Over my lifetime I’ve seen — and heard! — so many scrub jays and magpies as I grew up in this part of California that I usually pay little attention to them and have never bothered to photograph them. Still, these two birds, both corvids, are intelligent, inquisitive, and mischievous, not to mention noisy. The California scrub jay actually ranges […]
My entry for Cee’s Black & White Photo Challenge this week.
Yesterday morning I noticed a large group of swallows swirling above my head as I walked along the base of the bluffs by Lake Natoma. They were moving so fast I had trouble catching them with my camera — but this morning I cranked up my shutter speed and went back for another try. I was also surprised that they […]
When I can walk from my house down to Lake Natoma early in the morning and see this kind of bird activity, I call it a very good day!
It’s not too surprising that a pond-dwelling turtle would be sunning himself on a log; but I never even noticed him sitting there until I looked at the image on my computer. If that’s not a ninja turtle, I don’t know what is!
I didn’t go to Sacramento Bar yesterday to look for birds, but I found quite a few. The Great Blue Heron was a surprise — not because I didn’t expect him to be there, but because I couldn’t believe how close he let me get while I shot pictures. Eventually, he flew away, but he didn’t go far, as we […]
Today was a very good day for spotting birds — plus one dragonfly. This morning I also realized that very often when I’m hearing the sounds of birds I’m not truly listening. The rufous-sided towhee (above) was practically yelling at me, and I would have never even seen him if I hadn’t chosen that moment to pause for a drink […]
I never know what new surprises I might find on my morning walks! Today it was these bright red-orange flowers, looking a bit like small bells. They were growing in the shallow water along the edge of Lake Natoma, among the tall grasses and reeds. Wading in the water might have given me a better perspective, but I wasn’t up […]