Tag: Nikon

The Circle of Life

Posted in Bird Photography, birding, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Hummingbirds, Nature, Nature Photography, Nikon, Photography, Santa Clara County BirdingTagged , , , , , , , , , , 46 Comments

Copyright ©2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Here’s the post I promised on Monday here that I would be sharing this week about a birding surprise.

After sunrise, and a little birding last Saturday Gordon, myself, and another friend went to breakfast then we headed over to another part of Don Edward’s Wildlife Refuge to check out the Anna’s Hummingbird on her nest.

I had heard from a good friend that she had had her brood of two. There were indeed two chicks in the nest, and their eyes were open!

They waited for Mama to return to the nest with food! They were so quiet. I thought they would be peeping constantly, but they didn’t.  They look too big for the nest already don’t they.  Mom must sleep on top of the nest with them smooched down into the nest to keep them warm at night.

This nest isn’t deep in the canopy either! It’s pretty exposed.

Anna's Hummingbird Chicks eyes open

When the chicks are new their Mom will leave the nest for very short periods of time. Just a minute up to 15 minutes to find food. The chicks can’t keep warm without her so she doesn’t dare leave them alone long. Once they can regulate their own temperatures and keep warm she leaves the nest to forage for food for up to 20 minutes.  This Mom would leave for 15-20 minutes, but return to do buzz or hover check several times too.

Here is the Female/Mom just returning from a food sortie.

Anna's Hummingbird Female Returns to her Brood

Two little beaks hungry and not patient anymore.

Anna's Hummingbird with Hungry Chicks

Food at last!

She eats insects and drinks nectar which she regurgitates as a liquid mixture into the open mouths of the chicks.  She’s on the go constantly hunting for food and feeding the chicks every 20 minutes! The male doesn’t help at all feeding or raising the chicks. If the male does come around the Female will chase him away b/c she finds him a threat to the chicks.

Anna's Hummingbird Feeding her Chicks

These chicks are already a couple of weeks old. At 3 weeks old they will look more like Hummingbirds, and will be testing out their wings more to get ready for flight.  Once they’re flying the Female will show them how to catch bugs, and drink nectar, and within a few days of that the chicks will fly away as adults never to return to the nest.

I can’t tell you how amazing this was to watch and photograph! It was gift!  It’s so moving, and beautiful watching her feed the chicks and knowing how dedicated she is, and how tired she must be. These images were made on March 18, 2017

I dropped by Thursday afternoon (3/23) to see them. They were still in the nest with Mama feeding them every 20 minutes. There was quite a crowd there, and I had #1 Grandson with me. He got a kick out seeing the chicks too. I didn’t break out my camera today. I was holding #1 in my arms so he could see them, but I’m hoping I can get back over once more before they fly from the nest which may be as early as a week and a half away.

For more information about Hummingbird chicks you can visit http://www.worldofhummingbirds.com/baby.php

Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm| Lexar Digital Film| PS CC 2017

Have a wonderful week-end everyone!

More to come…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday 12/52 Spring came Barrelin’ In!

Posted in Cultivated Flowers, Flower Photography, Nikon, Photography, Spring, Wordless WednesdayTagged , , , , , , , , , , 32 Comments

Copyright ©2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Spring has Sprung

Nikon Df| Nikkor 105mm | Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2017 & On1| Daffodil Hill, Volcano, CA

More to come…

Dawn in the Marshlands

Posted in California Wildlife Reserves, Diablo Mountain Range, Morning, Nikon, Photography, San Francisco Bay Area, SunrisesTagged , , , , , , , , 37 Comments

Copyright ©2016 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Saturday morning was another very early 4A.M. wake up for a sunrise shoot with friends a little further north of me at Don Edward Wildlife Refuge.  The plan was to arrive early and photograph sunrise then go birding.

We met at 6AM et Quelle horreur! The gate was locked! It didn’t open until sunrise which wasn’t until after 7AM. Once the gate opened we drove out to the marshes/ponds and I raced to set up my rig to catch the colors that were unfolding in the Eastern sky.

