Hermit Thrush…I think!

Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This little bird lives in my neighbors Oleander bush, and I rarely see it. I tried photographing it last year when it flew up to the fence, but the shots were through a window, and I really wanted an image without a window between us.

Hermit Thrush I think

A few days ago while #1 Grandson was in the backyard playing and I was sitting in the middle of the lawn hoping the Chick-a-Dee would stop making such a fuss about us being out there and fly down to the feeder so I could take its picture the Hermit Thrush flew up to the top of the fence to see what all the fuss was about.

What luck! I got two frames of it before it jumped down into the safety of the Oleander.

I thought it was Fox Sparrow, but now that I have decent image to compare with the birds in my bird books I now think this little bird is a Hermit Thrush.

If I’m wrong please let me know!

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 200-500mm | Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015

More to come…

 

Top 10 2015 Images

Copyright 2015-2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Last week I shared with you the Top 10 Images that received the most  views over on my flickr site today I’m going to share with you My Personal favorite images from 2015. Most of these I posted on the blog, so you’ll probably recognize them or feel a sense of Deja-vu. 🙂

I selected these images based on emotions, technical merit, or because I met a personal goal. I got my picks  down to 36 then spent a couple of days whittling those down to just 10. It’s so hard! I have an emotional attachment to all of them. 🙂

Without further ado…My Personal Top 10 Images of 2015:

1)Running in Rain Puddles.  He’s just awesome, and brings me so much joy. I love being a Grandma!!

Running in Puddles

2) Milky Way over Mt Shasta- This was an Epic night spent with Dear Friends. I hope we are able to get together to shoot here again this year.Milky Way over Mount Shasta CA, USA

3) Total Lunar Eclipse over the Palace of Fine Arts San Francisco- This was another epic night. There was weeks of planning, chasing the Moon across town from one location to this one, working the camera to get the shots all the while hoping it would all come together in post production.  It’s pretty great when it does. Totality-Lunar Eclipse over The Palace of Fine Arts San Francisc

4) Cooper’s Hawk- I think.  There are a few  images in this selection that I haven’t shared before. More times than I care to admit I find I lack the confidence that a certain image I love will be well received, or what happens to me quite a lot is that I’m not crazy about the images when I first upload them after a shoot so, I let them marinate awhile. When I return to them months or years later I find I like them a whole lot more.

This Hawk in the reeds in Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge is an image I really like, but thought it might be too pedestrian to post back in January 2015 when I photographed it.  I love its face, the clarity of the eye, the natural environment, and the fact that I was able to make the image before it flew away.

Cooper's Hawk

5) Northern Flicker-Male – Another image never shown before today. This bird has been a nemesis of mine for years! They too are flighty.

I’d read reports of him being spotted in a neighborhood not from me in Jan/Feb. 2015, so one day a friend and I went looking for him. We found him deep in the shadows of this tree.  Once I got it uploaded and did some post production work to open up the shadows I was happy with the image, and feel like I can say it’s not my nemesis anymore.  They’re such beautiful birds.

Northern Flicker

6) Salsify macro- This was an image I photographed for my Project 52/2015 using my LensBaby Composer Pro wit the macro adapters. I love my LensBaby System and that creamy background. Salsify

7) Still-life “Why fit in when you were born to stand out.” Dr. Seuss

This one makes the cut because I got the lighting, and composition that I wanted to make right.

P52 29 of 52 "Why fit in when you were born to stand out?" ~Dr.

8) Orange Crowned Warbler.   I haven’t seen this little bird too often and photographing them is so hard; they’re small, and are so fidgety you have to be quick. This particular morning I set up my rig by a seep that was drawing in birds from the area for a drink.  Patience when birding is essential. It paid off this morning. I waited 30 minutes or so for this bird to come to the seep. This is the best image I’ve made of this species.

Orange Crowned Warbler

9) Great Egret-  Another bird image I’ve never before shared.  I love the colors, and how clear its eye is.

Great Egret

10)Sunrise cresting San Francisco Skyline from Kirby Cove. It was worth the mile hike back up for this image. Being there was awesome.

Sunrise over San Francisco CA

These are my favorites from 2015.  Thank you for being so supportive, and letting me share my images with you. I look forward to seeing your images, reading your poems, thoughts, and seeing the places you travel from  my arm-chair this year.

