Birds in the Wild – Page 10 – Circadianreflections Blog

Super Moon Rising November 2016

November 15, 2016November 15, 2016Posted in California Wildlife Reserves, National Wildlife Refuges in California, Nikon, Photography, Sandhill Cranes, Super MoonsTagged Belt of Venus, Birds in Flight, Birds in the Wild, California, I was born under a wandering star, Nature, Nikon, Photography, Reflection, Sandhill Crane Evening Fly-In, Sandhill Cranes, Silhouette, Super Moon, Woodbridge Ecological Reserve35 Comments

I mentioned in yesterday’s blog post here that photographing November’s Super Moon was N° 1 on my photography list of things to do this past week-end.

Quite awhile back I made plans to shoot it with with friends, and a photography group we’re in in central California at a Sandhill Crane Refuge called Woodbridge Ecological Reserve aka Isenberg Crane Reserve. The Sandhill Cranes Winter here, and in November both Greater and Lesser Sandhill Cranes are on the Reserve.

The goal was to photograph the Sandhill Crane’s evening Fly-in and rising Super Moon.

Here is a series of images I made.

It was hazy and a little cloudy, but here is the Moon just rising above the mountains. You can barely see the mountains.

…some Sandhill Cranes making their way into the Marsh.

Two Sandhill Cranes flying in high in front of the Moon.

Once the sun went down it was pretty tough shooting. I really pushed the ISO to keep my shutter speed up so the Sandhill Cranes wouldn’t be too blurry, but I failed for the most part. I also focused on the Moon and not the Cranes which didn’t help keep the Cranes sharp. Still. I would do it all over again. It was an amazing evening hearing and seeing the Cranes coming in with this year’s special Super Moon, and the company was the best.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Digital Film| PS CC 2017 & On1 Photo 10.5

More to come…

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

November 14, 2016November 14, 2016Posted in Bird Photogaphy, birding, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Nikon, PhotographyTagged Bird Photography, Birds, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Nikon, Ruby-crowned Kinglet29 Comments

It was a busy week-end with little to no time spent on the computer. Of course Photography figured high on my list of things to do this past week-end.

The Super Moon was number 1 on my list and I made plans months ago to shoot it with friends in Central Valley Calif. We were a large group and while waiting for the group to assemble before heading to our chosen shooting location I was photographing little birds in a nearby bush.

A friend and I spied a little flighty bird hopping from one branch to the next all the while staying deep in the foliage. I thought it might be a Warbler of some sort, but couldn’t be sure until I got a better look. I watched and waited hoping it would come out just for one good look and image. A little patience paid off. It showed itself in the open less than a minute! I managed to get only 3 frames of it hoping with fingers crossed that just one of those frames would be good.

Imagine my delight at finding I liked all three well enough to keep and share!

Then late last night I was trying to catch up with blogs and emails and read Donna’s post about her latest birding adventure and there in her images was a bird that looked just like the little bird I photographed that very afternoon!

I pulled out my Stokes Field Guide to the Birds of North America to compare my bird, and Donna’s bird with the Field Guide to see if I had a match and positive identification. I believe so! If true then this bird is a new ” Lifer” for me! An exciting spotting indeed! Thank you Donna!

Without further ado I present a Ruby-crowned Kinglet with the 3 images I made:

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

Ruby-Crowned Kinglet

If you think this is different bird please let me know!

Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Professional Digital Film|

More to come…

Fall Colors in the Eastern Sierras

October 23, 2016Posted in birding, Eastern Sierras, Fall Color, Landscape Photography, Nikon, PhotographyTagged Birding, Birds in the Wild, Creeks, Eastern Sierras, Landscape Photography, Mono Lake, Nature, Nikon, Photography38 Comments

Here are several images I made while in the Eastern Sierras looking for Fall Colors.

A spillover along a creek…

Spill Over

The back-light was gorgeous on this little tree, but the broken branch looked like an arm with fingers placing the tree in the light to me.

Backlit Leaves

a little cluster of color among the sage brush… Fall Colors

After sunrise I turned around and saw some Alpine Glow on the Sierras so hustled over to the this side to make a quick image. The reflections were nice too.

Alpine Glow on Eastern Sierras from Mono Lake

I was delighted to see a little flock of White Crowned Sparrows. They’re just beginning to show up in the Bay Area to winter where I live.

White Crowned Sparrows

a valley full of color!

Fall Colors

I couldn’t resist a little close up of the new pinecone with the golden Bokeh gleaming behind it. Feels like Christmas in October. 🙂

Pinecone Virginia Lake Area

I walked back from Misty Fall about a quarter mile to get this shot. I’m so glad I did. I love this sign!

