Yosemite and More

Visited the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge and the Merced Wildlife Refuge on VERY different days. One very sunny, the other fog bound. The Sacramento NWR, was a clear day with a lot of visitors that limited the  birds near the auto route. The fog and few visitors actually allowed for more opportunities at the Merced NWR. Case in point First the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Blue Morph Ross Geese White Faced Ibis, Hunting and Hiding Small Bufflehead Duck, these swim fast and don't like  cars, people, or cameras. This is taken through the reeds and heavily cropped. I thought this hawk was going to take off but instead it just fluffed it's feathers and settled back down. Merced National Wildlife Refuge seemed to have a wider and more easily photographable subjects. Thought this was an interesting juxtaposition. Each section of the refuge is flooded to to certain depth depending on what species they want to accommodate. I find it interesting that in the wild the male al...

 A while ago I went to the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge and the Merced Wildlife Refuge, here's a mixture of both. Unfortunately many of the wading birds preferred the stubble instead of nice reflective  water. Mom and Dad taking a break.  I really liked the late evening background. I tried to identify this  specific one but there are just so many of them. I think he was trying to hide from me. Two for One. I've taken a lot of photo of Great Egrets but seldom get a decent photo of them in flight. I think this is a Red Tailed hawk, but not sure. This Bald Eagle was very accommodating, I stuck around hoping  to get it's takeoff but it seemed very comfortable right there.    When I first saw this huge flock of birds in the distance I thought they were probably Snowy or Ross geese. Nope they were actually seagulls. Another car went by and spooked them. Go, See, Enjoy, Stay Safe and Photograph. Dave

I went to the Refuge Christmas afternoon. As I was approaching I noticed  a lot of Sandhill Cranes and some Snow and Ross Geese flying around. This is only a very small portion of the geese in this area. One difference between Ross and Snow geese is the length of their necks. They tend to flock together.  There were a lot of Hawks around and while I saw a Kestral or two I couldn't get  them to cooperate for a photograph. Very inconsiderate. I figured this must be a mating pair, perched so close together. I mentioned I saw some Sandhill Cranes flying around on my way in. The only one I saw in the Refuge itself was this one. Great Egrets are pretty common around here. But this one was  pretty cooperative. This one was about as close as I've ever gotten to one without it flying off. This is what happens when someone or something spooks a whole lot of White and Ross Geese.  The ones in the foreground were content staying where they were. Here's the kind of reflectio...

 Took a couple of trips to the Merced Wildlife Refuge. First was during the morning with the intent of catching some fog shots. While the air was heavy with mist there wasn't any real fog. On the road  I saw several hawk with their wings slightly spread out. I guessed they were sunning themselves and drying their wings. Inside the Refuge I caught this one doing the same thing. I saw nine raptors throughout the Refuge, many of course too far to photograph. This one barely moved except to keep an eye on me just in case I got the idea to trespass. This is one of my favorite birds. Since it's black and white  I thought I'd give it that treatment. Another resident of the Refuge is the Killdeer. This one looked a little apprehensive to me.  The Refuge is know for it's seasonal Sandhill Crane migration.  They even offer tours in some years.  Here's one of the smaller flights coming in to roost for the night. Snowy Egrets are smaller than the Great Egret and less c...