Fabulous Finch

I had a great time photographing the finches yesterday out in the little Lake valley of Northern California. What a gorgeous day! I had a long wait sitting, waiting for the birds in my photoblind. Once they started coming in the action was non stop. My eye was glued to the view finder and my fingers were kept busy composing and clicking the shutter. There were both Lesser Goldfinches and House Finches. It was really interesting to watch the hierarchy of who go to use the feeders first. Control of the feeders went first to the female House Finches followed by the males. Next came the female Goldfinches with the male Goldfinches being last. Those poor males rarely got a chance at the feeders. Today I am posting my favorite finch image from the morning. I had to have Lenore help me decide. Between the two of us we narrowed to three images and my favorite was among the three. Enjoy the image and God bless, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM at 400mm on a Manfrotto 190XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 Heavy Duty Ballhead. My camera settings were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/2000 of a sec.#TeamCanon

Loving That Over the Shoulder Look

This morning Lenore and I were both up early. We had one of our cars serviced yesterday so we rode down together this morning to pick one of the vehicles up. I thought it would be a great opportunity to do some bird photography out in the Little Lake Valley on the ranch. When I arrived at the ranch the first thing I noticed was that all of the bird feeders were empty save one and it had four birds crowded around it with just a little bit of seed left. So the first job was to restock all of bird feeders. When I was done filling the feeders there wasn't a bird to be seen. I sat in the blind and waited and waited. All the while the good light was disappearing fast. I was almost to the point of nodding off when the birds started coming in. It started with a trickle and soon they were competing for spots at the feeder. Away from the feeder I spotted a White Breasted Nuthatch on the edge of a mossy log. I immediately swung the lens over to it. It caught the motion of the lens and looked back towards the blind over its shoulder. I was able to squeeze in two quick frames before it was gone in a flash. It ended up being my favorite image of the morning. I love that over the shoulder look. It really shows off a birds plumage. May you have a great evening. God bless, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM at 320mm on a Manfrotto 190XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 Heavy Duty Ballhead. My camera settings were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/2500 of a sec.#TeamCanon

Seeing Yellow

Yesterday I spent some time in the backyard with the Juncos and the Daffodils. I'm looking forward to when some migrants start coming through. As much as I like Juncos I am looking forward to photographing something else. The hummingbirds are starting to show up there were a couple of Rufous Hummingbirds battling with my resident Anna's for control of the feeders. It's a losing battle for the Annas as I have six feeders that are spaced pretty far apart. This is the best one of the Dark Eyed Junco images. The image was created with my Canon 7D and the older version of the Canon 100-400 IS lens. As I needed depth of field control for the soft yellow background this was photographed in AV mode. The camera settings used were ISO 800, f 8.0 at 1/400th of a sec. God bless, chris

Pinks, Purples and Pastels

Lenore's Lilac is starting to bloom in the backyard. Yesterday afternoon and this morning I put it to use for some bird photography. It's a beautiful bush with a range of colors in the blossoms from pink to purple. I wanted to capture an image of a Chestnut Backed Chickadee but they were uncooperative so I settled for the Steller's Jays, Dark Eyed Juncos and a Red Breasted Nuthatch instead. There were very few clouds in the sky this morning so my time for photography was very limited before it got too bright. I hope that you had a blessed Easter, chris All images created with a Canon 7D and a Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM. The camera was on our bedroom window sill supported with a ground pod and a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 . Shutter speeds varied.

Life at a Snail's Pace

This morning when I went to get something from my pick up I found a native Shoulderband Snail crossing the driveway. It was probably on its way to find a mate somewhere in the forest. Not wanting it to get the same fate as the poor smushed Banana Slug from yesterday I picked it up. I placed it on some moss and photographed it before letting it go out in the forest. I love the beautiful intricate spiral of its shell. God's creations are marvelous. May you have a great weekend, chris Image created with a Canon 7D and a 100mm macro lens. ISO 800, AV mode, F 16.0 at .5 sec. Camera was supported with a tripod.

Birds, Blooms and Buzzing

This morning I drove out to the Burris Ranch in the Little Lake Valley to do some bird photography. It was such a beautiful morning. When I pulled into the ranch I noticed that the apple tree above my photoblind was blooming. After parking I walked up to my blind and I could smell the sweet scent of the blossoms on the breeze. I set about refilling the bird feeders. When I went to get the furthest feeder I heard a humming buzzing sound down close to my feet. I instantly froze and thought, "This can't be good." I looked all around my feet for movement as the sound continued and my eyes zoomed in onto where the sound was coming from. At first I freaked out because I thought I was standing on top of a ground wasps nest. But soon I figured out that I was right next to a Bumble Bees nest and there were about a dozen of them buzzing about. I made a happy, slow, safe retreat. I rarely find Bumble Bee nests so this is a pretty cool find. Bumble Bees are communal like Honey Bees but honey bees are far greater in both numbers and the amount of honey they store up. Bumble Bees live in a small community of roughly a dozen or so and up to 300 and they only keep a couple of small wax cups of honey that are often the size of a small tablespoon. I once got a sampling of their honey when I was much younger and it was the lightest most delicious honey I have ever tasted. After my discovery I settled into the photoblind and photographed House Finches. here is my favorite image from the morning. God's love and blessings upon your weekend, chris This image was created with a Canon 7D and a Tamron 150-600mm lens at 450mm. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/1,600th of a sec. The camera was supported with a Manfrotto 190 XPROB tripod with a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead.

Loving That Free Bird Seed

This morning I was off early to the big city of Ukiah. I had to meet with the tax man and run a bunch of errands. By the time I got home it was too late to do much photography. After working around the house for awhile I decided to check the bird feeders in the back yard. The Western Gray Squirrels had taken over and it looked like they weren't going to leave any time soon unless of course I went out and scared them off. I took pity on the poor little guys and just let them be and photographed them instead. I know I'm a sucker for for small mammals. They are fun to photograph as they are quite expressive. God's light and love to all, chris All images creted with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400 IS lens. Camera was supported by a ground pod with a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead.