Backyard Birds

This morning I spent some time in the backyard photoblind photographing some of my backyard locals. The Steller's Jays came almost immediately. They never pass up a free meal! Especially since there were free mealworms. The Bandtailed Pigeons were extremely skittish as usual. I could hear them up in the tree tops for well over an hour before they finally came down to the feeder. Once they did they were pushing and shoving for a place at the feeder. By then the lighting was getting pretty harsh and I called it a day. I enjoyed myself and I know the birds did. God's love and blessings your way, chris

Creatures Great and Small

This morning I had very little time for photography as I took my Mom to the big city of Ukiah,CA for a medical appointment. Like all plans of mice and men the one I had didn't work out.My plan was that I would photograph Western Bluebirds at the fish hatchery while she had her doctors appointment. The problem was when I got to the fish hatchery it was closed. Arrgh! On my drive out I spotted a Blackktailed Jackrabbit trying to hide next to an Oak tree. I stopped my car and photographed it until a car came up behind me and I was forced to move along. It was so cool how it's long ears were backlit by the sun! After I picked up my Mom and had lunch it was late afternoon by the time I arrived home. I sought out a moth to photograph and I found a Tiger Moth.They are just beautiful with their striking wing patterns.Such a beautiful day. God's light and love to all, chris

Cleaning Up After Breakfast

This morning I was up and around pretty early. I was cleaning out kitchen drawers that were full of just too much junk. Among the mess I found a few treasured finds. A few old Chinese coins,a silver book mark,an antique barrette and a worthless pocket knife with a broken handle. Hmmmnn... Why am I saving all this stuff? “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21 wow, that's something to think about. Taking a break from cleaning I stepped out into the backyard and I spotted this hoverfly sitting on the African Daisies. I ran back into the house and grabbed my camera and made a few images of it busily cleaning away breakfast leftovers from its legs. A very productive morning if I may say so! God's precious love and blessings to all, chris

Stalking the Wild Butterfly

This afternoon when I got home I went into the back yard to check on my bird feeders. When I walked past one of our flower beds a Duskywing Butterfly shot out of the daisies and flew off towards our garden area. I knew it would be back. I went back into the house and grabbed my camera and came back out and set a chair about two feet away from the flowers. I focused my camera on the flowers sat down and didn't move. After about five minutes of waiting the Duskywing came floating by. It circled the Lilac Bush and the settled on a single Daisy flower underneath it to my left. I waited and waited.It fed on the Daisy and then fluttered to the flowers in front of me. I slowly turned the camera downward and when I moved the camera to adjust it a little more the butterfly took off. Once again I sat and waited not moving. The next time it appeared I kept my movements to minimum and I was able to create quite a few images of it on the Daisy flowers.If you read my previous post you will notice that the antennae have the clubbed ends of a butterfly. God's love and blessings to all of you, chris

Moths of the Morning

Last week Annika looked out the back door and exlaimed."Look at all the moths!" Sure enough there was a snow storm of moths flying crazily around the back door porch light.I'm not sure of the numbers involved but it had to be between one and two hundred of them. They were everywhere on the window, the walls and doors adjacent to the porch light.Last night there didn't seem to be as quite as many but there were quite a few still left on the side of the house this morning. With a little finesse I was able to tranfer a few of them one at time onto a rock to be photographed. Their intricate wing patterns are just amazing. You can tell that they are moths and not butterflies due to the fact that their antennae don't have a little ball on the end. In fancier terms Most butterflies have thin filament-like antennae that are club-shaped at the end. One the other hand, moths often have comb-like or feathery antennae.Close up some of them resemble a comb or a feather. I had some fun photographing them this morning. An enjoyable and interesting way to start my day. God's love to all, chris

Procrastination Can Have Its' Rewards

Yesterday dawned rather gloomy with gray skies and some rain. My intention was to stay home pay the bills and work on the manuscript for my new book. About ten minutes after making this momentous decision the skies in the valley below were filled with glorious light.The winds of change were upon me and I immediately decided to put off the toils of labor and go play. I made a few images of the clouded valley below. Then I loaded up my pick up, called to a more than eager Badger the Photoblind Dog and we were on our way to the Burris Ranch. It was a great decision. I ended up photographing a Lazuli Bunting, Lawrences Gold Finches (Thank you Judy and Ron for the ID), California Valley Quail and some superb images of House Finches.Oh, and a California Ground Squirrel as well. I had a wonderful day. Now I need to get back to work. Hmmnn, the lighting looks pretty good down in the valley... God's love and blessings to all, chris

Randomness of a Rainy Day

Yesterday and today are rainy days. I just photographed some random objects around the house. Badger because he is handy and such a cute dog and a Lake County Diamond because I thought it might be cool. The last item was a dandelion because I wondered what the seed heads looked like when it rains. Now I need to get to work on my book! A rainy day is perfect for working inside. God's love and blessings to you, chris