Wildlife – Page 5 – Circadianreflections Blog

Prairie Falcon

January 21, 2014January 21, 2014Posted in Birds, California, Nature, Photography, WildlifeTagged Birding, Birds in the Wild, Photography, San Jose Nature Photographer7 Comments

Saturday last I had the pleasure of Dali, and Rainey’s company for a few hours of birding.

We headed south about an hour from home hoping to spot Golden Eagles. We hadn’t gone too far down a country road when I spied a falcon on top of a telephone pole. I quickly pulled over and turned off the car so we could take photos without the vibration of the engine.

None of us was positive about the bird’s ID at the time, but we were excited because we knew it was a bird we hadn’t seen before. Here’s how it looked when I first saw it.

With both Rainey and I clicking away we spooked it and he planned to flee the scene.

Ready for Take Off!

Take off!

In Flight—

I was thrilled when I uploaded the images to find I had captured the whole sequence of flight on film. Upon closer look I thought this might have been a juvenile Kestrel, but Rainey confirmed it is a Prairie Falcon. A first for the 3 of us.

We also saw two Golden Eagles, which were flying away from us too fast to capture a photo. Later we saw a Bald Eagle sitting in a tree. Dali got the POD (Picture of the Day) as he got a good image of it. I wish I could show you, but at the time of this writing he hadn’t posted it yet. I was too slow to get the car parked, and out so, I missed the shot. When it got spooked and took flight another Bald Eagle took off with it. We hadn’t seen that one due to tree cover.

We saw this Loggerhead Shrike sitting on a wire. We hoped it would spot something good to eat and dive for it, alas it never did.

We also saw this pretty little Savannah Sparrow—X Marks the Spot:

Savannah Sparrow: Closer Look–

Other birds of note that we saw were: A Red-bellied Sapsucker, Yellow-billed Magpie; (see Rainey’s image here) White Crown Sparrows, Acorn Woodpeckers, and Red-tail Hawks.

It was good birding. I hope to get out there again this week-end. With luck I’ll see the Eagles again.

All photos were taken with a Nikon D300s and AF-S Nikkor 300mm f/4 lens

Golden Crowned Sparrow-Winter

November 24, 2013November 24, 2013Posted in Birds, California, Copyright 2013 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved., Nature, Photography, WildlifeTagged Birds, Birds in the Wild, Nikon, San Jose Nature PhotographerLeave a comment

Golden Crowned Sparrow-Winter, originally uploaded by CircadianReflections Photography.

Via Flickr:
Copyright Â© 2013 Deborah M Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

I have to double-check, but I think this is my first Golden Crowned Sparrow!
So, far this has been a fantastic birding year for me, and it’s still early in the season.
If I see Eagles this winter it will be icing on the cake. 🙂

Photographing birds in Manual Focusing mode is tough. My finger is always on the focusing ring and I’m adjusting all the time since the birds are so fast and moving all the time. It’s a miracle I got this in focus at all. My friend Dali shoots with a Legacy Nikon lens the 400mm f/3.5 which is a manual focus lens and he gets the most beautiful bird and wildlife photographs. I want to be as good as that if I have to manual focus.

See his work here.

Willow Flycatcher

November 12, 2013November 12, 2013Posted in Birds, California, Copyright 2013 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved., Travel, WildlifeTagged Birding; San Jose California Nature Photographer;, California Pacific Flyway;, Flycatcher, Veterans Day, Willow FlycatcherLeave a comment

While out birding for Sandhill Cranes and other birds that are migrating to Central California for the winter I got a quick glimpse of this little Flycatcher. I got three rapid bursts off before a Black Phoebe came flying in to chase this bird off the post.

This is a first sighting of this bird for me. I think it’s a Willow Flycatcher. Please correct me if I’m wrong. If it is a Willow Flycatcher it too is wintering here from the Northeast, Mountain, and Northwest states.

I saw him at 3:30pm when the shadows were getting long, and cloudy, diffused light was getting more golden by the minute. I was shooting at f8 to get as much in focus as I could which resulted in this photo being a bit under-exposed, noisy, and a bit soft. I like the painterly effect it’s given the image.

I boosted the contrast,opened up the exposure value, sharpened, and did a little noise clean up when I developed this image.

An image I took of the Phoebe taking control of the post. I wasn’t quite fast enough to get the whole Flycatcher in the frame.

Yesterday was Veteran’s Day in the States and while at lunch we were lucky enough to see the last few passes of an Air Show in honor of our Veterans. Here are some photos I snapped before our lunch arrived.

Nikon D300s| Nikkor AF-S 300mm f/4

Sandhill Cranes are Arriving!

