In Focus Daily

Much of our travel this past week in Montana has involved crossing the Missouri River as it snakes across the state. The Hardy Bridge is one of the many bridges that cross the river.

What a gorgeous sunrise yesterday morning at Tower Rock. We wondered if Lewis and Clark had the good fortune to witness such glory, as their expedition, known as the Corps of Discovery, came to Tower Rock (it was behind me so not in the image) 221 years ago in July of 1805. This was the place in their journey of discovery that they left the plains, familiar terrain, and entered the Rocky Mountains.

As the sun was setting yesterday, the Rocky Mountains were obscured by smoke from wildfires burning in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, probably parts of California and even some in Montana. Not only could we see the smoke, we could smell it and were inhaling it as we shot.

The Coyotes at Ferrari Pond seem to have moved their family to the other side of the Salt Pond. They are a bit further out than they used to be. Only one was out Sunday morning, lazing in the morning sun but too far to get a decent shot. I took this a couple of days before as this Coyote sniffed its way back to the old haunts before joining up with the family in the new digs.

Even though the American White Pelican is common in California’s Central Valley marshes and rice fields, they generate lots of excitement when they arrive at Ingram Slough and Ferrari Pond where I walk most mornings. Yesterday morning, the last one standing, really, stood out from the dark water. No other pelicans were in evidence. What struck me was that it was standing, not paddling around, and that its enormous pouch was draped along its neck.

Great Egrets are stunning birds, especially when they’re in breeding plumage. Although I often see them where I live, I was able to approach them much more closely in the Orlando Wetlands this past February. Those sharp toes make the perfect neck scratcher.

There aren’t many pink birds in the world. This Roseate Spoonbill just finished bathing and is preening its pink feathers, the color of which it gets from the foods it eats, like Crustaceans and other aquatic invertebrates that contain pigments called carotenoids that help turn their feathers pink.

They never really left, but I haven’t seen the Ferrari Pond Coyotes for a few weeks between missing some morning walks and the area being groomed by herds of goats. Yesterday I saw four of the five pups, Mom, and one juvenile from last year. The pups are growing and playing and romping. I’m not certain if this is Mom or one of the juveniles from last year. I followed as it headed in the direction of the Salt Pond anticipating that it would emerge on the other side of the trail and cross the Salt Pond. A change of mind, one last glance, and it disappeared from view.

In Ecuador this past April I was blown away by the Tanagers. Every day it seemed we were introduced to yet another stunningly colorful species of Tanager. On our first day, we met this gorgeous cinnamon colored Tanager and I was struck by its beauty, never having seen a bird that color before. I was stunned to discover that it was the female White-lined Tanager, not the male. It was a couple of days before I saw the plain black male. The bird gets its common name from a thin white line that is usually only visible on the shoulder of the male’s wing in flight. However, its Latin name, Tachyphonus rufus, is named for the gorgeous rufous female. Go figure!

A Western Bluebird zeroes in on a landing stick, laid bare by the goats brought in to clear the brush along the Ferrari Pond Trail. I hadn’t seen the Bluebirds in a while along the trail and there were two there yesterday morning, both vying for the same bare perch which was about the only thing left standing.

Snowy Egrets are fun to watch as they move slowly and suddenly plunge their heads into the water, sometimes emerging with dinner but in this attempt yesterday morning at the Salt Pond, the Egret came up with nothing.

The gorgeous rust color of the breeding American Avocets is starting to fade away to dull gray as breeding season ends.

What appears to be an empty gallery, with its shiny floors, waits to be filled. Yes, I’m venturing outside my comfort zone. Yesterday, I attended a class on Intentional Camera Movement taught by Cokie Lepinski, an accomplished and very creative photographer who is a member of the Lincoln Hills Photography Club. Mid class we were all sent out to try our hand at ICM but at midafternoon it was a blistering 103° outside so we basically stuck to the hallway by the meeting room to find inspiration. This was my favorite shot. I used my Nikkor Z24-70II lens with a 2 second exposure, zooming the lens out during the 2 seconds. I neglected to take a still shot for comparison so I’ll leave it to your imagination what my subject was.

After watching the White-faced Ibis on their nests in Woodland recently, I was reminded of the photographs I took at Wakodahatchee Wetlands in Florida last year of Glossy Ibis in breeding plumage. They are gorgeous.

Bucky Beaver was at Angler’s Cove early yesterday morning but it looks like he needed to “brusha, brusha, brusha, with Ipana Toothpaste.” A sprig of Azola was clinging to his lips as he paddled around the pond. If that jingle doesn’t immediately start playing over in your head, you didn’t grow up in the fifties or you haven’t seen Grease!

An American White Pelican floats in Ferrari Pond in early morning light.

Red eye is not a problem when photographing a Black-crowned Night Heron. Its eyes are already bright red. No Photoshop required.

You might think, “no buts about it” but I say “Yes, butts about it!” I know that “butt” shots are considered rude, but I just had to share this. A squadron of American White Pelicans flew into Ferrari Pond yesterday morning. They hunt as a group, forming a semi circle or short line and move together in the water herding fish. They dip into the water in unison, scooping their prey up along with gallons of water, raising their butts in the air as they scoop. I tried to get all of them together with their butts raised at once but they were out of sync.

If ever a bird had a smug look, it’s this male Ruddy Duck. He’s probably thinking, “I’m so cool, I’ll bet you wish you had a blue beak!”

White-faced Ibis nests filled the stands of cattails that grow along the edge of the main pond at the Woodland-Davis Water Treatment facility. I didn’t count but there had to be at least twenty nests distributed through the cattails. And the chicks were begging to be fed. It was fascinating to watch the long-billed chicks and the longer-billed adult coordinating their beaks. The chicks in the nests were at varying stages of development. These chicks were among the older and larger chicks that we watched. The pin feathers are clearly visible under the wing of the chick on the left.