Trip Report Mad for Mallards

Yesterday I spent a great morning at a photography blind on Delevan Wildlife Refuge northeast of Williams California. The blind had the easiest access of any blind I have photographed from in the refuge system. It was located on a medium sized pond that was tinged with tules making it the perfect habitat for Mallards and other dabbling ducks.I arrived at the blind at five forty giving the ducks plenty of time to adjust or forget that I was there. Within an hour I had Mallards starting to use the logs placed near the blind for the ducks to use.I photographed Mallard for almost two hours before I scared the ducks accidentally when my lens bumped against the side of the blind when I was repositioning it. After that the photography dropped to almost nothing.To be continued..

God's blessings to all,

chris

Taking Flight

Sometimes you just need to get the the heck out of Dodge. Part of yesterday and most of today I spent photographing waterfowl and other birds over in the Sacramento Valley north of Williams, California. There are a series of refuges there that make up the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex.I photographed on just two of the refuges today Delevan and Sacramento. There were plenty of birds to be found. I'll be going through my images tomorrow editing. It's going to take awhile!

God's precious love and blessings to all of you,

chris

The Tools of War

World War II saw the need for millions of rifles to be manufactured. One of these was manufactured for the Allied forces both in the US and in Great Britain. Wandering around the gun show in Lakeport recently I ran across a rather beat up Enfield .303 rifle manufactutered in the US in 1942. This is a No. 4 Mark 1.

God bless, chris

The Breath of Angels

This morning the fog was drifting across the ridge tops in light beautiful streams to create the most wonderful beams of sunlight. In scientific terms the marine layer was pushing inland mixing with sunlight to create crepuscular rays. I still like the term "Angels Breath" better.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Back to the Woodpile

It seems like when ever I stack wood or get wood from the woodpile I almost always find something there to photograph. Today when I was filling the wood box in preparation for the incoming storm I found a whole nest of Bark Beetles. Bark beetles don't really have nests. Let's just say there was a whole bunch in one spot. There was one big one that was almost double the size of the others that I just had to photograph. I set it aside and made some images of it this afternoon.

God's love and blessings to all,

chris

Symbol of Success

Yesterday we were at an Academic Decathalon competiton for Jay's high school team in Kelsyville,Ca. One of the team members Aaron Ramirez did really well in the competition. He won four medals for his academic prowess including one for the highest score of any student in the competition. After the competition I photographed all his medals hanging from his neck. Truly symbolic of his success.

God's blessings to all,

chris

Gotta Love Those feet

Today we drove to Kelseyville, Lake County in Northern California for an Academic Decathalon that my son Jay's high school team was competing in. The weather was just superb. There is plenty of free time at one of these competitions so Lenore and I wandered around the lake enjoying the sunshine. At one point we found an American Coot standing in the clear water with those signature feet showing.I couldn't resist a capture of that. So here it is.

God's love to all,

chris