November 3, 2013November 3, 2013Posted in Birds, California, Copyright 2013 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved., Nature, Nikon, Photography, Travel, WildlifeTagged Birding; San Jose California Nature Photographer; Photography;, Lodi, Pacific-Flyway, Sandhill Crane, Sandhill Crane FestivalLeave a comment

I’ve been looking forward to this week-end for a month. It’s that time of year when the Sandhill Cranes return for the Winter Migration. A friend of mine (Judi) has been posting Sandhill Cranes from Merced Wildlife Refuge in the Pacific Flyway this past week which really excited me. She reported that they were less skittish, and were a bit closer to the “Auto-Route” we take to see them. I’ve been wanting a really good close up of a Sandhill Crane for years. This report gave me hope that this might be my year.

Yesterday, my friend Rainey and I went over to the Refuge and had a wonderful time. We called Judi and met her at the Refuge. We were not disappointed. The weather was California perfect; sunny, warm, and with a slight breeze. The Cranes were closer than I’d ever seen them.

They are so beautiful with their Red Heart shaped face, and wonderful plumage.

We drove the “Auto-route” several times in the late morning and early afternoon.

We even saw a family group with a juvenile. It’s the little one in front without a red face.

Then we went to lunch at an” old-time” family drive-in Burger Joint called H&M in Merced. They say they’re famous for their seasoned fries which are delicious, but their Guacamole Burger is just as good. The Avocado Burger is my next favorite burger on the menu. After a diet busting lunch we went back to the Refuge for another drive around before heading home.

On this last trip around the refuge we saw groups of Sandhill Cranes flying in for the night.

Today, Rainey, Dali, and I went up north to Lodi to the Sandhill Crane Festival and found the weather completely different from yesterday. Overnight our warm Indian Summer changed to Fall; it was cold, and so windy the top soil was blowing so thick visibility was only 10-20 feet! We didn’t see too many Cranes and those we saw were pretty far back in the fields near the Levees or in the taller rows of mowed corn for protection.

We did see other birds of note: a Belted Kingfisher ( still my nemesis I’m afraid), Dali got the Kingfisher shot today. We also saw Lesser Sandpipers, and a Snipe shown below so, the day wasn’t a total loss.

It was a great birding week-end with friends. I’m looking forward to going back to both Wildlife Refuges this winter.

Nikon D300s| Nikkor AF-S 80-400mm G

Bushtit

October 19, 2013October 19, 2013Posted in Birds, California, Copyright 2013 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved., Nature, Photography, WildlifeTagged Birding, Nikon User, San Jose Nature Photographer, WildlifeLeave a comment

This is my first Bushtit capture. These little birds usually stay deep in the branches and are quite flitty. This morning while birding with Rainey and Dali we saw quite a few on two bushes so, I hung out hoping I’d be quick enough to capture a photo of one if it happened to venture out onto an exposed branch.

This was a great morning. Birds of note that we saw are a Merlin having breakfast, Thompson Warblers, Vireos, Hummingbirds, Ruddy Ducks, Acorn Woodpeckers, a few Cedar Waxwings, and the Mandarin Duck.

Note: This was shot at a very high ISO 1250 to stop action and blur so there is quite a bit of noise even after using a noise reduction tool. I’d rather have noise than a blurry photo. I delete the blurry ones.

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 300mm f/4

Sun salutation

October 16, 2013October 16, 2013Posted in Birds, California, Copyright 2013 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved., Nature, Nikon, Photography, WildlifeTagged Birding, Birds in the Wild, Holidays; Valentine's Day; Nature; Wildlife; Ducks; Hearts; Nikon; Nikkor; Photography, San Jose California Nature PhotographyLeave a comment

Taken last week-end while looking for Cedar Waxwings. He was a delightful pause along the journey.

Zajac

October 16, 2013October 16, 2013Posted in California, Nature, Nikon, Photography, WildlifeTagged Birding; San Jose California Nature Photographer; Photography;, Nature, Wildlife3 Comments

When I got married way back in the early 80’s my name changed to Zajac. It’s Polish and means White Rabbit, or Little Rabbit depending on which Eastern European you’re talking to. 🙂 I’ve named our house Rabbit Hollow. In Polish my last name is pronounced Zi-onsh.
I’ve never really felt the name is me, but He-Man, and my children are Zajac’s, and I’m honored to be bonded with them for the rest of my life. I’ve often wondered if other married women feel this way? You know, my daughter will always be a Zajac to me no matter what.

I took this photo last week-end while out birding looking for Cedar Waxwings. It’s thought this rabbit was a pet set free. People have been seen feeding it I’m told.

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 300mm f/4

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