Pacific Tree Frog

This morning I was cleaning up in the back yard and I ran across this Pacific Tree frog on the table behind my garage. I had just broomed the table off when the frog jumped onto the top of the table from the side of the table. I captured the little frog and transferred it to this fern for a more aesthetically pleasing image before I had Jay return it to the wild. God's blessings, chris

Image of the Week or Just Rambling

This morning I went and worked out after I dropped off Jay to school.When I left the gym I had no definite plans for today other than domestic chores at home. I finally made the decision to restock my bird feeders out on the Burris Ranch in the Little Lake Valley. After restocking them I sat in the photoblind for a short time not creating anything significant with the birds. I decided a short visit to the pond was overdue to check on the local dragonfly population. Upon arrival not to many were flying and none were using the perches I had put up and that usually works. On the trip downhill to the pick up a wildflower a Mariposa Lily caught my eye. I immediately thought, "That would be great to photograph!" Lying flat on the ground I started to photograph it. Then I noticed the shadow of the beetle going up the side of the flower on the inside. It looked really cool. What a nice image to end the morning with. God's blessings and love to all, chris

Back to Backyard Bugs

I spent about an hour today trying to capture an image of a Bumble Bee Clear Winged Sphinx Moth. I saw just one but it was too far away from me to get anything decent. While I was waiting and looking it gave me plenty of time to capture some of the other denizens of the backyard. God's light and love to all, chris

Joining the Sheep

Today like probably millions of people on earth I am watching the transit of the planet Venus between earth and the sun. Here is one image from that transit. God of the heavens and earth bless us, chris I added one taken at sunset.

Birds on a Branch Not. "House Finch"

You probably may have heard of an old song with the line. "It never rains in California..." well this morning that definitely was not true in Northern California where I live.It was pouring down rain at times. I decided to go work out at the gym and then go out to the Burris Ranch for some bird photography. I actually like photographing in light rain as compared to a bright sunny day. Rainy days have this light that gives really rich saturated colors that I like. I managed to get out to the photoblind and restock the bird feeders between showers. The photography was a bit slow but the birds were really cooperative staying on the perch for long periods of time. Around eleven the rain started pounding down and I was wondering how long I would have to stay in the blind until it stopped, when suddenly there was a break in the rainfall. I quickly packed up my stuff and headed for the pick up. I almost made it too before the heavens opened up again and baptized me.I was a bit wet but I stuffed my camera under my jacket so it was fine.I headed home for some editing of the images I had taken. After some work I narrowed my images down to five that I wanted to post for the photoblog. Then I came across the sixth image. Now jumping back a bit or perhaps forward depending upon your point of view I'll admit the title is a bit confusing. I was going to call this photoblog entry "Birds on a Branch" but after finding the sixth image I felt it was just stunning because it is so detailed and colorful.I decided to just post one image for today instead. God's love and blessings to everyone, chris

Backyard Buzz and Flutter

With flowers a blooming in the backyard things things are a buzz with Bumble Bees and the flutter of butterfly wings. This afternoon I was able to photograph the three most common species of butterflys to my yard at this time of year. Duskywing and Tiny Checkerspot and Mylitta Crescents. Some butterflys flew through but didn't stop. there were California Sisters and Western Swallowtails. The best spot of all day was a Bumble Bee Clear wing Sphinx moth. They look something like a cross between a moth, Bumble Bee and a hummingbird.When I first saw it I thought. "That is a huge Bumble Bee!" I got some images just for ID sake but they aren't worthy enough to print. If it keeps hanging around here for awhile I'll try and get some nice images of it. God's precious love and blessings to all, chris

Oh Those Squirrels Again!

This morning I didn't have a lot of time for photography as I'm still working om some landscaping projects around the house. I limited my efforts to the squirrels near my photoblind in the front yard. Luckily I didn't have too long of a wait before a Douglas Tree Squirrel came up to the feeders. It was a feisty female and she guarded that feeder for a pretty good length of time before a Western Gray Squirrel challenged her for the spot. They had a pretty good battle before she relented and gave up her spot mightily protesting the whole time. It was a great way to start the day. May God bless your spirit today,

chris