The power towers run right through the marsh so I composed this image with them as a focal point and interest rather than trying to avoid them.  I also discovered that while packing my gear bag I inadvertently grabbed my 50mm lens rather than my 20mm lens!  They’re both small, and have the same make-up, and I wasn’t wearing my reading glasses. Sigh.

I rarely use this lens so, composing was a bit of challenge for me. I like a wider view, or a much tighter view, but I am happy with this composition.

Dawn in the Marshlands

Then I went birding but found very few birds on the marsh. The Winter migrants have pretty much left, but there were two pair of Canvasback ducks swimming in a stream which I was excited to see. I’ve been trying to be close enough to photograph one since I first saw one many years ago. Unfortunately, they weren’t any closer on Saturday so I still don’t have a decent image of one.  Maybe next year. 🙂

The tale doesn’t end there though. No. It turned out to be a very exciting birding day, but I went to another refuge, and I’ll tell you about that later this week. I was out all day Sunday too, and haven’t had a chance to work on the many bird images I made this past week-end; between Saturday and Sunday I shot 1,100+ images.

Happy First Day of Spring!

Nikon D700| Nikkor 50mm| Lexar Professional Digital Film| PS CC 2017

More to come…

Thursday Doors-St. George Coptic Orthodox Church

Posted in Architecture, Churches and Cathedrals, Photography, Thursday DoorsTagged , , , , , , , , 55 Comments

Copyright © 2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Last week we had some Glorious weather. After the rain we’ve had to have such a sunny day and stay inside or in the backyard would have been nuts! I took #1 Grandson to the park to play, and because it was nearly Spring, and so warm, and sunny I decided it was the day to continue the tradition of a Spring visit to DQ for the ice cream of his choice. I did that with my son, and my daughter so I’d start with a new generation. It was time.

I took a different route to the nearest DQ and found this beauty. I started to pull over to take some photos for Thursday Doors, but the wail and screech from the car seat in the passenger seat from 4 yr old #1 Grandson about the delay in getting that promised Dairy Queen Chocolate Milk Shake; his choice was ear piercing and convincing enough for me to slowly drive by it vowing to, “be back!”. I had no idea this beautiful building was here!

Two days later after my Salon appointment sans #1 Grandson, I took a detour and went back.

St George Coptic Orthodox Church

I had the wrong lens with me. I needed an ultra wide angle. So, I added some canvas at the top to give the image a bit more room at the top.

For the History Buffs– The Churches website says:

They were founded in 1995.

“We are St. George and St. Joseph Coptic Orthodox Church of San José and Silicon Valley.  We’re a mid-size, tightly-knit church with a 2000-year history.  In fact, the Coptic Church is one of the oldest in the world.

  • We are Christian, so we follow the teachings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
  • We are Orthodox, so we adhere to the faith represented in the early Church many centuries ago.
  • We are Coptic, which means that many of our traditions and practices are derived from our Church’s origin in Egypt.
  • We are a Church, which means we regularly partake in divinely-inspired services as a community.”~http://stgeorgechurch.org/about-us/ 

This post is part of Norm 2.0’s Thursday Doors.  If you love doors and would like to see the doors others are posting, or post doors you’ve photographed and join other door lovers from around the world click here.

At the end of Norm’s latest Thursday Door post is a little Blue Link-up/View button click it to be taken to a page with all the links to view all the posts, and add your own if you’re a door enthusiast too.

Nikon Df| Nikkor 28-105mm| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2017

More to come…

 

 

 

 

 

Wordless Wednesday 11/52 Anna’s Hummingbird – Female Nesting

Posted in Bird Photography, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Hummingbirds, Nikon, Photography, Wordless WednesdayTagged , , , , , , , , , 55 Comments

Copyright ©2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Anna's Hummingbird Female landing on the Nest

Anna's Hummingbird Female tongue out on nest

Anna's Hummingbird Female Feeding

Anna's Hummingbird Female

Anna Hummingbird Female on the Nest

Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm @450mm| f/8| Lexar Professional Digital Film|PS CC 2017

More to come…

 

Walton Light Station Dawn

Posted in Nikon, Photography, Santa Cruz CA, Sunrises, Walton LighthouseTagged , , , , , , , , , 37 Comments

Copyright © Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

I met up with one of the photography groups I belong to at Santa Cruz’s Walton Light Station for sunrise this week-end.  We hoped for more clouds, but the weather changed from cloudy to clear late in the week so we knew it wouldn’t be very colorful, and yet there was some warm color, and a lovely glow low on the horizon as the sun was approaching.

