My lemon tree, which produces an overabundance of lemons, is once again covered with fruit, most of them ripe, and many too high to reach. On Christmas Day, I plucked a couple of the low-hanging fruit to squeeze onto the Dungeness crab I was planning to have for my Christmas dinner. Black acrylic and natural light created the reflection.
The feathers of Double-crested Cormorants are not as waterproof as the feathers of other birds. This is not a bad thing. Their feathers easily become waterlogged making them less buoyant so they can dive deeply to pursue fish under water. When they emerge from the water, Cormorants are known for basking in the sun to dry their feathers. This characteristic pose makes them easily recognizable as they stand motionless on a perch and spread their wings. There are several Double-crested Cormorants that fish at Ferrari Pond and we often see them perched, wings outstretched, on the dead snag in the middle of the pond.
The sun was out the other day at Ferrari Pond. The ponds, many like this one filled only recently by the unrelenting rains just days before, were filled with birds, including about a half dozen Snowy Egrets. Snowy Egrets swish their feet in shallow ponds to stir up small fish, crustaceans, and whatever it is that this Snowy is gulping down. It doesn’t seem to have fins or a tail like a tiny fish or claws and legs like a tiny crawdad. As soon as the Snowy Egret swallowed its mystery meal, it returned to swishing its feet in the shallow water to find something else to gulp down.
The past few weeks have been cold, drab, and foggy with gray overcast and rain here in Northern California. But the Ferrari Pond Trail in Lincoln Hills is a colorful place despite the gloomy weather. The rains have turned the fields into lush green backdrops. And the overcast helps to saturate the colors, so when a colorful bird, like the Western Bluebird, lands on a twig to survey the area, the green provides a perfect background for his brilliant blue feathers. The blue and the green create a color combination that lifts the spirits and shows how beautiful a simple scene can be.
Yesterday morning when I arrived at Angler’s Cove, I climbed the stairs to the Ferrari Pond Trail instead of walking up the path because I noticed that the Black Phoebes were in one of the trees close to the stairs. Most mornings when I arrive, the Black Phoebes are the first birds that greet me but I rarely manage to photograph them. This one was on a perch with a great background and was a cooperative subject. It was slightly backlit giving the feathers on its head, sides, and tail just a hint of rim lighting.
A month ago I posted a color photograph at sunset of the view from Pam and Peter’s balcony in Foresthill. After weeks of gloomy fog and overcast in the valley, it was so nice to be, if ever so briefly, “above the fog” as the people living above about 1500 feet are always happy to remind us flat landers (Lincoln has an elevation of about 150 feet). It’s been exactly a month and the foggy gloom in the valley now alternates with soggy skies and dense overcast. That evening in December, I took a few black and white shots as the fog drifted into the valley and defined the crevices beneath us creating an atmospheric depth that was pretty amazing.
The recent rains have turned the fields of yellowing grass here into fields of green, more spring-like than in the dead of winter. A couple of Coyotes trotted through the green grass a few days ago, stopping to sniff the scents in the field. They took their time, giving me several opportunities to photograph them but they kept far enough apart that I never captured the pair together. The reflection of one is the best I could do to get two Coyotes in one shot.
When I looked out this morning to see if it was raining, a full moon greeted me with clouds rolling swiftly by. I grabbed my camera, stepped out onto the patio and took a few clicks. It was a lovely greeting to the day.
Happy New Year!!! It wouldn’t be New Year’s here at In Focus Daily without a hummingbird gracing the first post of the year. This the 16th January 1 that I’ve published a blog post. Most, not all, of my January 1 blog posts feature a hummingbird, usually an Anna’s Hummingbird (like this one) that live in my yard year round. Hummingbirds first appeared in this blog on the third day, January 3, 2011 and I was so excited to get the shot. My hummingbird photography has improved significantly since then but I can still remember the thrill I felt seeing the Anna’s Hummingbird hovering directly in front of me as I depressed the shutter 16 years ago.