Tag: Nevada

Whatever Weds. Celestial and Birds

Posted in Birds, Birds of North America, Moon, Moonrise, Photography, Whatever WednesdayTagged , , , , 33 Comments

Copyright ©2025 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

While birding last week I saw a Cassin’s Finch chick being fed by its parent and made several images of it. Unfortunately, they were facing me with the sun to their backs and in my face. So, the image isn’t great but, what is… is what I discovered once I uploaded my images.

Off to the right of the birds is a satellite flare. I think it’s a Starlink flare/glint which would be the first time I’ve photographed one of those.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com Image

Regarding this next image- A friend had been sharing his images of the Moon several days ago with me so, the other evening when I saw the Moon shining out my living room window I was inspired to get up and photograph it.

Here’s the moon at 82.7% percent full. A waxing Gibbous Moon from July 6th.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//:circadianreflections.com Image

The bottom crater is Tycho. I really like its crusty textured bits. I know the other large crater off on the left below the Sea of Showers is the Copernicus Crater. I wish I didn’t need a poster to help me every single time with the other sea and crater names, but I do.

July’s Full Moon is called the Buck Moon. It also has several other names like Thunder Moon, and Hay Moon.

The Full Moon this month is July 10th.

Fun Facts:

This full moon coincides with a Major Lunar Standstill in 2025, making the moon appear especially low in the sky after sunset due to its orbital path and the recent summer solstice.

  • It will be the farthest full moon from the Sun in 2025, occurring shortly after Earth reached aphelion — the point in its orbit farthest from the Sun.
  • In some regions, such as India, the full moon coincides with Guru Purnima, a spiritually significant event, enhancing its cultural importance.
  • The Buck Moon gets its name from the Algonquin-speaking Native American tribes, as July is the time when male deer (bucks) begin to grow new antlers covered in velvet, symbolizing renewal and growth.

Fun facts gleaned from Space.com

Nikon D850| Nikkor 500mm PF-e| Processed with Photoshop CC

more to come…

Whatever Weds. April Fool’s Fun

Posted in PhotographyTagged , 32 Comments

Copyright ©2025 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Yesterday in my Nextdoor feed was this message from the State of Nevada.

State of Nevada

Local Agency

Public Information Officer Hailey Foster·

23 hr ago

Introducing the Silver State Standard: The Nevada DMV mandates that all vehicles must be painted silver by January 1, 2026 according to the Statewide Vehicle Color Standardization Act. Read more here: https://tinyurl.com/ut7jukn6

Clicking on the link opens a page that says, ” Statewide Vehicle Color Standardization Act

Please ensure your vehicles are painted silver to adhere to the state’s mandate.

What is it?

In an effort to reinforce Nevada’s proud identity as the Silver State, the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles is declaring the Statewide Vehicle Color Standardization Act, taking effect on January 1, 2026. Under this new initiative, all personal, commerical, and government-owned vehicles registered in Nevada will be required to be painted silver.

The purpose of this act is to promote state pride, improve traffic flow aesthetics and create the country’s first color-coordinated highway system.

The DMV encourages customers to begin painting their vehicles silver or purchasing vehicles that follow this guideline to avoid violation fees.

Picture of Silver vehicle

In Case You’re Still Reading

We cannot enforce a statewide vehicle color compliancy. We hope we made you laugh. Happy April Fool’s Day!”

I thought it was pretty funny and thought I’d share it since it was the most unique pun I saw all day. It had the most comments and likes I’ve seen on a Nextdoor post in my feed.

I hope you all had only fun pranks yesterday.

more to come…

Whatever Weds.-This & That

Posted in PhotographyTagged , , , , , , , , , , , , 57 Comments

Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

What a week it’s been! It all started on October 10th, 2024.

My neighbor and I rose early to head up to Emerald Bay for sunrise.

The color was earlier than we hoped so, we made a quick stop at Pope Beach to shoot the color and daybreak.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//circadianreflections.com Image

Then we made our way up to a lookout over Emerald Bay to photograph the lake.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//circadianreflections.com Image

Then we took our time making stops along the way home to photograph some Autumn Color.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//circadianreflections.com Image

We saw a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk hunting for breakfast. She caught a Vole but, I won’t gross you out with those images.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//circadianreflections.com Image

Later that evening I saw the Northern Lights for the first time ever. That post is here. It was glorious.

