Trip Report: Blind #1 SNWR

Yesterday my friend Joe and I spent an awesome morning photographing out of one of the photography blinds at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. We arrived at the refuge well before sunrise because one of the requirements to use the blind is that you must be in the blind an hour before sunrise. While wading out to the blind I got a ways ahead of Joe and I stepped toward the side of the gravel path to wait for him. That was a big mistake becauese my right foot sunk into two feet of mud and I couldn't pull out my foot. I stood there stuck in the dark and waited for Joe to give me a hand. My foot came loose with a tug from Joe leaving my water sandal buried in the muck. There was no way I was even going to attempt to try and pull it out with the risk of my camera gear getting wet. I thunked along with one sandal to the blind.




After getting set up in the blind we sat and waited in the blind for the waterfowl to come. I commented to Joe that the blind must be afflicted with the plague as the ducks and geese were landing in our pond and not having a thing to do with our blind. They would swim up close to our resting logs and then turn and swim the other way. Finally around six forty five some birds showed up and landed. Blackbirds! They stayed around awhile and then the coots arrived. Later on some pintails finally arrived on Joe's side of the blind. They were really skittish and looked up every time you released the cameras shutter.


Later on there were several big lift offs around the refuge and the Snow geese and Greater White Fronted Geese began moving in around our blind util it got rather crowded and hard to photograph single birds. but only a few pintails and coots would use the resting logs. the geese all stayed out about fifty or sixty feet away. they did not like our blind!









Around ten thirty I gave up on photographing sitting waterfowl and focused on geese landing from some of the lift offs. I created some really nice flight images this way.










When we left the blind I figured the all the geese on the pond were going to lift off in one big burst of wings. I was amazed to see that only about a quarter of the geese lifted off and then it was in small waves outward from the blind. We trekked homeward and I have spent hours and hours editing images from the trip. I'm already looking forward to February when we go again.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Trip Report: Albion River Seals and Other Critters

Yesterday I made a short journey up the Albion River in Northen California. The Albion is about an hours drive from where I live. As the crow flies it is only about twenty- five miles or so away. The terrain and some evil road planner make it a beautiful winding drive through the redwoods.

The lower portion of the Albion is a long tidal estuary that stretches inland into the Redwood forest for about six twisting miles. If you plan on paddling it you have to plan for the tides and the onshore breeze (er wind). Luckily for me I timed my trip to catch the ingoing tide and was easily able to paddle along with the current.

Right after I put in I was able to start photographing some of the seals that hunt this part of the river. My favorite was a white Harbor Seal that wrapped itself in Eel Grass and was snoozing away with the grass all over its head. Further along I found a seal that I nicknamed Mr. Ugly. He was really dark in color and had an unfriendly look about him. Can seals look unfriendly? They both just watched me curiously as I kept my distance and floated up the river.






I spotted quite a few shorebirds along the way as well as a few egrets and Great Blue Herons and the usual Cormorants. As I traveled along the were lots of old pilings left over from the temporary dams and wharves that used to be in this area from when they logged it for the redwoods and other timber.





Near an old mill pond there were several really neat floating cottages that people have built to live in. The mill pond’s dam was breached during a storm many years ago. When I paddled in through the opening a mixed flock of several hundred Pintails and Widgeon lifted off the pond in a roar of wings and circled several times before flying off.







The return trip up the river was uneventful until about the last quarter mile when I hit the onshore breeze coming up the river from the ocean. My progress slowed and I took the time to photograph a few more seals. There were two that had hauled out onto a mudbank that were really photogenic.










It was a great trip and I plan on coming back. This time to hopefully photograph some river otters.

God bless,

chris

If you plan on going. The Albion river mouth is right on the California coast at Highway 1 roughly 18 miles south of the town of Ft. Bragg. It is approximately a three and a half hour drive north of San Francsico.There is a five dollar fee to launch your kayak payable at the marina. For dinner The Albion River Restaurant is about a 1/4 mile north on Highway 1. On the pricey side but excellent dining.

For equipment I use a Native Watercraft Ultimate 14.5 Kayak. it is the most stable Kayak I have ever photographed from. I use a custom camera mount to hold my camera and it can be seen here.
http://diyphotocheapodepot.blogspot.com/2011/04/kayak-camera-support.html

Camera wise I use a Canon50D with a 100-400 IS lens mounted on it.