drift technique I was able to get pretty close to a Great blue Heron and watch it catch and eat a crayfish and a tadpole. When I tried to shift my kayak to a better vantage point it had enough of that and it took off. I spotted only one turtle on the trip and that was from quite a distance. It dove into the water before I was even two hundred feet from it. We had an absolutely marvelous time watching, listening and photographing the wildlife. It was great just enjoying the peace and quiet in the sunshine. Blessings to all, chris Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens,Bogen 3055 Ballhead with a custom camera support. Camera Settings- AV mode, ISO 400,F stop and a shutter speed varied. All photography was done from a Ultimate 14.5 Native Watercraft Kayak If you are interested in building a custom camera support for a canoe or a kayak please check out my blog on it at http://diyphotocheapodepot.blogspot.com/2011/04/kayak-camera-support.html My book "Secrets of Backyard Bird Photography is being shipped to bookstores this week for release on Sept.11th. That's pretty exciting. Look for it on Amazon and other fine book seller's. It will make a great gift for yourself or a photographer or a birder wanting to photograph birds in their backyard.

In the Shadow of the City

One of the crown jewels of the Los Angeles area is Bolsa Chica Wetlands in Huntington Beach. While not very big this area should be considered one of the best areas of LA for birdlife. This was only my second visit there and the weather wasn't great but it was still a marvelous place to photograph birds. Although I walked about 2/3rdsof the trails on the refuge my favorite spot was the pedestrian bridge next to the parking lot. While I enjoyed the trails I didn't like the fact that they were all raised on levees forcing you to shoot down on too much of an angle when photographing. The pedestrian bridge never lacked for activity and there were plenty of birds to photograph as they flew back and forth down the slough. I photographed there three mornings and all of them were foggy except for the last day when I had a window of about a half an hour of sunshine.I would love to photograph there during the prime time in winter! God's light and love to all, chris

Dusty Slides a Look Back in Time

Last night I was looking back at some old images on some dusty slides from a trip to Sanibel Island in Florida in 2004. I still think Florida bird photgraphers have got it made. You can walk right up to an egret. Lie on the ground next to it and make an image! Birds just don't let you do that here in Northern California. Alright, I guess I'll just have to admit it. I'm jealous. In any case we had a great time and I would love to go back sometime soon.We had an absolutely wonderful time collecting shells,swimming and skim boarding. There was a lot of amazing wildlife from gators to birds. A lot can happen in nine years.Back then I was still photographing using slide film and dabbling in digital with a P+S and my hair was still brown. God's light and love to all, chris