Cosumnes river preserve

Owyhee and I spent yesterday evening and much of today at the Consumne River Preserve south of sacramento. I was lured there to see the sand hill cranes that winter in the area. The cranes were amazing - there were hundred, probably thousands, of them scattered throughout the fields. It also was an amazing location for bird photography for just about any type of bird you might expect to find wintering in central calilfornia. It was raining the past few days, but somehow we got lucky and never had a single drop fall on us while we were out and about. The overcast days made for more challenging photography in the low light, but in some ways, I almost often prefer this for birds due to the even, consist light. Here are a few frames...

Sandhill crane in field
Snow geese join the flock

Greater white fronted geese mix with snow geese

red tail hawk

coopers hawk

Owyhee found this green heron and we stalked it for quite a while but never got a clear view. This picture was made through tall grass. The bird almost wasn't visible to the eye, but the shallow depth of field sometimes has the ability to "see through" the brush. After some levels adjustments in photoshop to bring back contrast the result was this somewhat painterly image that some may not care much for, but I thought was fun enough to post here.

Owyhee used my other camera and made some nice images of her own including these...

This one is a little difficult to id, but I'm thinking its an american pipit
Sandhill cranes fly over snow geese

JTX

A few images from thanksgiving in Joshua Tree

Pictures from My wedding!

Here are a few great pictures from my wedding. So far, I've only seen a few - I can't wait to see the rest. The first three are from Joe and Ingrid who did a fantastic job! More of Ingrids photos are here http://www.ingridbarrentine.blogspot.com/
Owyhee made a truly stunning appearance just as the sun broke the horizon.

Here is our small gathering on the east ridge of Steens Mtn.
A fun portrait that will probably find its way to my wall...
This last image is from my dad who got a great moment with this picture...

A little more super macro with the backwards lens...
This is the eye of an alligator lizard.

I was playing around with some super-macro stuff this morning. An article in this months issue of Audubon about flies inspired me a bit, so I dug out a cheap old metal extension tube, taped a standard 50mm lens backwards, and headed to the backyard. Seems like a goofy set-up, but it works well. The images are id'ed as best I can based on the books I have...

Repetitive Tachinid fly

Circumpolar Bluet
Flesh Fly

Green Bottle Fly

Owyhee and I went to the Sonora Pass area to explore the climbing areas up there. All in all the climbing was pretty good. You have to look a bit to find the high quality routes, but there were a couple that were very excellent. I'm sure there are more if you know where to look!

Here is a quick tribute to Rev. Steve and his (and tamara's) blue eyed cat Neve

My good friend Joe married last weekend. Congrats Joe!

Neve the Brilliant-Blue eyed cat!

Coyote howling

I returned to Brushy peak last night to find the coyote family. This is a ferocious water bug. That's not my description, but is the actual name of this bug.

A stiff breeze and a downwind approach through the cover of some oak trees and thistles allowed Owyhee and I a wonderful opportunity to observe a family of coyotes without being noticed. We watched for prehaps five minutes before the father looked back and noticed us. Below is the mother at right, father on his back and the three pups in a pile between them at Brushy Peak regional park.The mother coyote invites to pups to nurse.
The following images are a fledgling great horned owl at Brushy Peak.

I discovered a great horned owl this evening hanging around in an area where many black birds (and at least one oriole) are nesting. His tolerance of them was surprising considering there persistance.

Images from yesterday and the day before...


Nature can be cruel sometimes. This coyote was heavily favoring his front left paw. I hope the best for her...