Going Post (al)

Yesterday I spent a great morning in the photography blind. For my set up I placed two mossy posts next to the feeders for the birds to land on when they came into the feeder. I had plenty of House Finches and Nuthatches and Juncos come in for for some seed to eat.Here are a few samples from the many images I created.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Something to Get excited About

I spent a good part of the morning setting up a new photography blind out on the Burris Ranch in the Little Lake Valley. After it was set up naturally I wanted to give it a try. Less than a minute after I zipped the door shut a Starling came into the feeder. Starlings aren't exactly uncommon but they sure are beautiful close up.

It was great to sit in the blind today. The sun was out and I could hear a small waterfall on the creek near the blind. The Red Shouldered Hawks were making there presence know by calling out periodically and their shadow flitting across my field of view made their presence known to all the small birds in the area as well as they dove for cover.

Quite a variety of birds came into the feeders today. When I was packing up the first Goldfinches I have seen for awhile came to the feeder. I'll have to photograph them next time around. It was a beautiful day to be out.

God's light and love to all,

chris

Living Up to Its Namesake

The clouds cleared for a short time yesterday afternoon giving me a clear view of the Mendocino Mountain Range. The range lies to the east of where I live west of Willits, California. Some of the peaks Anthony Peak and Mount San Hedrin rise over 6,000 feet with Snow Mountain climbing to over 7,000 feet to an elevation of 7,043 feet. Yesterday evening Snow Mountain lived up to its namesake as it was covered in a layer of beautiful snow.

God's precious love and blessings to all,

chris

Let Sleeping Cats Lie

Today I had grandiose plans to do some bird photography.But first I had three or four things on my to do list to take care of. When I dragged myself out of bed this morning I thought to myself, "This shouldn't take too long..." Roughly eight hours later I was still at it and it was almost time to pick up the kids from school.I just gave up on the idea and went and photographed the cat sleeping. He seemed rather annoyed by it.

God's love and blessings to everyone,

chris

Spring is Just Around the Corner

I didn't have much time for photography today because I was working on college application stuff for my son Jay. This afternoon I drove with Annika down to her Sign Language class in Ukiah. It was a delight to see all the fruit trees coming into bloom. (Pray for no frost) After her class she and I stopped off and photographed the mustard in the vineyards, a true harbinger of spring. Later we saw a rainbow over the mountains to the east. Truly a glorious sign from the heavens.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Signs of the Times

Today I didn't do any photography as we went to the big city of Ukiah, Ca. to do our taxes. Upon our return home we grabbed the mail from the mailbox to be sorted. The first thing that caught my eye was a full page ad for a trimming machine for 13,995 dollars. Now I don't need a trimming machine but it's just that I was amazed at the fact that here was one being offered for sale in a full page ad in a local newspaper.

For those of you that are uninformed a trimming machine is often used in the marijuana growing business to trim off the useful leaves off of the plants after they are harvested. Lately there has been more and more advertizing of products that can be possibly be used in the growing, processing and shipping of marijuana. There has been a real shift in what is being offered for sale lately in some local publications. Last fall for example there were ads for turkey roasting bags at great prices. Do you need several hundred roasting bags? They are commonly used for storing and shipping marijuana.
Now with spring just around the corner there will be businesses lined up to receive growers dollars as they get ready to plant. I didn't say what they are planting now did I!
Here are some signs of spring from last year in Mendocino County.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

No More Squirrels!

If I were aspiring to be the worlds best squirrel photographer today would have been a banner day. There were wayyyy to many squirrels this morning. They dominated the feeders.At one point I counted eleven squirrels at or around the bird feeders. I didn't hear or see any Mountain Quail at all. Hmmmn... I wonder why? Hopefully there will be some tomorrow.

God's love and blessings,

chris