Cheeky Lttle Fellows

I have never been certain about what species of chipmunk lived in my backyard. Consulting field guides left me confused. There were just too many species and to my untrained eye they they all looked alike. So earlier this week I dug in and did some research. I found out that there are thirteen species of chipmunk in California. The best way to tell them apart is by size,field markings, call and most important of all region. Armed with this knowledge I narrowed it down to two species. Then after consulting the map numerous times and listening to their call I determined that the chipmunk in my area is the Yellow Cheeked Chipmunk. Locally they are often called the Redwood Chipmunks. Yellow Cheeked Chipmunks are endemic to a narrow band of the North Coast. The band is about 25 miles wide from the ocean inland. The band runs from about a mile north of Bodega Bay and Freestone in Sonoma County north to the Eel River in Humboldt County. Within this area it can be found in the humid coastal strip of coniferous forests. I dug out one of my knothole feeders and set it up in the backyard to photograph them. Mystery of the cheeky little guys solved. Have a wonderful day, chris All images were created with my Canon 7D mkII and a Canon 100-400 IS v. 1 lens #TeamCanon

One From the Perch

I have been photographing birds and squirrels with the new perch I put up. Naturally the first birds to use it were the ever curious Chestnut Backed Chickadees. They are always checking out everything. I made a lot of images but after editing them all the one below is my favorite. It was made with my usual set up. A Canon 7D mkII and a Canon 100-400 IS v.1 at 400mm. I was photographing from our back bedroom window behind a window hide/blind. The camera was supported on a ground pod with a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead. For my camera settings I was in AV mode so I could control the depth of field. I was using a fairly high ISO of 800 because it was cloudy out. I chose an F stop of F 8.0 to help keep the bird in focus and yet it was wide open enough to blur out the background. the shutter speed was 1/125th of a sec. I hope you week is going well. God bless, chris P. S. If you haven't already done so please check out my book, Secrets of Backyard bird Photography, at your local book store or on Amazon.

Looking Back

On Saturday afternoon I went out into the rain and put up a new perch for the squirrels and birds to use. Yesterday morning I put it to use photographing a few Steller's Jays that came to our backyard in search of a snack. They were a little bit nervous and wouldn't stay on the perch for very long. I think there may have been a hawk in the trees nearby making them jumpy. After editing the images last night the image below ended up being my favorite. I love that pose with the Jay looking back. It accentuates their plumage and makes their eye stand out. This image was created with a Canon 7D mkII and a ground pod on our back bedroom window sill. I was using my Canon 100-400 IS v.1 lens at 253mm. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, F 8.0 at 1/200th of a sec. I like to use F8.0 because more of the bird tends to be in focus and it is still wide open enough to blur the background out. God's love and blessings upon your week, chris

Old School Word Processor

Today was the perfect day to sit beside the fire and read a book or watch a movie. It was just pouring rain. Thank you Lord! At one point in the afternoon I went out into the backyard and worked on a set up for photographing squirrels and I got completely soaked. This evening I was looking for something to do and I ran across my old typewriter from my college days. It's hard to believe that I used to have to type up papers on that thing. When I met Lenore I was amazed that she had an electric typewriter! It was so cool and really fast. We have come so so very far since then! Below is a photograph of my old typewriter placed on a black sweep and lit with two banks of LED lights. I photographed it with my Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 18-200 mm lens at 63 mm. The camera was supported by my Manfrotto tripod with a Bogen ballhead. The camera settings were AV mode, ISO 100, F 14.0 at .4 seconds. God's love and blessings to everyone, chris

Thanksgiving for the Squirrels

Thanksgiving morning I went out and set up a feeder just for the squirrels. The squirrels were happy and the birds were happy because now they both had some thing to eat. Later in the morning I set up my camera and photographed a few western Gray Squirrels from our back window using my window hide/blind. May you have a great weekend and God bless, chris These images were created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Canon 100-400 IS v.1 lens. The camera was supported on our back bedroom window sill with a ground pod and a Bogen 3055 heavy duty ballhead.

Thankful

Thanksgiving is a time to look back and reflect on all that God has given us and be thankful for it. This morning as I drove into town I was really thinking about how I am truly blessed to live in a small town. Thank you Lord for the little town of Willits where I live. God's precious love and blessings on all who live here.

Trying to Look Cute

The "Blasted Cat" is given supervised visits into the house to be petted and sit on the couch or at nighttime in our bedroom with the door shut. Her only other option is her little cat bed in our sunroom. At all other times she is allowed out during the daytime and we bring her in at night so that she doesn't meet the fate of two of our previous pets as Cougar food. Today during her daily visit she decided the couch wasn't comfortable enough and she bolted up to our bedroom. By the time I caught up with her she had made herself quite comfortable on our bed and she was trying to look as cute as possible so she could stay there. I grabbed my camera to document this behavior before I brought her back downstairs where she belonged. May you have a blessed Thanksgiving, chris Image created with a Canon 7D mkII and a Tamron 18-200mm lens. Handheld. The camera settings used were AV mode, ISO 800, f 5.0 at 1/320th of a sec.