Simple Rainy Day

We really need the rain and the good Lord has been sending it. There has been one storm front after another coming roughly one every twenty four hours. This morning was no different as we awoke to the sound of the rain drumming on the roof. The perfect day to sit by the woodstove and read a book. The need for food eventually drove me out of the house. I haven't been grocery shopping for quite awhile and we needed food. I grabbed my camera as I headed out the door thinking that there must be something to photograph along the way. Sure enough on my drive down I spotted a pair of Red Shouldered Hawks near the Brooktrails Lodge. They were on a wire and I could only photograph one at a time. So here is one of them. Once in town I noticed a guy with a red umbrella. I couldn't miss out on the the iconic image of a guy with a red umbrella could I? After shopping for groceries I stopped to buy gas. As I was filling up two Ravens began to raid the garbage can right behind the gas pump I was using. I slowly grabbed my camera out of the car. One of the Ravens wasn't having any of that and it took off. The other one stayed behind long enough for me to get some nice portraits. Once I arrived home I worked on putting a window blind up in the back bedroom of our house. From the bedroom I managed to get one Chestnut Backed Chickadee image from the backyard while staying warm and dry as the rains came pouring down. God's light and love to all, chris #TeamCanon

Outsmarting the Raven

Yesterday afternoon I spent some time in the backyard photoblind. My goal was to try and get images of some of the Band-tailed Pigeons that have started stopping by. I photographed some Juncos and then the Band-tails started dropping in. I wasn't in the blind much longer when I heard a Raven calling from the trees overhead. The Ravens where I live are extremely camera shy. I'm not sure why? A fellow photographer a couple miles down the ridge from me is on a friendly basis with them. Even my next door neighbor has a Raven that visits her regularly. With me they flee on sight. As soon as I heard it calling I didn't move. I just froze myself against the view finder on my camera. With a large flapping of wings the Raven came down. It touched the perch next to the feeder and flew off again. I remained motionless for what seemed an eternity before it came down again and landed on the perch. Just my luck my camera was out of position to photograph it. I had to very, very slowly move my lens over to the Raven and compose an image. At the very first click of the shutter it made a jerk and looked my way. Once again I froze in place until it started feeding again. I started clicking again. Eventually it leapt off the perch and went over to feed on a suet block. It flew away when it was satisfied with its meal. What a cool experience. God's light and love to all, chris Camera Equipment Used- Canon 7D, Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Lens, Manfrotto 055XPROB Tripod with a Bogen 3055 Ballhead. Camera Settings- AV mode, ISO 400,F stop F5.6,Shutter speed varied. #SecretsofBackyardBirdPhotography

Outsmarting the Ravens

One of the most difficult birds to photograph up close where I live are the Ravens. Some people seem to have Ravens that are almost pets. Not me! All the ones around my house are as skittish as can be. If you even show your face in the window they are gone in a wing beat. Yesterday when I was in the photoblind I could hear the Ravens circling the blind in the trees. A pair of them were chortling and gurgling and talking back and forth. You could almost hear them thinking, "Is it safe to go down there and feed?" Finally after what seemed an eternity with a whoosh of wing beats one of them crashed down onto one of the perches I had set up for a much, much smaller bird. The perch collapsed and the raven took off again and circled and floated down on top of the platform feeder. A much sturdier landing place. It looked around suspiciously for several minutes before taking a small tentative peck at some seed. It would then lift its head and swallow then, look around some more and take another small bite. Each time it lowered its head I would slowly move my camera into position and focus a little bit at a time. The main problem I had was that I was set up for photographing small birds at close range. I had a huge Raven less than eight feet away. The only thing I could photograph was its' head.Beggars can't be choosers so that is what I photographed.Here are my Raven mug shots. They really do have a pretty cool looking head. God's precious love and blessings to all, chris

An Unkind Constable Conspiracy???

The last installment from my trip to the Mendocino Coast on Tuesday. After leaving the Harbor Seals at the Fingers I headed back down the coast to Kabiselah. I wanted to get some flight images of birds going by the cliffs just below there. As it turned out it was pretty tough photography and I was lucky to get any images at all. The sun came out bright and shiny and there wasn't a cloud to be seen in the skies. Not the best of conditions for photography. I didn't bring along a flash something that can really help you in this kind of a situation. Even if the photography wasn't that great I had a blast. A group of six ravens showed up and they landed in a tree at the end of the cliff. For the next half hour they played and played flying along the updraft along the edge of the cliff. They were soaring diving and just plain having fun. I was doing my best to try and track them with my camera as they flew by. Next time I'll remember to bring my flash. Just to let you know a group of Ravens in a group watching out and looking is called a constable. They can also be called an unkindness if they are driving other birds away from a food source. Lastly they may be called a conspiracy if they are working together as a team to capture or gather food.Interesting facts to know and forget!! God's precious love to all, chris

