When It All comes Together

I have been trying to get a decent Mountain Quail image for a number of years now. It's truly amazing because they are found right in my own yard. For some reason they have always seemed to elude me. This year I was determined to capture an image of one. I created a set up in the front yard and put up one of my portable all weather blinds right next to it. I have been watching the quail come and go to the feeder but my timing of being in the photblind seems to have been off or I got images that weren't to my liking. Today it was raining like crazy all morning. Early this afternoon there was a break and I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did because it all came together. Three Mountain Quail came out and began feeding. After quite a few blurry images due to the dark lighting one quail stopped on the stump long enough for a clear exposure. I had my quail image! Now onto Varied Thrushes which love the rain.

God's love and blessings to everyone,

chris

From the Woodpile

Today was a jam packed day. I got up early and dragged myself out of bed to take Jay to school at seven. Isn't Daylight Savings time fun? I'm normally a morning person but I didn't like getting up in the dark again. Afterwards I went to the gym and worked out.When I finished it was reasonably light enough to do some photography so I headed out to the Burris Ranch.The birds were really active and I ended up staying in the blind until past ten thirty. It was heavily overcast with some sunlight streaming through once in awhile.Perfect for photography!

I packed it in around eleven as I had a doctors appointment. Later I headed back out to the blind after a quick burrito for lunch.By then the wind had picked up and I needed to try using something other than the flowers I had been using as a perch. I looked around for something to use and found a piece of grainy firewood that looked pretty cool.
The photography was pretty tough as I ended up holding the blind down with one hand and operating the camera with the other. At one point my faithful blind dog Badger tried to bolt from the blind when a really strong gust rocked it. Unfortunately his leash was attached to my chair bringing him to a rather abrupt stop.After about ten more minutes heavy windy gusts I called it a day. The piece of firewwood worked really well and I liked the images that I created with it.

God's precious love and blessings to you all,

chris

Chinatown Music

Yesterday we went to Chinatown in San Francisco for Annika's Birthday. She wanted to go to lunch there with a group of her friends.The hustle and bustle of Chinatown was an interesting change from the slow pace of where I live in Willits.We had a superb lunch of dim sum and then just wandered the shops. I prefer the non touristy areas away from Grant St. but the girls liked all the kitschy things you can find there. The highlight of my day was watching some Panasiansf musicians performing on the square at the north end of China town. They were really good and luckily had a banner with an email on it so I could send them some of the images I took.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

More Quail Yesterday Morning

Yesterday morning didn't go as planned but it was still very successful. I really wanted to photograph a goldfinch on some yellow Acacia branches. Instead the birds ignored my Acacia perch and went directly to the feeder. The California Quail came in great numbers and were around the blind for close to forty five minutes which gave me some wonderful opportunities to both observe and photograph them. Here is a sampling of some of the images I was able to create.

God's love and blessings to everyone,

chris

Patience and Planning

This morning I got up early and dropped Jay off. On the way out to the Burris Ranch I stopped and clipped some yellow Acacia blossoms. When I arrived at the photo blind I spent about half an hour setting up the feeder with the blossoms I brought. I fussed and fiddled til I got it set up right. I climbed into the blind and focused my camera on the the little branch and I waited. I waited and waited. None of the birds liked my Acacia branch. It's yellow and pretty. What's not to like? Eventually a covey of quail came in . I photographed them on the fence posts,grass and railings as they were too big for my little branch. After they left one lone House Finch finally settled down onto my perch. I took two frames and it was gone onto the feeder. That was good and I called it a day.

God's light and precious love to all,

chris

Rockin' Out

Set up a few mossy rocks to photograph the birds on today. I also had a flower feeder nearby but only a few customers liked that feeder. Quite a few Pine Siskins came to the feeders. the only thing that scares them off of the feeder are hawks and jays. A good time was had by all until I had to run off and do some errands in Ukiah..

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Mug Shots

I have been spending a lot of time in the photo blind this week. For some reason there seems to be a lot of jays out at the ranch. Both Western Scrub Jay's and Steller's Jays sometimes even at the same time.Steller's Jays prefer a mountainous habitat with coniferous forests while scrub Jay's tastes run to oak woodlands and riparian habitats. The habitat where my blind is at is a transition between mountain and the riparian and pastureland habitats of the valley.It is a perfect overlap that's suited to the two species.

The bully boys have been taking over the feeder forcing the smaller birds to flee when they arrive. The jays take over for only a short time but it takes awhile for the small birds to become comfortable enough to return. Here are a couple of mug shots of some of the neighborhood bullies.

God's love and blessings to everyone,

chris