A corner may also be a “hidden part of the world” – I think this fits the theme element for this month. Throw in the little curve in the path, and we perhaps have covered two? For me, these little gems of natural beauty are the best. 11 images to make the panorama.
I’ve been rather housebound for the last few days, busy with this and that, and just plain lazy. This morning, though, with the prediction of a whole day of rain, the allure of a walk in the damp was too much. Our rain has dwindled into a slow drizzle, but it is so welcomed here in our parched California landscape. The sky was a blue-grey, hinting at moisture to come, and it did soon after I started out, more like a misty rain than drops, which is fine when you want to go hiking. The trails were all sticky – my boots sucked into the mud and made a rhythmic noise with each step. Areas of the trail had not yet dried, but when they do, the trail will be lumpy and bumpy for a long time.
When I got to the area I wanted to explore – it’s always new, no matter how many times you go! – the parking area was closed for repairs. I skirted around to where the oaks and cacti and stream and sycamore hang out, just in case it did get wetter. It turns out that the recent rains have caused soil slippage, and some trees have toppled a bit. One oak had fallen and split, so the work crew was waiting for the oak tree specialist (the city has one, as oak trees are protected where I live) to determine whether it needed anything or just a bit of a trim.
Here, a little bit of rain goes a long way, and soon enough the grasses begin to sprout for the upcoming spring. Beige and brown give way to the delicate greens. The cold temperatures have pushed the autumn leaves to golds and reds, so suddenly a dull grey-brown landscape pops into life. The smell of the damp earth, the creeks with running water, and the occasional bird song or insect was all that could be heard. A bit of bliss for a couple of hours! Click a picture below to scroll through them.
This was my favorite of all the pictures I took. I wonder if he is a sparrow, like two of the others were. I’ve posted this picture on flickr, and soon we may know!
Note: This is a bushtit!
Here is another of the four “good” bird pics I got over the weekend . . . having never been a bird watcher, once I began looking a little more closely, I really got into it. New hobby? Certainly a pleasant way to spend some time.
Don’t know what this fella is, so the word is out . . .
Note: This is a young White-Crowned Sparrow, as opposed to the old ones from a few days ago.
Today I went up to the Botanical Gardens, one thought on my mind: to take images of birds with my 70-300mm lens on the Nikon V3. As the V3 has a 2.7 crop factor, this makes the 70-300 the equivalent of 189-810mm.
I’ve never used this lens to specifically capture birds, but it did a pretty good job. My technique was shutter priority, with the shutter set to 1/1000 to keep blur to the least possible amount; I also set the iso to 3200 down (priority based) and the f/stop to about 5.6 to 8.
I have absolutely no idea what these birds are, nor was I really aware of birds until I was determined to find them. I had hoped to see a road runner – they are up there! – but I did see four distinctively different ones, which I caught. Looking in Peterson’s Field Guide to Birds of Western North America, this looks like a wren, but what kind???
The 1 Nikon 70-300mm lens does a pretty good job overall. It has the advantage of being lightweight with image stabilization. Coupled with the V3, I could catch multiple images in a row, clicking away as the birds moved around, and then choosing the best of what I got.
More to follow!
Note: A fellow on flickr says these little guys are White Crowned Sparrows!
Ink, Yarn & Beer 