Nature Photography Day

Yesterday was Nature Photography Day - I told my work team to take a photo and I got some wild ones - mostly of people in their work modes.  But also one of horses, and one of the full moon.  Here's my contribution - I was watering the containers on the back deck and saw these.  I'm a sucker for light and dark.

Flowering Beauties

We visited one of our favorite stores yesterday, the Garden Store.  They have an exquisite garden behind the store with wonderful flowers, trees, shrubs and water features.  Here's three flowers that caught my fancy as we walked around.

Summertime in the 'hood!

Well, although it is not really warm here, it is almost summertime; and as far as the kids are concerned they are out of school and it really is summertime! So the 'hood has been filled with kid noises the last few days.   Everyone seems to be having fun and lots of energy is dispelled.
Here's a couple of shots - I was invited to this 'lemonade' stand - although they had no lemonade, just water.  But they did have jawbreakers and a jolly roger for 10cents!  So I got them.  Love it!

Cole, who is the lad on the far left above, is into wheeled vehicles.  That's him below riding his dad's ATV around.

Creatures from the past

Similar to Sandhill Cranes, pelicans are creatures from the past.  They have apparently developed over a long, long time and are very good at what they do.  They are also very 'cool' creatures to watch.  Here's a couple of shots that isolate them.

Wrapping up weekend birds!

More birds today, and many of them are the commonplace birds that we often take for granted - sparrows, goldfinch, house finch, starlings, robins and mourning dove.  They are so ubiquitous that it is easy to overlook them and not see the beauty that they bring to the show.  Closeups often are helpful in stopping us for a moment to really look at the bird - they often have feet, eye stuff or other things that we haven't noticed.
Also included today are families of Canadian Geese - big and little, and a Tern - I think it is a Forster's but identification is not 100%.
Hope you enjoy and you take a moment to stop and look at the common birds around you.

Look at his right claw - looks like it is out of proportion!

The geese look like they have had a good year.

A real hunter for small fish - will dive underwater.

Coo, coo - I'm looking at you!

Starlings - one of the goofiest but very beautiful birds.

What do you call a gaggle of sparrows?

The common robin is a very beautiful and striking bird.

He looks like he just emerged from a pile of catsup! God can he sing!

More Birds!!

Murph and I visited the Farmington Bay Wildlife refuge with the rented 300mm f/2.8 and a 2x extender - and boy, what a feast!  It would have been a feast if all I had was an iPhone for a camera - as you'll see.
Pelicans, Great Blue Herons, ducks, flycatchers, grebes, yellow-headed blackbirds, carp, sandhill cranes (no photos), red-winged blackbird and a blue-beaked Ruddy Duck!
Here's some shots - the pelicans do a lot of things in small formations, so here they all dip beaks in at the same time (look like headless turkeys!) and then eat all at once - very cute.  The GBH was fairly comfortable with me while I was in the truck, so got some neat shots. American Avocets are always elegant.  And what can you say about a bunch of mallards with the white feathered guy?

Bird Crazy!

Murphy and I went out to Skull Valley, in the western desert area.  You really would not think of it as desert right now as it is so wet that mostly we walked in squishy grass!  But anyway, we saw some beautiful birds - Long-billed Curlews and Willets!
The Curlews are beautiful - a very golden color that is so wonderful when highlighted by the sun.  On the ground they are very gray and blend into the grass so well that it is hard to see them.  The Willets are also beautiful, primarily due to the black and white bands on their wings that show when they fly and when they land.  Similar to the Curlews, on the ground they are very nondescript and easily missed.
We were in their breeding area so they flew right at us many times, showing very little fear.  After we had been there a while and moved a bit away, they ignored us.  Guess they knew we were harmless!

Wonderful big sky day - and Murphy enjoyed it also!

At home, I used a rented 300mm f/2.8 lens with a 2X tele-extender on it giving me a total of 600mm.  At that distance I used a tripod and got these two photos - the black-headed grosbeak and a sparrow.  I really want to get a Lazuli Bunting - perhaps tomorrow one will show up.  Since I got the lens all I have seen are the first-year buntings and they do not have any color on them.