Walton Light Station Dawn

But turning to my left looking northeast across the channel  there were clouds and some color.

Harbor Channel Santa Cruz Dawn

For the history buffs:

“Located at the northern end of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz Harbor is a haven for fishing craft and vessels. A harbor light, located at the west jetty, has marked its entrance for forty years. The original light was a box light structure which served from 1964 – 1996. It was replaced by a cylinder nicknamed “the water heater” which was used from 1996 – 1999. From 1999 until May 2002, a simple pipe structure held the light which marked the way into the harbor.

In 1998, the Santa Cruz community, under the leadership of Bill Simpkins and Jim Thoits, proposed replacing the unsightly harbor light with a lighthouse of classic design, adding a little more character to a community renowned for its characters. Fundraising efforts began in earnest, and with the contributions of many people, including a major donation from Charles Walton of Los Gatos, enough money was raised to begin construction of the new lighthouse in 2001.

The lighthouse, designed by Mark Mesiti-Miller and constructed by Devcon Construction, Inc., stands 41 ½ feet tall above the level of the west jetty, and 59 ½ feet above the mean low water mark. It weighs 350,000 pounds and is built to withstand a quarter million pounds of wave energy.

The construction began with a cylindrical inner core which houses electrical equipment and a circular staircase of forty-two steps which lead to the top of the lighthouse. Surrounding the inner core is a network of reinforcement rods, onto which “shotcrete” was blown and then hand-troweled to form the conical shape. These shotcrete walls are 4 ½ feet thick at the base. Finally, a durable weatherproof white finish was applied to the exterior of the lighthouse and a copper roofed lantern room topped it all off.

On June 9, 2002, the new harbor lighthouse was dedicated, and the signal, a green light flashing every four seconds at a focal plane of thirty-six feet, was activated. It is named the Walton Lighthouse, in honor of Mr. Charles Walton’s late brother, Derek, who served in the merchant marines and was lost at sea during World War II.” ~lighthousefriends.com

It was worth the O’Dark Thirty wake up alarm, and drive over the hill I thought.

Nikon Df| Nikkor 28-105mm| Delkin Digital Film| PS CC 2017 & On1

More to come…

 

 

Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Posted in Bird Photography, Birds, Birds in the Wild, Birds of North America, Nature Photography, Nikon, Photography, Poetry, Santa Clara County birdsTagged , , , , , , , , , 31 Comments

Copyright ©2017 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The Chickadees are back!  This little one was flying down to the feeder to grab a peanut then fly back to a perch inside the safety of my Camellia bush.

Chickadee

I’ll leave you with a poem about a sweet Chickadee by Hanford Lennox Gordon

Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee!
That was the song that he sang to me–Sang
from his perch in the willow tree–
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee.
My little brown bird,
The song that I heard
Was a happier song than the minstrels sing–
A paean of joy and a carol of spring;
And my heart leaped throbbing and sang with thee
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee.

My birdie looked wise
With his little black eyes,
As he peeked and peered from his perch at me
With a throbbing throat and a flutter of glee,
As if he would say–
Sing trouble away,
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee.

Only one note
From his silver throat;
Only one word
From my wise little bird;
But a sweeter note or a wiser word
From the tongue of mortal I never have heard,
Than my little philosopher sang to me
From his bending perch in the willow tree–
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee.

Come foul or fair,
Come trouble and care–
No–never a sigh
Or a thought of despair!
For my little bird sings in my heart to me,
As he sang from his perch in the willow tree–
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee dee:
Chickadee-dee, chickadee-dee;
Chickadee, chickadee, chickadee-dee.
~Hanford Lennox Gordon

Nikon D700| Nikkor 200-500mm @460mm| Lexar Digital Film| PS CC 2017 & On1

Have a great week-end everyone!

More to come…