Daffy Duck

Northern Shoveler -- Colusa National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, ISO: 640, f/5.6, 1/1600s

When ducks go bad . . .

Mmm . . . Worms

White-faced Ibis -- Colusa National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, ISO: 1000, f/5.6, 1/2000s

The things some animals eat . . .

Do you ever wonder what a worm tastes like to a bird?  Do their minds give the same feedback to them that our minds give to prime rib or barbecue pork or does a worm just taste like a worm to them?  If they're not getting the prime rib experience, I sure hope worms are an acquired taste.  What a horrible existence to have to eat grubby old worms all day if all you taste is grubby old worms.

McWay Falls

McWay Falls, Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, CA
Canon PowerShot SX40 HS

There are endless photographic opportunities in Big Sur.  McWay Falls is one of the most popular features for photographers on the coastline.  It's easy to understand why.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 147, image #7374.

Duck Week: Cinnamon Teal

Cinnamon Teal -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS II, ISO: 500, f/5.6. 1/2000s

Cinnamon teals are always fun to spot.  They're small ducks, bigger than ruddy ducks and buffleheads but not by a whole lot.  I've found that they are tough to shoot for whatever reason.  Maybe another way to say that is that I don't have very many good shots of cinnamon teals.

One of the things I find surprising is that they have the same blue color in their wings that a blue-winged teal does.  I guess it's not too surprising if you look only at the female ducks.  It's tough for me to tell a lady blue-winged from a lady cinnamon teal.  I just assume if she's hanging out with a cinnamon drake she's a cinnamon teal and vice versa.

Cinnamon Teal -- Merced National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF-S 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS II, ISO: 400, f/5.6, 1/2000s

Duck Week: Blue-winged Teal

Blue-winged Teal -- Arrowhead Marsh, Oakland, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS II, ISO: 400, f/5.6, 1/2000s

Well, it's not too much of a mystery how this bird got it's name, is it?

We don't see a lot of blue-winged teals in Alameda and Oakland.  I can generally count on a snall handful of sightings in a given year.  When they show up at the shoreline they tend to stick around for a few days.

I'm partial to the leopard patterns in their feathers.

Blue-Winged Teal -- Arrowhead Marsh, Oakland, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS II, ISO: 400, f/5.6, 1/2000s

Duck Week: Northern Pintail

Northern Pintail -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO: 320

Northern Pintails are the best dressed ducks I know.  Their lines are sharp.  Their bills are polished.  There might be flashier ducks but none spiffier.

Northern Pintail -- Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/2000s, ISO: 500

Duck Week: Goldeneyes

Barrow's Goldeneye -- Oakland/Alameda Estuary, Alameda, CA
Canon Powershot SX40 HS

There are two types of goldeneye ducks that can be found in our area.  The less common of the two is the barrow's goldeneye.  This photo was from two winters ago.  I haven't see any since then.  That was a great year for birds in the estuary near my house.  Scores of surf scoters and dozens of scaup and goldeneye could be seen on any given day during the winter.  This year I might see a few scoters and a couple of scaup if I'm lucky.

Female Common Goldeneye -- Oakland/Alameda Estuary, Alameda, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/2000s, ISO: 800

I saw a lady goldeneye in the estuary on Sunday.  She was a common goldeneye swimming alone.  The easiest way to tell the female common goldeneye apart from the female barrow's goldeneye is by the color of their beaks.  With the males, it's the color of their heads and the shape of their white spots.  They're both beautiful birds but I'm a little partial to the barrow's variety.  I sure wish they'd come around more.

Male Common Goldeneye -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/2000s, ISO: 500

Duck Week: Bufflehead

Male Bufflehead -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO: 320

Yesterday I posted a picture of Salem, Oregon's duck crossing sign.  I realize I haven't done a theme in a while and I've just come home from shooting a bunch of bird photos so why not use that duck crossing sign as a kick off for a week of duck photos?

That's what I'm going to do.

Today's duck is the bufflehead.  I'd say that buffleheads are one of my favorite ducks but I'm sure I'd be saying that about all of this week's ducks.  I like ducks.

Buffleheads are common in California during the winter.  They disappear up North during the summer.  The most common photographic pose of a bufflehead for me is the one above.  They don't tend to stick around whenever I get them within shooting range.  I've got a lot of photos of buffleheads showing me their tail feathers.

Female Bufflehead -- Oakland/Alameda Estuary, Alameda, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO: 800

Duck Crossing

Salem, OR
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/4, 1/60s, ISO: 400

I grew up in Salem.  There's been a duck crossing sign over Mill Creek for as long as I can remember.  When I was a kid I thought it'd be great to life in the house by this sign.  The creek runs right through its back yard.  I mean, ducks in you back yard, can you imagine?

