A Western Bluebird at her Toilette

Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

A few weeks ago I had a first time visitor to the little feeder which turned into a bird bath after the rainy week. I was thrilled to see the Western Bluebird in my yard!

Well, she like the temperature, and atmosphere so she decided to stay and have a bath. Luckily my camera was nearby.

Eyeing up the tub, and making sure the coast is clear overhead…

Bluebird Female

At her toilette

Western Bluebird Female bathing

“Do you mind! I’m bathing here!” That look really got me thinking…”man I’m a voyeur!” 🙂

Do you mind I'm bathing here!

All clean! She had a good shake and flew away after this image was taken. I hope she comes back!

Western Bluebird

I took these images through the window so they’re a bit soft. I used the dehaze feature to help that a bit. It’s a pretty neat feature!

 

Nikon D300s| Nikkor 300mm f4| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2015

A Single Drop

© 2016 Deborah M. Zajac
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

“I have left my bed and walked upon the grass and the night dew has wet my feet and the hem of my garment. Here I stand under the blossoms of the almond tree, heeding the call of your spirit. ”
~Kahlil Gibran, Communion of Spirits, The Treasured Writings of Kahlil Gibran

Went I laid in the grass to photograph the dew and rain drops in the grass yesterday morning I thought of these lines from Kahlil Gibran’s prose Communion of Spirits.

 

Dew Drop

I hope you all have a sunny Friday and week-end  both in your spirits and weather!

Nikon Df| Nikkor 105mm macro lens| Hoodman Digital Film| PS CC 2015| Hand-held

More to come…

Monochrome Madness 2 34/52 Birds

Copyright ©2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

This week’s Monochrome Madness 2 I selected an image from a recent day I spent birding in the Pacific Flyway.  The Pacific Flyway is a section of CA. that is part of the Winter migration path used by birds fleeing the cold months in the Winter.

These are Black-necked Stilts, and Long billed Dowagers foraging for food.

MM2  34 of 52 Black Necked Stilts and Long Billed Dowagers

I was trying out the Tamron 150-600mm super telephoto lens this week-end for the extra reach which was nice to have, but I won’t be saying much about the lens because I wasn’t able to use it as much as I had hoped. We had rain come in which kept me indoors the following day instead of out photographing birds.  I won’t complain too much since we need all the rain we can get. 🙂

I’m really behind reading blog posts, but am catching up ever so slowly.

Too see all this week’s posts in Leanne Cole’s Monochrome Madness 2 click here

Nikon D700| Tamron 150-600mm| Hoodman Digital Film| CS6 & Silver Efex Pro

More to come…

New Moon, Venus, and a Very Faint Jupiter + 1 More

Copyright ©2105 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I didn’t venture too far for this image; just down the street. In hindsight I should have sought higher ground. Venus was setting fast and if I had been higher I might have been able to photograph longer ,so that Jupiter would have been brighter. Live and learn!

New Moon Venus and a Faint Jupiter

I do like the way the Moon looks, and am pleased I didn’t blow it out. 🙂

Jupiter is that teeny tiny white dot above and to the right of Venus which is the bright star next to the New Moon.

Nikon Df| AF-D 105mm f2.8@ f/10| 0.3sec| ISO 400| Manual Priority| Manual Focus| Tripod| Hoodman STEEL Ultra High Speed Digital Film| CS6

+ 1 More…

He-Man and I have been hiking every week-end together since his Dr. and Therapist gave him the okay after he ruptured his Patella Tendon and had surgery last November.  He’s really come a long way.

Today he was up for hiking the steepest, and longest hike since he was given the okay.

We gained about 1000 ft in elevation and hiked just about 5 miles. Here are several images I made along the hike.

All were taken with my iPhone 5 and developed in Photoshop CS6

Hiker’s Foe…Poison Oak

Copyright © 2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Copyright © 2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Mexican Elderberry

Mexican Elderberry

Rain Clouds in the Southeast….Rain Clouds

<Moffett Field Historic Hangers

Moffett Field Hangers from the trail

An unidentified wildflower…or not

Unidentified Flower

Garrod Pond…when we take #1 Grandson on Pony Rides it’s at this stable, and pond that the guides walk him. I love seeing how excited he is walking the Ponies around this pond looking at birds/  in the trees for birds, and looking for ducks in the pond. His Mother says I am influencing his interests.  I can’t say I’m totally innocent or sans motive! If I am able to influence him to love nature, an his environment then I think I can take a back seat and let the young lead.

Garrod Pond and Vineyard from the Trail

I OT: I  offer no excuses I love being a Grandma, and I’m really glad that I’m able to keep hiking,  moving my legs, and hope that I am able to for many years  to come!  I hear the secret to living a long happy, active life is keeping the legs moving.

I am going to try my best to keep moving…uphill!  The reward is going home down hill all the way baby! 🙂

More to come…

Monochrome Madness 2/12: Clark Grebes Courtship Dance

Copyright © 2015 Deborah M. Zajac  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Over the week-end several friends and I went up to Lakeport, CA to view Western and Clark’s Grebes doing their annual Mating Rituals. Part of the ritual is the Courtship Dance. It’s absolutely amazing to watch.  We went out on the lake with Eyes of the Wild Pontoon Boat Tours at 5:45am. We followed several large groups of Grebes and watched, and photographed their mating behavior.

The males and females come together talking then they get really low in the water face to face, and their voices/tones change then in an instant they’re up; dancing together across the water’s surface!

Monochrome Madness 2/12-Clark's Grebes Courtship Dance

Sometimes they come together low in the water, talk a bit then change their minds about dancing, other times one will get up to dance and find he or she is all alone in the dance. 🙂

It was a fascinating, and entertaining morning on the lake.

To see all the other entries to Leanne Cole’s week 12 of Monochrome Madness 2 click here.

Nikon D300s| AF-S Nikkor 300mm + Tamron 1.4x TC| Hand-held| Hoodman STEEL High Speed Digital Film| CS6 & Silver Efex Pro 2

More to come…

Mixed bag…

Copyright © 2015 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Here are several macro images I made while working on my Project 52.

An alternative to the “Nut Job” image from Week 6

The Nut Job Alternative

Soft notes on the wind…

From early Feb. 2015
From early Feb. 2015

Clockworks…from late Jan. 2015

Time Piece

Spring! From mid Feb. 2015

Spring in the Garden

Nikon Df| AF-D Nikkor 105mm Macro lens| Hand-held & Clockworks and Nut Job were Tripod shots with SB910 and SB600 Speedlights

More to come…