Sign of Spring

Yesterday I got to see a wonderful sight.One of the mares in the pasture next to my photoblind foaled. The little girl was sticking fast to her mama and fallowing her all over the pasture. It's amazing how quickly they are able to get up and around being only one day old. God's blessings to all, chris

More Grain Sir?

One of the negative side effects of having bird feeders is that it draws in deer. Deer are notorious for knocking down my bird feeders to get at the grain. Besides having to repair my feeders the deer also can draw in predators like Mountain Lions that want to eat the deer.Today I was attempting to get some Bandtail Pigeon pictures when this doe showed up trying to get to the grain. I shoeed her away several times but she kept coming back. She kept looking at the photoblind trying to figure out what was going on. She had this Oliver Twist look that seemed to be pleading. "More grain, sir?" After

awhile she finally left and the Bandtails started to come down. That's when one of Annika's friends drove up and all pigeons flew away. Such is the morning of a wildlife photographer. God's tender mercies to all, chris

First Day in the New Spot

This morning I got up bright and early. I took Jay to school and headed out to the Burris Ranch for some bird photography. Today was the first day of using my photoblind at its new location on the ranch. As I walked up the hill I was glad to see a couple of Scrub Jays and an Acorn Woodpecker using the feeders I had set up. After a bit of fussing around on my part I ended up moving the feeders and the blind about ten feet and knocking my camera over in the process. OOPS! I finally got it right and settled in. There weren't too many birds at first (probably because I moved the feeders) and then it started to pick up with the Jays and the House Finches coming in. Some California valley Quail came by but I didnt have any platform feeders or ramps set up for them to use so they just stayed on the ground and ate spilt birdseed. It was a good learning morning and when I came out of the photoblind I made a lot of changes to improve my next visit. Walking down the hill through the pasture

I discovered a dragonfly in the weeds. It reminded me now that dragonfly season has started I need to check out the pond. I also stopped by the honey bee nest and discovered that they have indeed taken up residence in the madrone tree and are adding combs to their hive structure in the branches. After leaving the ranch I spotted a Lazuli Bunting in a tree alongside the road. It made for a nice environmental portrait. Which means I couldn't get close to it for a tight image. God's light and love to all, chris

Simple

The past two days have been really busy with projects. Moving my photoblind, appointments and landscape projects etc.I managed to create a simple image of the mountains and clouds on the city of Ukiah horizon today as I was coming out to my car. Something about it intrigued me. So here it is. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Birds and the Bees

I spent a good chunk of yesterday moving my photblind to a new location on the ranch. I was evicted from my spot in the garden because this year they are planting a garden there. Who da figured after three years of photographing there they would plant a garden! It's a great spot with rich soil and a lot of sun so it's a nice spot for a veggie garden. I moved uphill near the barn where there is still good morning light and a good dark background of trees and shadow. Before I moved I spent some time photographing some Acorn Woodpeckers and a really cool swarm of bees. A swarm of bees settled into a Madrone tree right next to the main road going by the ranch. It's a weird spot because it's not a a hollow or place you would expect bees to set up housekeeping.It's just in the branches. I 'm not sure how long they are going to stay there so I figured I had better photograph them while I can.They will probably move to a tree hollow or knothole once scout bees have found one. The swarm is about the size of a rugby ball. You can walk right up to it and the bees are pretty calm about it. Bees often times swarm in the springtime when the hive starts getting too crowded. The old queen will leave with roughly sixty percent of the worker bees. She will leave the old hive behind with one of the new queens that have hatched out to run. Swarms can contain thousands to tens of thousands of bees. I haven't a clue as to how many bees are in the swarm out at the ranch. I would just say it is in the thousands. A very interesting day. God's light and love to all, chris

The Iris are Blooming

In my travels over the past week I have been seeing splashes of blue and purple. That means the iris are up and blooming. This morning I took the time to stop and photograph a bloom. I just love that intense yellow with the purple blue. God's light and love to all, chris

Chamberlain Creek Falls

Today I traveled with my cousin Brian to Chamberalin Creek Falls. The falls are off of the beaten path west of Willits, California and then north a few miles on a gravel forest road off of Highway 20. As we descended down the trail to the falls we discovered the path was blocked by some rather large downed Redwood Trees. After a bit of exploration we discovered we could go up hill and under and then over two of the trees and then it was a short cross country jaunt for the rest of the trail. Some scrambling skills were required. It was well worth it as it was so beautful and peaceful to be in a Redwood grove next to a waterfall. A very serene spot. G

od's precious love and blessings to all, chris