I live a block away from the Oakland/Alameda estuary in California now.  I see ducks there all through the winter.  We've even had a pair of living on our street off and on for the last few years.  It doesn't get old.

A Raft of Otters

Southern Sea Otter -- Moss Landing, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 55-250mm f/4.0-5.6 IS II, ISO: 250, f/5.6, 1/2000s

A group of sea otters is called a raft.  It makes total sense when you see one.

I don't know how long they've been there, but a raft seems to have taken up permanent residence at the harbor in Moss Landing.  It's the best place I know of  to see southern sea otters in the wild.  A kayak will put you right there in the water with them.  You're supposed to stay a specific distance away from all of the marine mammals there, but sometimes they decide to come to you and there's not much you can do about it except to enjoy the show.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun, image #2982.

Return to Firehole River

Firehole River, Yellowstone National Park, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, ISO: 100, f/10, 1/100s

Black Sand Basin is a nice stop between Old Faithful and Grand Prismatic Spring on Yellowstone's Southern loop.  It has some volcanic pools and a geyser or two and the Firehole River runs through it.
I need to learn to fly fish.  This type of river is what fly fishing is all about.  One of the problems I have with travelling is that I don't stop in one place for long.  I'm always moving on to the next thing.

That might become a thing, fishing.  We'll see.  I also want to do more river kayaking and buy a small travel trailer.  My list is getting longer.

Pronghorn Horsing Around

Pronghorn -- U.S. Route 89, WT
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, ISO: 250, f/5.6, 1/2000s

We encountered a small group of pronghorn near the highway on our trip up Route 89 to Yellowstone this summer.  We encountered a few groups, actually.  In this particular spot we found three males.  They posed nicely for a few pictures then moved off a ways where a couple of them spent a little time butting horns.  Practicing, I suppose.  Unfortunately I had to shoot through a fence for these pictures.

Palace of Fine Arts

Palace of Fine Arts, San Francisco, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/7.1, 30s, ISO: 100

I took this photo a couple of nights ago in the rain.  I wasn't able to keep the lens dry enough for clear photos.  Even so, I like the colors.

Fort Point

Fort Point National Historic Site, San Francisco, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/8, 1/4s, ISO: 100

I can't decide if I like this photo or not.  I wish I'd gotten a little more of the bridge on top.

Canvasback

Canvasback -- Arrowhead Marsh, Oakland, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO: 2500

I haven't been taking a lot of pictures of local wildlife lately.  I stopped by the shoreline on my way to work last week to rectify that.  Truthfully, it hasn't been a very good year for birds there from what I've seen.  There were a few canvasbacks hanging around.  They aren't exactly common there, but this isn't the first time I've seen them there either.  It's tough to get a good shot of a canvasback.  Not enough light and the head gets too dark but too much light and the body washes out.  There's a bit of wash out going on in this picture, but this is still one of the best shots I've taken of a canvasback.

Sunlight, Fog & Redwoods

Redwood National Park, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, ISO: 100, f/6.3, 1/40s

Some national parks knock your socks off from the get go.  Yosemite, Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon are like that.  Others are slow growers.  Redwood National Park is like that for me.  In some ways it's just a stretch of Pacific coastline.  There are better places to experience redwood trees.  There are more dramatic stretches of coastline.  Redwood National Park puts the two together in a quietly impressive way, which combined with the atmospheric Smith River and the consistently accessible Roosevelt elk herds makes this one of my favorite parks to visit.

Selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 146, image #7571.

Pronghorn Family

Pronghorn -- U.S. Route 89, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO: 800

Well, not the whole family, I guess.  Mom and her kids.  Fawns, not kids.

Pronghorn are the second fastest land animal on Earth, reaching speeds up to 55 miles an hour.  I read that on Wikipedia.  I had to figure out what baby pronghorns are called.

U.S. Route 89

U.S. Route 89, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, ISO: 100, f/11, 1/125s

I like the way the road looks like it can just go on in a straight line forever.  We stopped for a few pictures of a pronghorn on the other side of the road but this is the shot I like from this particular stop.

Well . . . Hell.  I should show the pronghorn, too, right?  Why not?

Pronghorn -- U.S. Route 89, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, ISO: 400, f/5.6, 1/1600s

White-tailed Prairie Dog

White-tailed Prairie Dog -- Bitter Springs, Interstate 80, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/1600s, ISO: 320

Looks worried, doesn't he?  I'm guessing prairie dogs spend the bulk of their lives fretting about one thing or another.  It can't be an easy life knowing it can end at any moment with a whoosh and strong talons from above.

