Wildlife – Page 4 – Circadianreflections Blog

Life in the Garden

August 29, 2014Posted in Birds, California, Flowers, Insects, Macro Photography, Photography, WildlifeTagged Birding, Birds, Butterflies, Insects, Life in the Garden, San Jose California Nature Photographer, Wildlife1 Comment

Most the flowers in my yard have been long gone, but the Lantana continues to grow and bloom! The Fritillary still comes by to sip on the Lantana, and yesterday I had a Skipper of some sort stop by.

Growing under, and around the Lantana I have some wild Scarlet Pimpernel. Most consider this a weed and pull it out, but I let it grow. I like its tiny flowers. They’re only as big as my little finger’s nail.

Change is definitely in the air around here. There are fewer and fewer Finches coming to the Feeder this week. I think they’re beginning to move on. Here’s a male House Finch perched on the feeder. I really like this feeder. It really is Squirrel proof! ( This was shot through a double glass window so it’s a bit soft).

The Anna’s Hummingbirds are still around, but I haven’t been able to get a decent image of them from my window.
I’m going to get myself a blind during the off season so I’m ready for them next Spring.

It’s a Holiday week-end ( Labor Day on Monday) here in the States I hope to get over to the coast, or to some favorite birding places to see if any of the winter birds are starting to arrive. It’s also He-Man’s birthday tomorrow so, I’ll be in the kitchen baking the cake he’s requested: Chocolate cake with custard filling and vanilla frosting.

I hope you all have a great week-end.

Images made with:

Nikon D700 w/ Nikkor 105mm Micro lens, and

Nikon D300s w/ AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4 w/Nikkor 14eII Teleconverter

more to come…

Ring-necked Pheasant

July 16, 2014Posted in Birds, California, Nature, Photography, WildlifeTagged Bird Photography, Birding, Birds in the Wild, Nature, Ring-necked Pheasant, San Jose California Nature Photographer, Wildlife3 Comments

This one is from my Archives. I made this image in late May this year. This was a really neat and thrilling experience seeing this male Pheasant. I see them so rarely, and most the time they’re on the run the instant they spot me. This male was so busy eating, and I think used to people being around so, he didn’t pay much attention to my presence or the sound of my clicking shutter button.

I really liked the light on his back and face.

Nikon D3oos| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f4| Hand-held

If I had a Song…

June 4, 2014June 4, 2014Posted in Birds, California, Nature, Photography, WildlifeTagged Annas Hummingbird, Birds, Birds in the Wild, Black-necked Stilts, Bumble Bee, Cessna 180, Cliff Swallows, Crested Pekin Mallard, Mockingbird, Ring-necked Pheasant, San Jose California Nature Photographer, Song SparrowsLeave a comment

I’d sing it in the morning!

Last Saturday morning I spent a lovely morning out birding with friends Dali, and Rainey. The weather was great, cool, with a blue sky with a few big, puffy white clouds for just the right amount of diffusion, and not too many intruding city-life sounds.

We went out with the hopes of finding Stilts, and Avocets with chicks or on nests, but we found few Stilts, and only saw two or three Avocets. Overall there were very few shorebirds at all in either of the places we birded yesterday.

We did see quite a few other birds so the morning wasn’t a total bust. Here are some of the images I took Saturday morning.

Black-necked Stilts

Mallard and chick. This was the only chick we saw with her sadly. Actually it was the only chick we saw all morning.

A Mockingbird imitating several birds. I like this pose and setting.

The Cliff Swallows were very busy making sorties to and from their nests.

Hummingbirds are very entertaining and didn’t disappoint this morning either. I saw a territorial spat, but with my 300mm lens wasn’t able to get both birds in the frame. Here’s the offended Hummingbird who thought he had territorial rights to the whole tree.

…after a little of this posturing this Hummer decided he wasn’t having another Hummingbird on the tree, so he went on the attack. I didn’t get them both in the frame, but here’s the intruding Hummer on the defense. They squabbled a bit then they both flew away, and neither returned for sometime, so we moved on.

The Bumble bees were busy with the only blooms I could see.

…and there were other kinds of birds practicing their landing skills at a nearby airport.

Another little Anna’s Hummingbird posed for me.

The most colorful bird of the morning was the Ring-necked Pheasant.

Saturday morning was also a great opportunity to really give my 300mm f4 lens a workout. I hadn’t really since getting it back from Nikon. I’m so happy to report it works really well. It is quieter than before the fix, and AF (auto-focus) seems quite snappy, and responsive even with my 1.4x Teleconverter on it.

It was a good morning despite there being only few shorebirds.

Nikon D300s| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f4| Hand-held

All Dressed Up

May 22, 2014May 22, 2014Posted in California, Macro Photography, Nature, WildlifeTagged Macro photography, Nikon Df, San Jose California Nature Photography, Snail, Wildlife1 Comment

San Jose, Ca. USA

“I hate the words ‘handicapped’ and ‘disabled’. They imply that you are less than whole. I don’t see myself that way at all.”~ Aimee Mullins

May 21, 2014May 21, 2014Posted in California, Nature, Photography, WildlifeTagged California, Handicapped, Lizards, San Jose California Nature Photographer, WildlifeLeave a comment

Taken last month while out birding with friends Rainey, and Rene. He looks like he could overcome anything!

Project 52 16/52 Keeping an Eye on the Sky

April 18, 2014April 18, 2014Posted in Birds, California, Nature, Photography, WildlifeTagged Acorn Woodpecker-Male, Birding, Birds in the Wild, San Benito County, San Jose Nature Photographer1 Comment

Acorn Woodpecker-Male

Northern Flicker-Male

April 14, 2014April 14, 2014Posted in Birds, California, Nature, Photography, WildlifeTagged Birding, California Birds, Northern Flicker-Male, San Benito County, San Jose Nature Photographer2 Comments

I’m so excited-this is the best Male-Northern Flickr image I’ve made to date! It is also the closest I’ve ever been to a Northern Flicker.
My friend Rainey and I had been shooting wildflowers up in the mountains when we were descending we spotted him pecking at the road. He flew up to this perch and stayed just long enough to capture two frames. Both were a bit over exposed, and not as sharp as I would have liked as I was shooting on the fly from the passenger side of the car through the window. Thankfully Adobe Camera Raw, and a bit of sharpening in Photoshop saved the image.

I am not happy about cutting off his tail though. So, while I’m happy to have made this image there is a better one still to be made. The chase continues. 🙂

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