Happy and Healthy 2016 Everyone!

More to come…

 

 

 

 

 

Yellow Warbler

Copyright © 2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

A new Bird added to my “life list”!  This little bird was far away and high up in an Eucalyptus tree so, this is a deep crop and not as crisp as I want it to be. I hope to get out here again and get another crack at it for a closer look and better image.

Yellow Warbler

Nikon Df| Nikkor 300mm f4| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| Tripod| CS6

More to come…

P52 34/52 Rufous Hummingbird-Female

Copyright ©2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This is my first photograph and sighting of a Rufous Hummingbird! I’m still so excited about seeing this little Hummer. So, I’ve posted this image instead of a macro for this week’s Project 52 image.

P52 34 of 52  Rufous Hummingbird-Female

Instead of carrying my long lens I decided to take my Lumix FZ200 to use if any wildlife or birds came along. I’m sort of getting the hang of this Bridge Camera. I just need to use it more. I’m planning to take it on He-Man’s Birthday Cruise which is just around the corner! It will be easier packing, carrying it around, and I won’t need a tripod.

Panasonic Lumix FZ200 @ 108mm = 648mm in 35mm format | f5| 1/1600s| ISO 160| Manual Priority| Pattern Metering|Lexar Professional Digital Film|CS6

More to come…

This and That

Copyright © 2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Feeder is busy again with House Finches. The females look like they’re molting, but the males are dazzling with their vibrant red heads.

House Finch

The Black-capped Chick-a-dee makes daily appearances too, but I’ve not got a decent image of it so far this season.

The Mockingbird has a mate and they’ve been busy bullying anything they can.  I caught one with a nice, fat bee last week. Since it didn’t eat it straight-away I’m guessing it went back to the nest with this meal.

Snack time!

A new visitor to my yard this year is a Black Phoebe. Isn’t he handsome?

Black Phoebe  Adult

The female Anna’s Hummingbird prefers the Lantana to the feeder this year so I try to catch her there when I’m out back. She’s lovely when the sun hits her back.

Anna's Hummingbird Female

Here’s a macro image I created sometime ago that never made it to my Project 52. I used to set up this engine and a several cars around the Christmas Tree when my kids were little. It’s been buried in the garage for years, but I rediscovered it while cleaning out the garage. It’s a Bachmann Union Pacific Diesel Engine. Now that we have a little one (#1 Grandson) I’ll have to start setting it up again.

P52 18 of 52 Bachmann Union Pacific Diesel Locomotive Engine

Speaking of the garage, that reminds me it’s been sometime since I talked about our remodel.  It’s coming along very well. They’re right on schedule.

April 29th: Ground-breaking day. It was fun. We had a little digger in the front yard digging out the place for the foundation. #1 Grandson loved that! This is how the front of the house looked before the digger arrived-the foundation’s been planned out-

Ground Breaking Day_4620

The digger

It's official. We have Ground-breaking!
It’s official. We have Ground-breaking!

A lot has happened between then and early June- The foundation was poured, the framing went up, and June 2nd this is how the house looked at the end of the day.

Adding a bedroom, and a small sitting/office area in the Master Bedroom.
Adding a bedroom, and a small sitting/office area in the Master Bedroom.

Next week our new front door, and front windows will be installed, the plywood for the roof will be put on, and the following week they plan on breaking through the walls to the house so we need to move to other rooms while the work is being done.

There’s a lot of changes in the Master Bedroom, and bathroom that I’ll share in an upcoming post.

I’m feeling better. I hiked up the steep hill yesterday. It was tough! Probably more than I should have done since I’m still coughing and having sinus issues. What was I thinking? 🙂 Other than that it’s been a quite week-end.

I hope you all are having a great week-end!

Nikon Df| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4| Lensbaby Composer Pro| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| Hand-held

More to come…

First New Year’s Resolutions

Copyright © 2014 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Song Sparrow

First New Year’s Resolution: I will get my garage cleaned out, and organized!

Second New Year’s Resolution: I will lose 8 pounds!
I’ll probably add more as the year goes on, but to start with these two are my BIGGIES!

What about you, are you making any New Year’s Resolutions in the New Year?

Nikon D300s| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4| Hand-held| Lexar Professional Digital Film

More to come…