“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.” ― Eudora Welty
Copyright ©2023 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
It looks worse than it is. It’ll grow back!
After I set up my new birdbath 3 lizards came to check it out straight-away…this was one of them and the bravest of the 3.
Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm| PS CC 24.4.1
more to come...
Copyright ©2023 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.
Here and there throughout the Carrizo Plain were patches of purple flowers. The most prominent was the Great Valley Phacelia.
This particular genus is only found in California and Baja California. Per Plants.usda.gov site they can be found:
Phacelia ciliata is found only in California and Baja California in Mexico. Within California distribution includes the Northern
Coastal Ranges, the Sacramento Valley including Sutter Buttes, the San Joaquin Valley, the San Francisco Bay, the Southern
Coast Ranges and South West California, but excluding the Channel Islands. For current distribution, please consult the Plant
Profile page for this species on the PLANTS Web site.
Habitat: Great Valley phacelia is found associated with Coastal Sage Scrub, Northern Oak Woodland, Foothill Woodland
and Valley Grassland.
Adaptation
Great Valley phacelia is drought tolerant and grows well in areas given 7 to 18 inches of annual precipitation. It grows on a
range of soil types from clays to sandy loams to gravelly slopes and tolerates moderate salinity. It is found at elevations from
seal level up to 5,000 feet (Calflora, 1997; Walden et al. 2013).
They’re considered one of the “blue” flowers and they’re a pollinator.
I got a wee bit behind with posts due to a trip down to SoCal to visit Big Baby Boy, and the Dark Haired Beauty. We crammed a lot into a few days, but I’m home now and catching up.
I’ll be sharing more from our wildflower Super-bloom trip in the future.
Nikon Df w| Nikkor 105mm and 35mm lenses| PS CC 24.4.1
more to come…
Copyright ©2023 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION!
On Easter He-Man and I met our friend Gordon of https://undiscoverdimagesamongstus2.wordpress.com/
down in SoCal at the Carrizo Plain National Monument to photograph
the wildflowers in bloom…or Super-bloom 2023.
The Carrizo Plain has a lot of yellow flowers. Today we’ll focus on the Orange Fiddlenecks with an honorable mention of a few other yellow wildflowers.
Orange Fiddlenecks, Hillside Daisies, and Goldfields cover the distant mountains and the plain, and in the above image you can see front right a few Tidy Tips too.
It was so beautiful and not too crowded being a holiday.
Next time I’ll share other views, and flowers that I saw while here.
Nikon D810 & Nikon Df w/ Nikkor 105mm macro lens & Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G| PS CC 24.3.0
more to come…
Copyright ©2023 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION!
Here are a few images of some critters I’ve seen this month while out birding.
Big Horn Sheep- Males: These guys were such a great treat to see! I also saw Ewes with lambs up higher in the hills, and further west, but the images aren’t good as they were too far out of my lenses range.
Wild Mustang-Stallion
Wild Mustang- Mare
Fuji X-T3| Fujinon 100-400mm| PS CC 24.3.0
more to come…
Copyright ©2023 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION!
After having to postpone a trip to California to do some birding with friends 2 times due to weather I was finally able to cross the mountains and make that meetup last weekend.
We had a lovely day weather wise. It was sunny, not windy, and thankfully not muddy from all the rain and flooding the area had had.
On my way to meet the group I stopped at a refuge along the way just after daybreak to see if there were birds on the pond. There were hardly any but, oh, it was pretty.
I wanted to drive the auto route to see what birds were in the other ponds but, every thing beyond the platform pond was closed due to flooding. I hung around for a bit hoping some more birds would fly in, but the birds that were flying overhead kept on flying…I wondered where they were headed since it wasn’t this lovely pond they were headed for? What was wrong with this pond?!!
I left to meet up with my friends at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge just up the road about 20 miles.
I took just over 700 hundred images but, after my first culling I have a smidge over 200 keepers, and quite a few of those are duplicates that will require a second culling to really hone it down and free up much needed disk space. That second culling is so hard. Do you find it as hard as I do to let go of those? I feel like I need those as back up images! It’s nuts I know especially as I have a two fold backup system in place for my images and yet…it’s so hard to let some of those duplicates go!