Flash Flood in Rock Springs

Rock Springs, WY
Canon Powershot SD770 IS

This is the parking lot of the hotel we stayed at in Rock Springs on our way to Yellowstone last summer.  This was the result of one of the hardest rains I've ever experienced.  We came very close to being flooded out of this motel but luckily the water stopped rising after seeping into only a couple of rooms.  We'd expected this day to be mostly dull driving but it turned into quite an adventure.

Greater Short-horned Lizard

Greater Short-horned Lizard -- La Veta, CO
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, f/5.6, 1/2000s, ISO: 500

Some animals really know how to get a good grump on, don't they?

Mountain Bluebird

Mountain Bluebird -- La Veta, CO
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM, ISO: 500, f/5.6, 1/2000s

This was a new bird for me in 2015.  I only started tracking my bird sightings a couple of years ago.  I've identified a little over two hundred species in that time.  A serious birder can easily top that in a month, but I think I've been doing OK.

Jackson Lake

Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park, WY
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, ISO: 100, f/6.3, 1/50s

This is one of the more mellow shots I took on our trip to Grand Teton and Yellowstone in July.  That's a lotta green, isn't it?

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 145, image #7265.

Owl in the Valley

Yosemite National Park, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/5, 15s, ISO: 100

I'll grant you he's hard to see, but there's an owl in this photograph.  He's on top of a tree in the middle of the picture.  He flew up there while I was taking the photo before this one and stuck around at least long enough for me to get this picture.  What a nice owl.

Looking Up to Glacier Point

Yosemite National Park, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/4, 1/160s, ISO:160

That's Glacier Point up at the top of this cliff.  I don't know what this cliff face is called, but I'm pretty sure it has a name.  Everything has a name in Yosemite.

I've taken a number of pictures of this cliff and have never been happy with any of them until this one came along.  This is one of my favorite shots from last weekend.  I'm not sure if anybody else will appreciate it, but it's been dogging me for a few years so to finally get a shot I liked of it makes this particular photo a little special to me.

Snow in Yosemite Valley

Yosemite National Park, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/7.1, 1/50s, ISO: 100

Kind of a throw away Yosemite scene here.  There are no big-name monuments.  No waterfalls.  Just snow, sky, trees and cliffs.  I kind of like it, though.

Yosemite Falls

Yosemite Falls, Yosemite National Park, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/8, 1/60s, ISO: 100

The clouds opened up for us a bit in the afternoon on Sunday.  I caught it at a nice moment here, I think.  The tree in the foreground really works for me.  I don't know about anyone else.

Bridalveil Fall in Winter

Bridalveil Fall, Yosemite National Park, CA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF 17-40mm f/4L USM, f/6.3, 1/40s, ISO: 100

If you ask me, winter is the best time of year to visit Yosemite.  It's tough to match the beauty of this place at any time of year, but winter has the valley at her peak of elegance.  The snow isn't so fresh in this photo, but it still has all of the elements I like about Yosemite's winter scene.  Snow.  Trees.  Cliffs.  Waterfalls.  Kids playing in brightly colored outfits.

It's interesting. I generally tend to grumble about the kids in the valley.  Look to past--and future, I'm sure--posts for that.  In winter here kids are in their element.  They're sledding and throwing snowballs and building snowmen.  I tend to like Yosemite's winter kids.

Half Dome

Half Dome, Yosemite National Park, CA
Canon PowerShot SX40 HS

Pongo and I are heading up to Yosemite.  If all goes well we'll be doing something we've never done before: spending the night in the valley.  I'll have my tent, but we'll most likely sleep in the car, assuming there's snow.  If I was going alone I'd be able to say I'm definitely camping overnight.  With Pongo along, I'll have to make sure he doesn't get too cold during the day.  We've done cold weather camping before, even as recently as a month ago at Lava Beds National Monument where overnight temperatures got into the high twenties.  The low tomorrow night is supposed to be thirty, so I know we can handle the cold.  I just have to keep him dry and somewhat warm during the day.  We'll see how it goes.

Coming in for a Landing

Bald Eagle -- Lilliwaup, WA
Canon EOS Rebel T5i, EF-S 55-250mm f/4-5.6 IS II, ISO: 160, f/5.6, 1/1600s

Funny.  I kicked off last year with a picture of a bald eagle taking off. This year it's a bald eagle coming in for a landing.  I wonder that means for the upcoming year.

Photo selection inspired by Geogypsy's Foto Friday Fun 144, image # 5780.