Yosemite and More

Friedhelm and I went to Yosemite the other day. The weather was predicted to be in the teens in the morning and high twenties  in the afternoon. We were lucky, it was cold but nowhere near those lows. Yosemite can be like most places a little drab, colorwise, in the winter months. So you look for color and contrast where you can find it. This is  my favorite photos from this trip. It's a toadstool growing  out of the side of a tree.  This one is more interesting than artistic. At first glace is looked like some ice frozen to a small area of a tree. Closer look showed it was actually sap. We took about a 4 mile hike to Mirror Lake. Along the way there were a number of puddles with some interesting reflections. When you first look at this it's a little confusing. Remember it's a reflection. Here's a panorama of Mirror Lake. As we drove around after Mirror Lake we noticed that portions of the Valley

I bought myself a early Christmas present.  A Sigma 100-400mm lens.  Since the weather was reasonable yesterday I decided to go to the Merced Wildlife Refuge  and see if I made a good decision or not. There weren't a lot of birds around but those I did see were pretty cooperative.  At a distance anyway. Most of the following were not cropped much. This lens is worth  every penny I paid. This photo of a Red Tail Hawk was not cropped at all. Next along the road was a Northern Shoveler Duck that had just dived into to  water a couple of times and decided to shake some of the water off. This Juvenile Harrier Hawk was pretty cooperative. Of course it flew off just as I took my camera away from my eye. Don't know the name of this bird. If anyone does please comment. There are so many small birds. I couldn't fine one with the eye and ruffle on the top combination. As I drove through the refuge I wondered if