It’s kind of a fun challenge to try and photograph turtles sunning themselves on logs; they are extremely wary and tend to disappear into the water at the least sign of movement on the bank. Unfortunately, most of the turtles I see in my area are Red-eared Sliders, an invasive species that crowds out the native Western Pond Turtles.
I’m not absolutely sure of the ID on the small birds I spotted this morning near Lake Natoma, but it looks very much to me like a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. If so, I’m only sorry I didn’t get to see the bright red color; it’s visible on adult males when the bird is excited.
The theme for Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge this week is Blue.
The temperature was perfect for hiking this morning, as I joined a few fellow nature lovers from FOLFAN (Friends of Lakes Folsom and Natoma) on a trek to Avery’s Pond and Miners Ravine on the North Fork of the American River. We were led by the group’s vice-president Linda McDonald. Even though I’ve done this hike a number of times […]
I shot these pictures in the middle of October, which was the last time we saw overcast, cloudy skies in the area. The Big Guy has been disappointed at the lack of rain for its effect on the salmon run. And even though the nights are now getting decidedly chilly and most of the leaves have fallen off the sweetgum […]
Between fires, drought, and various other indignities, our local trees have been having a rough time over the past few years.
My entry for Cee’s Black & White Photo ChallengeCee’s Black & White Photo Challenge this week.
They won’t be laying eggs until early next year, but our local bald eagles are already checking out their chosen areas and starting to build (or rebuild) their nests. A couple of days ago I was very lucky to spot one of the Lake Natoma eagles sitting in the nest tree — probably wondering how long before the noisy humans […]
I see a lot of acorn woodpeckers as I hike around my area. It’s also not uncommon to spot acorn woodpecker granaries — storage trees where the birds drill holes to store acorns and other types of nut. But this male (females have a black cap with red only on the back of the head) was extremely busy working on […]