South Fork Bishop Creek Canyon

Nikon Df| Nikkor 17-35mm & 180mm lenses| Delkin Digital Film| Tripod & Hand-held

More to come…

Plan B is for the Birds

September 26, 2016September 26, 2016Posted in Birds, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Birds of Prey, Insects, National Wildlife Refuge, National Wildlife Refuges in California, Nature, Nature Photography, Nikon, Photography, Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, San Jose California Nature Photographer, WildlifeTagged Birds, Birds in the Wild, Deer, Doe, Dragonflies, Ducks, Fawn, Insects, Nature Photography, Night Heron, Nikon, Northern Pintails, Peregrine Falcon, Pied-billed Grebe21 Comments

My original Photography plans for last week-end fell apart mid-week when one of the friends I was going with fell ill. Rather than go anyway which didn’t sit well with me or my friend Theresa we two switched gears and decided to go birding in the Central Valley to see what birds if any had arrived early.

I had read a few reports of early migrants in the area; we hoped to find one or two, and spend some time catching up with each other.

I left for T’s house early (6:30am) so we’d get to the Refuge in the morning when the birds are more active.

We found the first pond completely sans water. Fish and Wildlife have just started filling the ponds we discovered. Many of the ponds we’re used to seeing full of water were bone dry, but it is early in the season!

Just as we were starting the auto-route we spied a Doe and her Fawn in the tall grass. I didn’t get an image of them together. Mom decided her male Fawn was too close to the road and moved to higher grass. Honestly, I think she looks young!

Doe Deer Female

The Fawn has two little adorable antler nubs. Fawn Male

Early arrivals: There were quite a few White-fronted Geese on the little islands in the ponds that had water.

White-fronted Goose

Northern Pintails, and Shovelers are showing up, but I didn’t make any images of the Shovelers they were too far out. You see a Northern Pintail in image above giving me a one wing salute. 🙂

Among the usual suspects here were thousands of Dragonflies,

Dragon Fly

Pied-billed Grebes

Pied-billed Grebe

Night Herons; most were deep in the foliage, but one was on Sentry duty,

Night Heron

We saw a female Harrier flying low in the distance hunting, a few Red-tail Hawks, and as we approached the tree the Bald Eagles hang out in there we saw there was a Peregrine Falcon perched on a snag surveying the land.

Once the Eagles return I doubt we’ll be seeing this Falcon in this tree. 🙂

Plan B turned out to be a great day, and it was lovely hanging out with Theresa. You can find her images on flickr here.

Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm VR| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015.5

More to come…

What’s Blooming?

August 30, 2016September 1, 2016Posted in Birds, Birds in the Wild, CATS, Cultivated Flowers, Flowers, PhotographyTagged Birds, Birds in the Wild, Blue Jays, CATS, Cultivated Flowers, Dahlias, Drinks, Golden Gate Park, iPhonography, Nikon, Park Chow SF, Photography, San Francisco33 Comments

I met Gordon and several other photography friends Sunday in Golden Gate Park to photograph the Dahlia Garden next to the Conservatory.

We arrived a bit ahead of the others and found the garden mostly empty, the sky was overcast which lent itself to nice even lighting.

The company was amazing, the blossoms were at peak perfection, and the bees were busy humming along doin’ their thing.

Here are some images from the morning,

Target in Sight…

Target in Sight!

Nikon Df| 24-70mm f/2.8G ED| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2015.5

Red, and Yellow

Dahlia

Nikon Df| LensBaby Composer w/ Soft Focus Optic @ f/2.8

This is my best side… This Blue Jay posed nicely for me.

Blue Jay

Nikon Df| Nikkor 80-200mm f.2.8D @200mm| f/4

…and there was real live Tom & Jerry cat, and mouse games in the background. The cat caught and let the mouse go 4 times while I was paying attention. Later in the morning I noticed other people watching the cats movements, so I think it was still toying with the mouse. In this image which is really dark…it was overcast, and the cat was far down the path from me…the cat has the mouse in its mouth.

He dropped the mouse in this flowering bush and began the chase all over again. I sure hope they both liked the game!

Feral Cat with Mouse

Gordon, myself, and two other friends headed for Brunch at lunch time. I started with a Virgin Bloody Mary: It’s an iPhone pic and I’m not that good at those! It was spicy and really good! I want to learn how to make this drink.

iPhone5| Park Chow, San Francisco

I had a marvelous veggie omelette with goat cheese, zuccini, and cheddar cheese, home style potatoes on the side, and toast with homemade blackberry jam. I was too hungry to take a photo. I was so fat when I left the table!

We headed back to the park to see the Rose Garden and then we did a mini Doorscursion.

Those images will come in the future.

Images developed in PS CC 2015.5, and Nik Suite

More to come…

Clark’s Grebes

August 6, 2016August 6, 2016Posted in Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Clark's Grebes, Nature Photography, Nikon, PhotographyTagged Bird Photography, Birding, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Clark's Grebes, Grebe Behavior, Grebe Chicks, Nature, Nikon, Photography20 Comments

Today I thought I share some images from my Spring Grebe excursion. We met at 5:45am to get out on the water to see the sun rise over the mountains and get that great light.

We were so fortunate to have a lovely morning with a rosy glow, and the Grebes were up and feeding already as well.

The male Grebes impressed me by how hard they work to feed the family. I’ll try to convey that with some images.

The male making a fish transfer to his mate and a hungry chick poking its head out in anticipation;

Clark's Grebe Pair making fish transfer

…but that little fish was a slippery one and she dropped it, fortunately, she was able to retrieve it quickly!

Clark Grebe Pair

Here a Clark’s Grebe male is just about to make the transfer;

Clark's Grebe Male making Fish Transfer to Female

Here’s a Clark’s Grebe male feeding a fish directly to a chick. That fish looks too big for that tiny bill!

Clark's Grebe Male Transferring Fish to Grebe Chick

With several mouths to feed the male does a whole lot of fishing!

He helps with swimming lessons, and even gives the female a break by allowing the chicks to swim from Mom’s back to his. Western Grebes: Yes, it’s a butt shot. 🙂

Western Grebes

Seeing this was so exciting and so darn adorable!!

Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015.5

Have a wonderful week-end Everyone!

More to come…

Draw-a-Bird-a-Day:June 2016

June 8, 2016June 8, 2016Posted in Draw a Bird Day, Nature, Nature Photography, Photography, WatercolorTagged #drawabirdday, #NatureDoodlewash, Birding, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Killdeer, Lumix FZ200, Northern California, Sennelier, Watercolor50 Comments

I wasn’t motivated to paint for the longest time. I was planning my trip to NYC, then while in NYC all I wanted to do was take photographs. At the end of each day there I fell into bed exhausted from walking and touring, then when I got home my son: Big Baby Boy and his lovely finance the Dark Haired Beauty came home for a long week-end , so instead of wanting to paint, or develop images I wanted to hang out with them.

…and just like that May was gone! Who wants to paint when all that is going on?

Okay, I know real painters would! Just like I was making photographs the whole time. I get it! 🙂

Late this afternoon the image of a Killdeer I took back in April of this year called me to paint it. I don’t have clue how that happened because, my focus today has been on the letter A, and the Number 7. For the next 25 days we’re coloring and wearing Alphabet wristlettes…a letter a day…and I’ve added a number a day to that.

I’ve been teaching #1 Grandson who is already 3 1/2 years old his letter sounds, along with letter recognition, number counting and recognition, living science, earth science, literature, manners, and appropriate behavior in our house and in public since he was born, but it’s been getting more intense the the last year. I’m so ready for this kid to read and do kindergarten math!

Phew, is it any wonder I’m exhausted when Baby Girl gets home from work? He knows his alphabet from A to Z, and some numbers and letters by sight, but not all the sounds, letters, or numbers by sight. It’s time to step it up! Add this to a very busy boy who wants to play and be busy with his toys, inside and out all day!

Seriously, at the end of the day uncork a bottle of wine! I’m ready to unwind! 🙂

Armed with a glass of slightly chilled Zin I began to draw my second attempt at the Killdeer. The first attempt had too many issues.

Those issues were mostly proportion, shape, and size related, and color mixing. Sigh! If I could draw all my problems with art would be nil! Seriously. NIL! I WISH I COULD DRAW!

This is my second attempt: Still with issues related to proportion, shape and size, but much better than the first attempt.

Killdeer in Watercolor

The image is taken from a photograph I made in April 2016. This painting isn’t nearly as cute as my photograph is. Sigh. Perhaps a few more tries drawing it will achieve that.

I hope so!

The inspiration image here.

Oh, I forgot to add that I used my new Sennelier watercolor paints for this painting. He-Man gave me the 12 + 6 tin for my birthday last month. It’s the first time I’ve used them to paint anything besides a color chart. I love the way the colors look on paper. There’s a wonderful vibrancy to them. I need to add a couple of greens to the kit though.

I used my Escoda Reserva #6 rd, and Mimik Kolinsky #12 brushes, and painted this in my Strathemore Mixed Media Journal.

This is part of Draw-a-Bird Day over at Laura’s Createartevery.com . To see all the bird art posted today click here. Scroll down to the comments to see the links to all the posts shared this month.

To read the original story of how Draw-a-Bird Day got started click here

The post is also part of Charlie O’Shields doodlewash #NatureDoolewash

Lumix FX200| Lexar Professional Digital Film| Handheld| PS CC 2015

More to come

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