Friday morning I birded with my usual birding group and we had a great morning seeing 40 species of birds. Along with the birds I noticed some spooky Zombie Pirates lurking by the pond. Here’s one.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//circadianreflections.com Image

Saturday morning I was up early and met up with two girl friends to do my first Big Day. It’s a 24 hour global birding marathon put on by Cornell Lab of Ornithology. We didn’t sign up as team or register our day but we, birded from 8AM until after 4PM. I saw 45 species. It was pretty fun day. We posted our sightings on ebird.org so they’ll have our record for their counts and information. Unfortunately, the next afternoon I got sick, and shortly afterwards I was hearing from my companions from the day before that they where also sick. We think the deli we stopped at to have lunch is where we picked up food poisoning. I brought home half my sandwich which I shared with He-Man and yep, he got it too. UGH.

Monday still weak, and very tired I was determined to locate and see Comet C/2023 A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) but, I wasn’t in shape to drive anywhere so I just stepped out on my back patio and photographed it there. It’s so cool and it has a great long tail!

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//circadianreflections.com Image

What a week! What a month it’s been so far! The Aurora, and the Comet really made my month. Everything else has been icing on the cake.

My tummy is still sketchy, but I’m on the mend and so are He-Man and my friends. I plan to be out photographing Halloween things, birding, and maybe the Comet with a better composition soon. I hope your week is going well. Oh, and watch out for the Zombies and Ghoulies! 👻

Nikon D850| Nikkor 500mm, &35mm| PS CC

more to come…

Something for Sunday-The Cosmos from Rural Nevada

Posted in Astro Photography, Milky Way, Nikon, Photography, Wide Field Astro-photographyTagged , , , , , , , , , 28 Comments

Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//circadianreflections.com Image

11 frames stacked. Nikon D850| Nikkor 20mm f/1.8g@f2

more to come…

Whatever Weds. Owls

Posted in Birding in Nevada, Nature Photography, Owls and Owlets, PhotographyTagged , , , , , , , 61 Comments

Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

The first week of March I started hiking out to see if a Great Horned Owl had returned to a nest she has used many times in the past. She wasn’t there. March 9th I returned and she was there!

Great Horned Owl-Female nesting

It was time to start looking for the Owlets. I returned on the 19th, 25th, and 26th of March and saw no owlets but, hoped Mama was sitting on eggs.

I returned on April 4th, 14th, and on April 20th a birding girlfriend sent me an email telling me she went by and there were two Owlets! I went the following day, the 21st. When I arrived I only saw Mama no Owlets. So I birded the area and waited and waited. After an hour or so I saw a little white fuzzy head stirring behind Mama then not too long after that the cutest 2 Owlets you’ve ever seen popped up to see what was happening in their new world. They must have just hatched days before by the looks of them.

Great Horned Owl Female with her Owlets in the nest.

They barely could keep their eyes open. They were so tired. Mama had one eye on me the whole time though.

I’ll be making regular trips over to watch them grow, and hopefully this year will be the year I see them branching. I’ve never seen the previous year’s owlets do that here, and I’ve also never seen the Male GH Owl who I know has to be nearby.

Spring is here so I put out the outdoor cushions Monday morning and wouldn’t you know it Tuesday morning it rained. 🤣

I hope your week is going well.

Nikon D850| Nikkor 500mm PF-e| PS CC

more to come…

Thursday Doors- For Rent

Posted in Birding in Nevada, Photography, Thursday DoorsTagged , , , , , , , 33 Comments

Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. 

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

Available at Sparrow Pole Bungalows! Cute one room birdhouse with plenty of floor space and a tall ceiling for that perfect cozy nest. You’re sure to be the Early Bird in the neighborhood as the front door faces east so your day will start with the sun shining into your cozy nest.

You’ll love your neighbors, and there are bird feeders nearby.

Birdhouses

This post is part of the Thursday Doors- a weekly challenge group hosted by Dan Antion over at No Facilities. Click on the link to see other doors from around the world-https://nofacilities.com/2024/04/18/still-in-oakland/

more to come…