So "B" It!

Yesterday I finally gave into the honey bees swarming around my hummingbird feeders and flowers. I grabbed a macro lens and some flashes. Then I set up some flowers and photographed the bees while I was barbequing shish kabobs.They were delicious! Not photographing from my photography blind out in the open was a bit more interesting though as I kept having bees land on me and buzz around my face etc. My biggest problems though was having too many bees on the flowers at one time. On one of the daisy images you can see that. The Honey Bees were such amazing creatures when you look at them close up. Oh and I stopped by my pond and threw in a dragonfly image for you to look at as well.

God's light and love to all,

chris

Chasing the Sun

We awoke to smoky skies before dawn this morning. The Mill Fire in Colusa County California east of us was putting out a lot of smoke. I knew it would make for an interesting sunrise so I quickly ran to the computer to check out the when and where the sunrise would be. Living in a forest has its disadvantages in that trees often block our views of some of the celestial events. A check of the Photographer's Ephemeris showed the sunrise to be at 60.1 degrees at 5:56 a.m. Looking east I could see that the trees in my backyard were going to block my view of the sun. I looked at the clock on my computer and saw that it was about five minutes until sunrise. I grabbed my tripod and ran out to my pickup and drove to the only place close by that I knew of with an eastern view. The sunrise started about two minutes after I arrived. A couple of planes flew through to make it even more interesting.

God's precious love,

chris

Birds and the Bees

I spent yesterday afternoon and part of today playing with the hummingbirds in my backyard. I have quite a few Anna's and a few Rufous hummingbirds. The honey bees were overwhelming though. There were literally hundreds of them mobbing the feeders for the sugar.When I would move a flower or a feeder I had to walk through bees to do it. It was a little bit unsettling as I'm not exactly the beekeeping type.Luckily all they care about is sugar and not about me! Here are a few images of the hummers. I had a great time and I think the hummers did too.

Enjoy and God bless,

chris

A Glimpse into Ranching Life or Shoeing a Horse

Yesterday after I finished photographing the fox and some birds I walked down to the barn. Israel and Ignacio Ramirez were shoeing a couple of horses. Here was a photographic opportunity too good to pass up. While I was photographing them I was talking to Israel to find out what he was doing as they went along. I'm not very knowledgeable when it comes to horses so I learned a lot.


First they clean the hoof of all the dirt and debris.



Next they use a snipping tool and the trim the outside of the hoof all the way around the front and sides.



Following that they use a rasp file and flatten or level the hoof.



After that they try on a horse shoe and bend it to size if needed.



Using horseshoe nails they nail on a shoe.





The nail goes all the way through the edge of the horses hoof. They bend the nail over and break it off.



The last steps are to file the nails and hoof down and then trim any of the hoof that is sticking over the top of the shoe.





Pretty cool to watch and a skill that takes quite a while to learn to do properly.Can you imagine what it would be like to maintain and keep a string of horses on a ranch? It's looks like it's a lot of hard work!

God's love to all,

chris

Gray Fox

I heard the fox barking as soon as I got out of the pickup. Sporadically during spring I have been hearing the short, harsh bark of a fox somewhere up the hillside from my photoblind on the Burris Ranch. This morning though it sounded closer. I cautiously made my way up the hill still hearing barks now and then. When I got to the gate I slowly scanned the area beyond the fence from the junkyard. Finally I caught some movement near an old pick up bed. The fox was sitting there looking my way trying to figure out what sort of creature I was. This morning before heading out the door I had randomly grabbed camouflage shorts, shirt and jacket. Not attire I wear all of the time. Finally it figured out I was human and took off. Quickly I made a few squealing sounds with my mouth. The fox stopped dead in its tracks and came back close to where it was before. I took a few images slowly working my way forward. Finally it had enough and it dove under the pickup bed and that was the last I saw of it. Maybe it was denning under there. I'll have to keep a closer eye on that area in the future. As soon as I finished with the fox I looked down by my feet and saw a section of shed skin from a large rattlesnake. Something else I had better keep a wary eye out for.

God's precious love and blessings to all,

chris

Cicada

I'm stuck in insect mode at the moment. This morning I found a cicada on one of my photo back drops. Cicadas first live underground where they live as nymphs sucking on the juices from tree roots. They come above ground to molt. After molting the male cicadas then begin their frenzied, noisy search for a receptive female to breed with. The female lays eggs and when the nymphs hatch they burrow down into the soil and attach themselves to tree roots to feed. Some species only come to the surface to breed every seventeen years. They are one weird looking bug. By the way they don't bite or sting though they are kind of grabby with those legs.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Mosquito Hawk

Yesterday we found a large Crane Fly on the wall in our sunroom. This morning before releasing it back to the wild I placed it on some tan oak bark to photograph it because it looked cool. Crane Flies are often called Mosquito Hawks with the mistaken belief that they eat mosquitoes. There are many species of Crane Fly and most are nectar feeders or they don't feed at all. Once they become adults a lot of Crane Fly species exist only to mate and die. Wow, no food then sex and then you die. I don't want to be a Crane fly!! Also Crane Flys don't sting or bite either as they don't have a stinger or mouth parts which can bite.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris