“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.” ― Eudora Welty
Copyright © 2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
I don’t see these guys very often so I was thrilled when I spotted one singing a couple of weeks back.
I carefully and quietly walked closer to it trying to get a closer image, but I spooked it, and even though I waited and waited it didn’t come back.
This image is cropped in a bit.
Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm VR| Lexar Digital Film| Tripod| Wimberley SideKick| PS CC 2015
More to come…
Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
A friend and I went over the hill yesterday to photograph Allen’s Hummingbirds.
“Over-the-Hill”, is how we long time locals say we’re going to Santa Cruz, CA. We have to go up and over the Santa Cruz mountains to get there. They are mountains not hills, but I learned this phrase as a girl and use it to this day. You know how that is I’m sure. 🙂
Anyway, Allen’s Hummingbirds. They’re residents of Southern California, and northwestern Mexico, and migrate into southern Mexico for winter, and in breeding season migrate north along the coastal areas. Luckily, they have found a lovely late Winter home in Santa Cruz where I’ve been able to view and photograph them for several years now.
Their colors are so different from the Anna’s Hummingbirds that I see year round.
They’re also quite funny, and sometimes their expressions and posture make me laugh out loud. Like this move I call- On Guard!
It still makes me laugh!
They have the most beautiful Gorget that gleams a brilliant orange when the sun hits it just right.
It’s always a joy to see them and spend a couple of hours in their company.
Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015
More to come…
Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
This is my entry for Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness 2 this week.
Another Red-tail from a birding expedition. We seem to have more Red-tails than any other Hawk. 🙂
To see all the entries this week click here.
Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Digital Film
More to come…
Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
I have only seen this bird a handful of times, and managed to get an image even less.
This Loggerhead Shrike was on the fence bordering the Tule Elk Paddock as you enter the Refuge. This one was pretty accommodating and let me take its photo for a couple of minutes.
Coming around to the end of the auto-route in the Refuge was this Loggerhead Shrike perched on a dried plant in the Tule Elk paddock. It was pretty far away and behind a wire fence. This is cropped in a bit. I wondered if it wasn’t the same Shrike I’d seen when I first entered the Refuge? I’ll never know but am thrilled to have seen it!
This was an exciting start to my day of birding.
Nikon D300s| Nikon 200-500mm VR| Lexar Digital Film| PS CC 2016
More to come…
Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
It was rainy last week which kept #1 Grandson and myself indoors. Some of the things I’m trying to teach him are coloring, writing, and painting. One rainy morning I set up his paints, paper, brushes, water bowl, and crayons. While he was giving his crayons a bath, and finger painting I reached for a piece of his Artist Loft watercolor paper then using my brushes dipped into his Artist Loft’s watercolor palette to paint a loose rendition of the Vermilion Flycatcher I had photographed the previous week-end.
A few days later I tried to paint it with a bit more structure and detail using my Turner Watercolor paints, and Arches 140lb cold pressed watercolor paper.
I like the loose painting best even though the pigment isn’t as rich and the paper hasn’t much tooth.
The Reference Photo-
The following evening instead of watching TV or reading I went in a different direction and painted Poppies.
I used my Turner Watercolor Paints, and Arches Watercolor 140lb cold pressed paper for
this painting. I’ve been doing poppies on and off for a few months and I like this one the best so far. I have a LONG way to go before I’m anything other than mediocre as a painter, but I’m having fun learning and trying.
Panasonic Lumix FZ200| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015|
More to come…
Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Warning!: Some may find these images too graphic!
While birding a couple of weeks ago in the Sacramento Valley we spotted this Red-tail Hawk having lunch on a levy about 25-30ft away from us. It spotted us too. It didn’t like the way we kept staring while it was trying to eat so…
…it picked up its meal…
…and flew to a tree stump that offered a bit more privacy.
We watched it eat for a couple of minutes then slowly drove away leaving it to enjoy its meal.
The second image with the Red-tail in flight has a bit of motion blur. I was hand-holding the lens and not used to its weight and think it was me being a wobbly rather than a slight pan. The eye is pretty sharp, and the blur gives it a sense of movement I like enough to save, and share it.
I was also racked out to 500mm and I didn’t frame up the shot giving the bird enough room to fly out of the frame, so I extended the canvas a bit then added in some of the background to give the bird some room to fly out of the frame, and fix the composition. There’s a learning curve to all new lenses; getting used to the weight, and bulkiness -it’s a chubby lens, and framing with it will be what I strive to master in the coming years.
I liked the lens so much I bought one right after I returned the rental lens.
Nikon D300s| Nikkor 200-500mm VR (rental lens)| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015
More to come…
Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
I met my friend Dali yesterday morning to do some local birding, but he said he’d read in a bird forum before leaving his house that there was a Vermilion Flycatcher in the area where we were last week-end birding in Sacramento Valley.
“Did I want to go look for that bird?” He asked.
“Oh yeah!” Was my reply. I had one errand to do in the opposite direction before I could leave for the 2.5 hour drive north.
I finished up my errand in record time. Thankfully there is very little traffic early Saturday mornings, then I met Dali again to head north to look for the Vermilion Flycatcher.
We arrived at the spot that the bird had been seen hanging out and found a half dozen birders there observing the bird. We spent 30 minutes observing and photographing it before it flew off into a field and we lost sight of it.
Isn’t he beautiful! My Audubon Bird Field Guide says this bird’s “breeding range is Southeastern California east to western Texas and south to the tropics. Winters in southern part of breeding rage, but wanders as far east as Gulf Coast.”
It’s a resident of Southeast California, southwest Arizona, southern Texas, and Mexico. It Winters along the Gulf of Mexico’s coast.
We’re seeing this Vermilion Flycatcher in Sacramento Valley, California which is well to the north and west of its normal habitat! What a gift!!
This bird is a “lifer” for me! The definition of a “lifer” is, ” A bird species when it is first seen and positively identified by an individual birder. Generally birds must be observed in the wild, and in appropriate conditions to be added to one’s life list. Dead or captive birds are not usually counted as a “lifer”.
“The bright colors of the male have earned it the Mexican name brasita de fuego, “little coal of fire.” ~ Audubon Bird Guide app for ios. I love that name don’t you?
I also saw a Bald Eagle, and a Juvenile Bald Eagle yesterday. It was a stellar day for birding!
Nikon D300s| Nikkor 200-500mm E ED VR| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015
More to come…
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