October is just around the corner, and autumn is too. Oh...It's here. I love this time of year. It's the most photogenic time of the year and bird migration is right here in our own backyard. The pacific flyway is right through the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys. And lets not forget the coastal flyway. WOW! So much fun. I decided since the Sandhill Cranes have been migrating in this past week, Diane and I saw three flocks of them ourselves, that we'd see how things were going. We took off around 6:00am this morning to get an early start. Diane had some work to do today and said she'd like to go if we got back early enough for her to get it done. We got a cup of coffee and started to think we'd miss the sunrise. No sooner did we get on the road, we hit traffic...on a Sunday morning? Everyone's in bed or at church. We never did figure out what the tie up was but it was frustrating.
"Hwy 80 Off Ramp And I5"
"I5 South"
After about a half and hour of this we finally got moving and did see a beautiful sunrise. No clouds this week, but still beautiful. Driving down Hwy 5 to Twin Cities off ramp.
We arrived at Consumnes Wildlife Preserve and I was disappointed. There were very few birds, waterfowl, etc. to be seen. I didn't even get out to walk around. I never do that. There's always something. I guess I was interested in seeing the cranes. So, we headed to the crane refuge. There were plenty of Sandhill Cranes to look at. And more coming in. Have you ever heard their call. It is quite interesting. They were very active, a lot of them in flight. I have to say at this point that I didn't get many good pictures of them and I was very disappointed in myself. I kept cussing about not having a long enough lens. It's just beyond my budget and will be for a long time. A good lens runs about six to nine thousand dollars. I have had good moments in the past and there will be more in the future, but today was the pits.
For some reason, I can't pass up a silo. They fascinate me and I want them to look old. I know, there are new ones built as time goes on, but I like them old. So I decided to practice a little on my vintage work for a different look. I'm never happy you know. I always have to try new things. Here is the one I photographed today and played around with for effects.
There is always a hawk around and sometimes you can drive up on them and point the camera out the window and get a decent shot. This one had no fear. He/she actually posed for me. I love it when that happens.
Oh, one more thing. I just caught this little egret in flight. I really had to work on it to get it presentable. It wasn't quite in focus and I wasn't very happy about it. It turned out OK, so I thought I'd share it too.
0 comments:
Post a Comment