Song Sparrow

Today I went on an adventure out to the Mendocino Coast at the suggestion of my daughter Annika. She told me I really needed to get out. This morning off to the coast I went. First stop was a great breakfast in Ft. Bragg at Cafe One. The "Windowpane" is delicious! Following breakfast I drove northward to Kabiselah. One of my favorite little birds along the coast is the Song Sparrow. If you sit quietly long enough in the brush you are sure to end up with one singing in the brush close by to you. That is exactly what I did. I loved the image I created of one. I then noseyed on up the coastline to the "Fingers" for some more photography that I'm saving for tomorrow's photoblog as I have way to many images to edit. Enjoy and God's blessings to you, chris

Deer Me!

I went looking for deer this morning and I found a few under the oak trees. It's the time of year when deer really load up on mast (acorns) that they find under the oak trees to bulk up and prepare for the winter ahead. You will find them with their noses buried in the leaves trying to find acorns buried in the forest duff. I also found one yearling buck with just buttons popping up on top of his head to show his maleness. God's light and love to all, chris

Searching For Woody

All right, All right. Enough of the the Nuthatches already! I'll admit that I have posted far too many of them. Sometimes I get a bit fixated on attempting to get a certain image and it almost turns into an obsession. The search for the perfect Nuthatch image has to come to an end. This morning I was out there again relentlessly pursuing the poor helpless little Nuthatches.I got some pretty good images too.So these will be the last I post for awhile. Sorry Nuthatch fans. As I was photographing Nuthatches I kept hearing a Pileated Woodpecker call from trees around the ranch house. I kept looking out of my little photoblind opening hoping to catch a glimpse of it. No luck.Then I heard it hammering on a tree fairly close to the blind. Now I just had to get out and take a look. I grabbed my camera and climbed out into the sunlight and sat there blinking trying to figure out where the darn thing was. I looked and looked and couldn't find it. I started walking slowly down the hill pausing to try and locate it. Finally I spotted it in an old Bay Laurel above the bunkhouse. I was shocked to see that it held in the same spot as most of the time they are gone in a flash. It wasn't in the best location as it was really dark and shady. But since I rarely get to photograph them I wasn't going to complain. It was hammering away on the rotted section of branch and picking out termites as it went. I tried a variety of different angles watching and photographing it for about five minutes before it flew off with its characteristic Kuk,kuk,kee keekeekee,ku,kuk territorial call.What a grand way to start the day. God's blessings to us all, chris

How Fowl

I love the light when it is raining. Today was a non photography day for me as I took the day off. Not because it was raining it's just that I needed a day to putter around the house and do nothing. Tonight I was looking back over some older images and I ran across this one of a rooster in Tahiti. It was raining and the colors of the rooster were simply amazing. So before you cry fowl. Here it is. God's love and blessings to everyone, chris

My Patience Pays Off

Today I spent a couple of hours in the photoblind out at the Burris Ranch in the Little Lake Valley in Northern California near where I live. Being in a photoblind is a unique experience. Your senses especially hearing get very acute and you hear every little sound around you. Your sight becomes very focused on one small area because that's all you can see through the blinds viewing port.Today my sight was focused on a branch in front of me waiting for a Nuthatch to make its appearance hanging upside down so I could photograph it. My hearing was tuned to listening for the feeding call that Nuthatches almost always make when they come into feed. I could hear the raspy calls of the ravens in the pasture below me and the smacking stip, stip, stip of the Juncos on the platform feeder before me.There were Acorn Woodpeckers in the Oaks behind me with their incessant whecka, whecka, whecka every five minutes or so. I could even hear a lizard rustling through the leaves and grass beside the photoblind. After a long wait I heard the nasal call eern, eern, eern of a Nuthatch getting closer and closer. A Nuthatch landed on the branch and proceeded to explore it looking for food. When it stopped momentarily on one of its downward trips to the underside of the branch I clicked the shutter release. A quick chimping check of the screen showed me I had the image I was looking for. My patience really paid off. God's love and blessings to all, chris

Strike a Pose

This morning I went out to the Burris Ranch in the Little Lake Valley to photograph Nuthatches. I wanted to capture an image of one in soft light upside down under a branch. Things didn't go very well. In setting up for the image I stabbed my thumb with the hand drill. Ouch! Do you know that hurts a lot and bleeds like crazy? Then all the images that I did get of nuthatches under the branch the focus was off just enough to make them unacceptable. Later I did create one image though that is just gorgeous. It made the whole morning worth while.I photographed a White Breasted Nuthatch coming down an oak limb in nice soft light. It stopped in the classic Nuthatch pose with a beautiful, light brown background from the oat grass behind it. I was very pleased with this image. Thank you Lord for giving me such a wonderful place to photograph. chris

Loving Those Layers

Living on a ridge top has a number of advantages. One of those being that I get to see a lot of beautiful sunrises and sunsets. One of the others is getting to see all the layers of ridges going off into the horizon. Last nights sunset gave me ample opportunities to see and photograph both a gorgeous sunset and some pretty cool layering going out to the horizon on the fog covered Pacific.God's almighty paintbrush at work! God bless, chris