I’ve only processed two of my images so far. The top image in this post and this Red-Shouldered Hawk. I had to work so hard for its image. I was driving around the auto-route and this bird was on the passenger side of the road way up high at the top of this dead snag. I couldn’t see it from my seat. I had to reposition my car kinda kaddy wompass, and hope no one else came up behind me while Gordon a fellow blogger from https://undiscoverdimagesamongstus.wordpress.com/who was in the back seat and I photographed this bird.
I have a console between bucket seats in the front so I wasn’t able to slide over to get my camera out the window. Lemme tell ya this wasn’t an easy shot. I wanted to be where Gordon was… in the back seat just then. 😀 It was worth the effort though. Isn’t it handsome! fyi- We’re not allowed outside of our cars while on the auto-route. There are a few spots where we are but this spot wasn’t one of those.
I don’t see this bird very often so I was very happy to get a decent image of it.
It was good birding but, there were fewer birds than have been at this refuge in past years at this time of year. I’m guessing they know something we don’t and maybe winter will be ending sooner than we think and the birds have been heading home to the north already. I hope that’s it anyway.
It was even better hanging out with dear friends while birding. I hope it’s not too long before we can get together again. We’re hoping for a February trip. Fingers crossed that happens!
I’ll be working on more images from this trip to share too but, if you know me it may be awhile before more images from this trip make it to the blog.
Oh, we have a big event in our family this week. Littlest will be 4 years old this week! Time flies! He’s still really into Dinosaurs, but he’s moving into the Superhero phase, and #1 Grandson has him into Pirates and Colonial American characters as well, but his birthday party theme is Legos! #1 Grandson got him into those as well. Aren’t big brothers the best!! 💗
Baby Girl sent this image of him with a couple of his birthday party decorations. He LOVES that Lego head…so does #1 Grandson! 😜
What’s happening in your life this week, any plans, events, or something new going on?
Fuji X-T3| Fuji 100-400mm| PS CC 24.1.0
more to come…
Copyright ©2022 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION!
I didn’t think I’d be able to see the Lunar Eclipse this time around because snow and cloud cover was predicted in the forecast. I set my alarm anyway and thought I’d just photograph Totality since it was in the middle of the night and cold.
When I got up and looked out the window I couldn’t believe it, it was clear and barely a breeze blowing!
It was just a few minutes after 2:00 A.M. PST…(I think that’s the time we’re in now? 🤷♀️ ), when I started taking my test shot.
Totality began at 2:16A.M here and I was ready for it. This image was made at 2:221A.M
The next Total Lunar eclipse to be visible in the USA won’t be until March 14, 2025. Until then my mind will be shifting from the
Moon to the Sun as there is an Annular Solar Eclipse in October 2023. The last time I photographed an Annular Solar Eclipse was back in 2012. You can see that post here . I’m hoping I can get to the sweet spot to photograph it again.
It snowed here all day yesterday and is looking magical and very much like Winter is here.
I hope you’re all having a good week, and are staying warm and safe.
Nikon D810| Nikkor 300mm f/4| PS CC 24.0.0
more to come…
Copyright ©2022 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION!
It snowed in the valley and mountains yesterday evening then it rained, then it rained and snowed at the same time. That was weird. What’s that phenomenon called when it does that? Big, fat chucky snowflakes coming down while it was raining. I’d never seen anything like it before.
I woke up hoping the sunrise would be pretty and there would be snow on the valley floor, alas no snow on the valley floor and barely any on the lower PineNut Mountains, but the Carson Range and Eastern Sierras are gorgeous this morning.
It was 28 degrees F when I stepped outside to make this image, and there’s a better than 50% chance of more snow this morning. I am hoping we get a little more today but, not tonight. He-Man and I have been meeting friends off and on for over a month on Weds. nights to play trivia at a local grill/bar. We’re having a lot of fun playing. We came in 4th on our first night of playing and have made it to the leader board every time since but we’ve not yet made it to the top 3. We’re team “The Silver Foxes”.
I need to scoot and look for the clues to tonight’s questions. I hope your week is going well, and you all have a lovely Wednesday!
Nikon D810| Nikkor 24-120mm| PS CC 24.0.0
more to come…
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