Time for the Creepy Crawlies to Come Out

It has been such a gift to get all of this the rain. We have had rain off and on for the past week. Saturday when I went outside to grab some wood for the wood stove I noticed something moving down by the corner of the steps. I tossed the wood into the stove and quickly came back outside curious as to what I had seen. I bent down under the step and saw a Rough Skinned Newt slowly trying to crawl away. I carefully picked it up and put it temporarily in captivity before photographing it. Then I gently put it back under the step to let it go.With the rains we will be seeing a lot more newts and salamanders on the move. They need to stay moist and the rains give them plenty of that! All of these images were created with a Canon 7DmkII and a 100mm macro lens on a tripod. Camera settings were AV mode, ISO 800, F 5.0 at some slow shutter speeds of 1/8th and 1/10th of a sec.

Rounding Up the Strays

These are the last of my images from Colorado. It's taken me quite awhile to edit them all. One of the things that I really love about Colorado is the Aspen Trees. During my visit there in September I missed the peak color by about a week or so maybe a little more for the lower elevations. Luckily I still found some color, Pikas and some beautiful scenery. My last few days there I rented a room in an Air BnB just off of the Mount Evans Scenic Byway. The cabin was close to Chicago Creek and had some beautiful views of the surrounding mountains. It was a perfect spot for trips up Mt. Evans and Loveland Pass without having to make long trips from the Denver area. I must say I had a great time. My trip home was uneventful and long. I had to wait for my bus for quite some time after I landed at San Francisco. I got a fun image of a tourist's legs waiting for a bus next to where I was sitting. I hope that you are having a great weekend. God bless, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a variety of lenses.

Morning at the Park

Yesterday I went through some of the remaining images of my trip to Colorado. The day before the wedding I stopped off in my hometown of Loveland. When I drove past Dwayne Webster Veteran's Park I had the urge to stop and check out the old 155mm Howitzer we used to play on as kids. It was mazing to see that it's still there stirring the imaginations of all of the kids that probably play on it today. I was happy to see that someone is taking care of it as it had a relatively good paint job and newish tires. After photographing it I found some Fox Squirrels to photograph. Believe me there were a lot of them in the park! I watched a number of cars slow down watching me crawling around on the ground. They were asking themselves. What the heck is that crazy guy doing? I came away with some nice images. God's blessings upon your weekend, chris

It's an Inside Kind of Day

I awoke this morning to the steady drum of rain on the roof. I was going to create a special hummingbird image today but I can see that's not going to be possible. It's a good time to reclaim my office from a back up of paperwork and mess then work on editing some images. Here is a view of the Madrone tree in our backyard this morning. May you have a beautiful and blessed day, chris This image was photographed with my go to camera set up. I was using a Canon 7D mkII and a Canon 100-400IS v.1 lens. The camera settings used were AV mode,ISO 800, F 16.0 at 1/13th of a sec. The camera was handheld and braced against a a wall.

Awesome Anna's

I haven't done much serious hummingbird photography for awhile. Yesterday I dragged out the photoblind into the backyard. I set up a single hummingbird feeder and put up a small slender perch for them to land on. I must say I didn't have a very long wait. The hummingbirds started using the feeder within minutes after I climbed into the blind and sat down. I photographed them for about twenty minutes and I had plenty of images to work with. This year I have had more hummingbirds visiting my backyard than ever before. It's pretty amazing. Thank you Lord for such beauty. Have a great day everyone, chris All images were created with a Canon 7DmkII and a Canon 100-400IS v.1. Camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 1600 F 8.0 shutter speeds varied #TeamCanon

Night and Day

The difference between Sunday and Monday was like night and day. Sunday started out as a beautiful sunny day. Then there was a slow build up of clouds, an expectation of something to come. Sure enough the clouds filled in and by late evening it started to rain. Monday it rained and poured all day long. The rain gutters on the roof got plugged and poured off the edges of the roof like waterfalls. Out in the backyard the wet and soaked squirrels continued to feed. The hummingbirds buzzed back and forth in the rain from the forest to the feeders and back again. For me I photographed them for a while and then it was a good time to sit and read a book and watch the woodstove. Thank you Lord for the rain, chris All images were created with a Canon 7D mkII

Watching Them Slowly Disappear

I moved away from the Front Range of Colorado in 1972. At that time there was quite a bit of open space in between the cities and towns along the I-25 corridor. Periodically over the years since leaving I have been making trips to visit friends and relatives in Colorado and Wyoming. At every visit I have watched those open spaces slowly start to shrink and close. It's a lot like watching a group of frogs in a pot of water very slowly heating up on a stove. Most of the frogs don't realize the water is suddenly boiling before it is much too late. Some of the frogs do feel the heat and they jump out. Similarly and luckily some city and county governments along the Front Range had foresight and established open space and parks for the people and wildlife to enjoy. Sadly that is not the case for the Prairie dogs pictured here. This Prairie dog colony on the east side of Loveland, Colorado near Denver Ave and East First Street is about to disappear. A couple of years ago when I visited there was a big for sale sign up on the property. When I visited this time in early September there was a sold sign and grade stakes had been set showing that they were getting it ready for construction. These images are most likely going to be the last Prairie Dog images that I will ever take here. It is so sad to see them disappear. We are stewards of the land that God has given us and we need to be mindful how we care for it. I can only hope that the company that now owns this property does the right thing and traps and relocates these Prairie Dogs and doesn't just bulldoze them under.BTW the survival rate for relocated Praire Dogs isn't that great. God bless, chris All images were photographed from my rental car with a Canon 7DmkII and a Tamron 150-600mm lens #TeamCanon