My Patience Pays Off

Today I spent a couple of hours in the photoblind out at the Burris Ranch in the Little Lake Valley in Northern California near where I live. Being in a photoblind is a unique experience. Your senses especially hearing get very acute and you hear every little sound around you. Your sight becomes very focused on one small area because that's all you can see through the blinds viewing port.Today my sight was focused on a branch in front of me waiting for a Nuthatch to make its appearance hanging upside down so I could photograph it. My hearing was tuned to listening for the feeding call that Nuthatches almost always make when they come into feed. I could hear the raspy calls of the ravens in the pasture below me and the smacking stip, stip, stip of the Juncos on the platform feeder before me.There were Acorn Woodpeckers in the Oaks behind me with their incessant whecka, whecka, whecka every five minutes or so. I could even hear a lizard rustling through the leaves and grass beside the photoblind. After a long wait I heard the nasal call eern, eern, eern of a Nuthatch getting closer and closer. A Nuthatch landed on the branch and proceeded to explore it looking for food. When it stopped momentarily on one of its downward trips to the underside of the branch I clicked the shutter release. A quick chimping check of the screen showed me I had the image I was looking for. My patience really paid off. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Time in the Photoblind

I finally made the effort to spend some more time in the photoblind and it was totally worth it.We have had three ravens hanging around the house for the last week or so. Today I finally figured out why.They are the parents and one of their offspring.They have been hanging around keeping watch on their little one to try and keep it out of trouble.Today I set out some meat scraps for it by the bird feeder and it came by and greedily ate them up. Seeing it up close with its tattered plumage I recognized it as a very young raven.Pretty ratty looking but if it survives will grow into a beautiful adult.Soon after that a Bandtail Pigeon came for some seeds. Later just as I was getting ready to exit the blind a young hen turkey came by with her poults. What a great time in the photoblind.

God's love and blessings,

chris

Tons of Turtles

Yesterday I traveled to Clearlake California. I met up with Joe Benoit and Dave Patula for a day of kayak fishing and photography. A couple of times during the day I made some obligatory casts just so I could add the fishing part. Dave did pretty well fishing. He caught and released a six pound bass along with some smaller ones. Joe caught a fifteen pound carp that gave his kayak a Nantucket sleigh ride up into the tules. He also caught a few bass. I mainly focused on chasing all the wildlife that live around the edges of the lake. There were Canadian Geese, Green Herons, Ravens and noisy Yellow Headed Blackbirds. Lots of things to photograph but I mostly photographed the Western Pond Turtles. They are such a cool creature sunning themselves on the logs. I got good and sunburned on my lower calves where I didn't apply enough sun screen.

It was a beautiful day to be on the water. God's precious love and blessings to all, chris

Stuck in Squirrel Gear

For those of you that have been following my photblog you know that I am working towards photographing some Mountain Quail. This morning I was up at it early to try and get into the photo blind before the Mountain Quail showed up to feed. My timing and plan was great for within minutes after settling into the blind I could hear the call of the quail. In less than three minutes they were literally right below my feet feeding on the grain that had fallen from my bird feeders. They were there right below me until some Ravens came in and scared them away.It was fun to watch them even though I couldn't photograph them in that position. How would the top of a quail look? Looks like I'll have to repostion my set up and try another day. So here I am again with another squirrel picture to show for todays efforts. At least they are pretty cute!

God's light and precious love your way,

chris

A Visit to the Doctor

It's funny how hard it can be to get into a specialist when you have a medical problem. They are also usually in a bigger city than where I live in Mendocino County. My knees have been giving me a problem so they decided to send me to a specialist. I could either see one in San Francisco or Eureka. Hmmnn... San Franscisco, two and a half hours just to get to the Golden Gate, heavy traffic, long waits or Eureka, two hour and fifteen minute drive along the Eel River and Redwood Forests, little traffic, short waits.

I left early this morning for Eureka to do some photography. I went up to Arcata and also did little bit of photography along Humboldt Bay. Not the greatest lighting as I wasn't there really early but I did have fun. I photographed grebes,egrets, fungi, ravens, gulls and a Brown Pelican. My doctor visit went really well and I had a great time.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

The Coast

Friday I made a quick trip over to the coast after doing some wildflower photography in theLittle Lake Valley. I made a nice loop trip by going up to the little town of Laytonville and the heading across the coastal range via the Branscomb Road. Once I hit the coast I went down Highway 1 . Westport Store with it's great snacks was my first stop along the way with a few more at favorite places like the Fingers, Kabisela and MacKerricher SP. When I hit Fort Bragg I grabbed a polish dog for a late lunch at Harvest Market and then headed back on Highway 20 to Willits.
Highlights of the trip were the Harbor Seals, Black Oyster Catchers along with the Ravens and Turkey Vultures soaring along the cliffs. It was a beautiful day on the coast.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris