Tag: California

Harbinger of Spring

Posted in Bird Photography, birding, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Cedar Waxwing, Nature Photography, Photography, San Jose California Nature PhotographerTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , 19 Comments

Copyright © 2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

This has been a fantastic birding season so far!  The Vermilion Flycatcher,  the Red-tailed Hawk with its prey, the elusive Loggerhead Shrike, the Bald Head Eagle I didn’t get a photo of, the pair of Ring necked Pheasants, and the sweet Hermit Thrush on my fence all were amazing, and exciting sightings, but in Winter is there anything better than a Harbinger of Spring?

I heard Cedar Waxwings were showing up, a sure sign that Spring is on the way!  I’ve had Robins in the Ginko tree out in the front yard, and in back yard lately so, I’ve been looking for the Waxwings because, they usually arrive with the Robins, and last year there was a flock of Waxwings in the Ginko trees a few houses away from me. That was a first for me.  You can read about that here

Last week-end my birding friend and I stayed local and found some!

Cedar Waxwings

Soon they were taking turns flying down to the bush with  luscious, ripe red berries   beneath this tree.

Cdear Waxwing Feast

… and one was shy,

Cedar Waxwing

I spent some time photographing the Robins that also were there to feed on the same berries, but I’ll save those images for another post.

I’m off to Yosemite National Park today to photograph something other than birds, and my son and his girl-friend are arriving early Saturday morning for the week-end. It promises to be a stellar week-end!

I’ll catch up with all your posts when I return.  I hope you all have a wonderful week-end!

Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm VR| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015

More to come…

 

 

San Francisco from Slacker Ridge Trail

Posted in Hiking, Landscape Photography, Photography, San Francisco Bay, San Francisco CATagged , , , , , , , , , 17 Comments

Copyright ©2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The day before I came down with Strep Throat I hiked up Slacker Ridge Trail with friends to view San Francisco, Fort Baker, Horseshoe Cove, and the trailing lights along US101/HWY 1 going in and out of San Francisco.  It was an amazing night. Just before we headed out for the night. We saw this bizarre rocket shooting across the sky with a triangle white light, and long blue tail.  It looked as if it were coming straight for us from San Francisco, but it veered to the right over the bridge and up, up, up and away.  Unfortunately, I had packed up my gear ready to head down the hill so I didn’t get an image of it.

It was reported that the Navy had test fired an unarmed Trident Missile from a submarine in San Diego. The Missile was seen in San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Oregon, Nevada, WA, and I read the target was in Alaska! It was amazing to see but, I do regret packing up my gear!

San Francisco Skyline from Slacker Ridge Trail

Nikon Df| Nikon 24-70mm| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| PSCS6

More to come…

 

Crab Fest!

Posted in California, Elkhorn Sloug, Grebes, Moss Landing, Seals, Shorebirds, Willet Adult WinterTagged , , , , , , 11 Comments

Copyright © 2015 Deborah M. Zajac  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I picked up a new Point & Shoot camera to take Kayaking since I’m too chicken to take my DSLR with me. I meant to go Kayaking yesterday, but it was windy there, and the water was a bit choppy, so I bailed. Instead I wandered around the slough using the camera getting used to it. I bought the Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ200 for it’s 25mm-600mm zoom  (35 mm equivalent),  its Fixed f/2.8 Leica lens, it shoots in RAW, and has  Manual controls.  Here are some of the first images I made with the camera. (Click on the image to see it larger)

Willet Adult: Winter

Willet with Crab -Winter

The Empty Slip

Moss Landing Marina

The Outpost

The Out Post

Clark’s Grebe

Clark's Grebe

The Lookout

The Lookout

It’s different, but with a little more time I’ll get the hang of it.

Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ200| Lexar Professional 600x Speed Digital Film| Hand-held

More to come…

Sunset Santa Cruz, CA

Posted in Pohtography, Santa Cruz California, SunsetsTagged , , , 10 Comments

Copyright © 2014 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved

We had some amazing clouds yesterday which I wanted to shoot over at the coast. Fortunately, my friend Dali was thinking the same thing. We met up then headed over the hill. Which in local speak means going to coast. The hill by the way is actually the Santa Cruz Mountain Range that those of us in San Jose cross to get to Santa Cruz.

The amazing clouds got all mixed up with the fog and blocked any color that might have been, but it made the sky dramatic and moody. Walking back to the car we were stopped by this scene. The Sun was a gorgeous ball of orange that dropped into a small pocket just above the cliff which framed it beautifully.

It was a lovely end of the day.

Sunset Santa Cruz CA

Nikon Df| AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| Tripod

More to come…

Catch of the Day!

Posted in Birds, California, San Jose California Nature Photographer, Shorebirds, WildlifeTagged , , , , , 6 Comments

Copyright © 2014 Deborah M. Zajac ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Catch of the Day

The fish this Seagull caught was so big it kept slipping out of the Gull’s mouth onto the sand. It was still alive and flopping about too. Several times the waves came up threatening to pull the fish back to sea, but that Gull would grab a fin and pull it back to the dry sand and try to eat it over and over. Finally he managed to swallow it.

Carmel by the Sea-  Nikon D700| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f4| AF-S Nikkor 14eII Teleconverter

“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

Posted in California, Nature, Photography, WildlifeTagged , , , , Leave a comment

Copyright © 2014 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

"I hate the words 'handicapped' and 'disabled'. They imply thatTaken last month while out birding with friends Rainey, and Rene. He looks like he could overcome anything!

Nikon D300s| AF-S Nikkor 300mm f4 @ f8| 1/1000s| ISO 500| Manual Priority| Hand-held