Two Sounds Of Autumn

"Two sounds of autumn are unmistabable... the hurrying rustle of crisp leaves blown along the street... by a gusty wind... and the gabble of a flock of migrating geese."

 

~Hal Borland

 

Okay, I am hooked, photographing the birds the last couple weeks has really brought me out of my funk. I have been needing to practice my action photography, and I can't think of a better way to do that, then being at the mercy of birds. All shapes. All sizes. All lighting conditions. I'm ready for all of it! I have visited both the Woodbridge Preserve and the Cosumnes River and was pleased to find new birds with each visit. This past weekend it was the Canadian Geese that I photographed the most, because the Sandhill Cranes were nowhere to be found. It was warmer than on my first visit, and it was a lot clearer, so I am sure they were off enjoying the weather somewhere up the delta. My guess would be either across the Rio Linda bridge, or perhaps all the way up in Sacramento. I don't want to know which, I am not wanting to be tempted to try to find them. I am enjoying being surprised and delighted by the variety of birds at the both places, at any given time. In due time will be adding new spots as we move into 2021, but I am in no hurry, if worse comes to worse, I can always do bird watching in my yard. Hey, we ended up with a full sized male Pheasant in the yard a couple years ago, that was a game changer to be sure! Now, wouldn't it be nice if a Snowy Egret found it's way to the yard?

 

Today's Leaf Of The Day

 ~Carly

Stockton, California

December 1st 2020

Bird Watching Is A Lot Like Autumn Leaf Peeping

 

"November at it's best...

 with a sort of delightful menace in the air."

 

~Anne Bosworth Greene 

 

There are so many species of birds in the Central Valley, that I could spend my whole life out here with the camera, and not photograph the same bird twice. I wonder which of my albums will contain more individual photos by the end of 2021, my Leaves, or my Birds? It's a very pleasant thing to ponder. Peep.

 

~Carly

Stockton California

November 27th 2020

 

Muscovy Duck

Muscovy Duck

"Be like a duck, paddling and working very hard inside the water, 

but what everyone sees is a smiling and calm face."

~Manoj Arora

From The Rat Race To Financial Freedom

I first spotted this duck a couple weeks ago. Isn't it gorgeous? I love learning about new birds. Hopefully I will be able to do some bird watching this winter. 

The San Francisco shoreline has some great places to do some bird watching from!

And what's so amazing about this duck... it seems to love the leaves as much as I do!

Quack

Leaf Of The Day

Mood: Happy

~Me :)

Autumn Most Fowl :)

"Did you ever see an unhappy horse? Did you ever see a bird that had the blues? One reason horses and birds are not unhappy is because they are not trying to impress other birds and horses."

-Dale Carnegie

It was another good day with the camera yesterday. Lots, and lots of cloud cover, as the first big storm of the season was just off shore. I kind of like photographing birds, and flowers, when the sky is milky and overcast. The natural filtering tends to take the glare off of some types of birds, like this Blue Heron. I have been trying to photograph one just like it at the Palace of Fine Arts, for the last month or so. Each time under lots of sun, and a pretty blue, clear sky. And each time there was a tremendous amount of glare, which left the bird mostly washed out.

It was extremely frustrating. I tried multiple settings, no no avail. So I was thankful to find this one while I was in Golden Gate Park yesterday. I spent about 30 minutes, taking note of the differences in the small pond this one was in, as opposed to the larger one at the palace. Maybe in a week or so, I will go back to the palace, and give it another chance. Lots of terrain to work with over there, so maybe I just need to practice a little more patience, or perhaps study things a little deeper. We'll see. Either way, it's always good to have a goal to look forward to in my photography.

It was definitely a birding day yesterday. I spent a little time yesterday, down in Half Moon Bay, at Lemos Pumpkin farm, and there was a lot of critters following me around, especially the chickens and ducks. Neither one was particularly shy, which made it very enjoyable. I will revisit there again soon, hopefully before the end of the month. I love the little farms during this time of year, everything is so fresh and inviting. It just has a vibe that only comes along at Halloween. It's good for the soul, especially the weary soul. :)



-OndineMonet
Half Moon Bay, California
Golden Gate Park
San Francisco, California
October 9th, 2007
Afternoon