Early in January, we visited Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge to do some birding and some photography. At the end of our first day, we had some spectacular clouds that were lit up by the setting sun.
Bosque Del Apache Sunset.
The main pond generally has many ducks and geese that I had photographed earlier in the day. However, after the sun had set, I captured this pair of trees that were reflected in the water.
Bosque Del Apache Pond Reflections.
During our early morning outing the next day, we found a group of Javalina foraging along the roadside. I captured an image of one Javalina as it was working along the roadside.
Javalina At Roadside, Bosque Del Apache.
Close by, there were some grasses at the roadside. The sun had not yet lit up the grasses, so I captured this following image that was converted to monochrome black and white.
Grasses, Bosque Del Apache.
As a panned across the grasses, without refocusing the lens, I found some more grasses in a pleasing composition. That I also converted to monochrome.
Blurred Grasses, Bosque Del Apache.
I decided to post these images before January came to a close!
Last week, I made a trip to South Platte Park for some bird photography. During the winter months, many duck species can be found at this location. During a previous visit, some Kildeer were having some interesting interactions that I had witnessed. Maybe I would see something different this time?
On this day, Kildeer were wading along the sandbar and river side. There was another shorebird moving close to the Kildeer. With a long straight bill, this looked like maybe a snipe or a dowitcher?
Snipe With Kildeer, South Platte River.
One getting home, I confirmed that this bird was a Wilson’s Snipe. I don’t recall seeing one along this stretch of the river previously. Both Kildeer and Snipe are well-camouflaged, especially against the sandbar and muddy shore. Easy to miss when they are not moving.
I decided to wait and see whether the Snipe would move out into the water. Yes. And a captured this image with its long straight bill.
Wilson’s Snipe, South Platte River.
Soon both the Snipe and Killdeer were working along the shore, foraging for food in the mud.
Snipe And Kildeer, Foraging.
I was watching and waiting to see what would happen. Unexpectedly, another Snipe (No. 2) came running in from the left hand side of this pair. I managed to capture one image of this second snipe with its foot raised in the air.
Wilson’s Snipe No. 2, South Platte River.
Again, I just watched and waiting until Snipe No. 2. Maybe it would head for open water?
Wilson’s Snipe No. 2 At River Shore.
Yes. And I managed to capture a decent reflection as this bird stepped through the water.
For lunch on our first day of the Sonoma County Autumn Photo Workshop, we stopped at Bodega Bay Harbor. After a delicious lunch, we headed down to the marina. I found this single stalk of a Pride of Madeira plant, along the quay.
Pride Of Madeira, Bodega Bay Harbor.
This stalk was the only one that still had color. All the remaining stalks had withered and dried earlier in the season. I made a monochrome image of some of the remaining withered stalks.
Pride Of Madeira Dried Flowers.
I found that this harbor had a lot of material that would make for some interesting photographs. There was a stack of fishing baskets with coiled ropes and floats close to quay side.
Fishing Baskets And Ropes.
Farther along the quay was a boat that had been loaded onto a trailer in the parking lot. I made an abstract image of the patterns of rust on the bright blue keel.
Rust Patterns On Keel, Bodega Bay.
There were some birds that were flying from tree to tree along the parking lot, so I attempted to capture some images of the birds. They were obscured behind the mosses that were growing on the trees. So I turned my attention to the mosses — at least they didn’t move!
Moss On Trees, Bodega Bay Harbor.
Later that afternoon we made our way to the Bodega Bay Head. There were several colonies of Cormorants along the coast. On one of rocks along the cliff, a group of Cormorants were drying off and preening themselves.
Cormorants On Rock, Bodega Bay Head.
Farther inland from the cliffs was a group of Cypress trees. A footpath led to a tunnel formed by the surrounding trees. I made several compositions of some of the trunks and branches of these trees in the tunnel. In the following image, I converted the capture into a monochrome rendition.
Cypress Trees, Bodega Bay Head.
Later we headed back to the workshop headquarters to complete the day’s events.
Continuing on… One of the locations that we visited during the Sonoma County Autumn Photo Workshop, was “Safari West”. This is a wildlife park that is home to many African wild animals. Soon after arriving and greeting our host, we boarded the safari wagon. We made our way through to the first fenced enclosure where we were greeted by this fabulous giraffe.
Female Giraffe Greeting Us, Safari West.
I was amused by these two Waterbuck. “Kids These Days!” is what I titled this image. This reminds me of two elderly people commenting on kids.
Kids These Days! Waterbuck.
There is a herd of several Watusi cattle at Safari west. They are distinguished by their huge horns. Apparently, Texas Longhorn cattle are descendants of cattle breeds that were bred from Watusi cattle.
Watusi Cattle, Safari West.
There are several Cape Buffalo at Safari West. Cape Buffalo are notorious for their aggressive behavior. The following is the alpha male of the herd; he was busy at the feeding station.
Male Cape Buffalo.
Safari West is located in Oak forests on rolling hills. I captured this image of the oak trees that were backlit as the sun sank lower during the late afternoon.
Oak Forest On Rolling Hills.
Several Ostrich roam through the park. I like how the back lighting of the sun lit up the hairs on the bird’s neck and feathers.
Ostrich, Backlit, Safari West.
One of the Wildebeest strolled past us and made it’s way over the crest of the hill.
Wildebeest Walking Over Crest Of Hill.
Towards the end of our trip, we passed this female Ostrich. Our guide loves the animals and birds in the park. This ostrich was showing off to our guide by lifting her wings.
Female Ostrich, Safari West.
At the end of our tour, our safari wagon developed some mechanical issues. We were close to the enclosure when this Abyssinian Ground Hornbill was showing off!
Abyssinian Ground Hornbill.
I noticed this Cattle Egret perched on the fence. Apparently, Cattle Egret can also be found in Africa, that is the original home to many of the birds and animals of Safari West.
Cattle Egret, Safari West.
We all enjoyed our afternoon at Safari West. We made our way back to the workshop headquarters to complete the day’s events.
While on the beach at Salmon Creek, there were plenty of waves crashing against the rocks. This was one of my successful images that showed the peak action of the crashing waves.
Crashing Wave, Salmon Creek.
The view towards the north was also spectacular. In this image, I was lucky to include several gulls in flight above the stormy seas and crashing waves. Also, there are several birds swimming in the sea between the rocks.
Rocks, Waves And Gulls, Salmon Creek.
Several surfers were taking advantage of the surf. This surfer had just left the water.
Surfer At Salmon Creek.
Several people were busy fishing along the beach. I managed to capture one fisherman with all his fishing rods lining the beach.
Fisherman And Rods, Salmon Creek.
While at the beach, I found this really interestingly shaped rock being engulfed by the sea. The tide was gradually rising, so this rock was almost surrounded by the flow of water rising. I had waited for several minutes for a wave that would surround the entire rock. Unfortunately, I had to abandon that idea since our schedule on the beach was coming to an end!
Almost Surrounded.
We moved to another location further north along the coast. This location offered some interesting images of the sea from a different viewpoint. This image looks like a maelstrom swallowing a rock.
Maelstrom No 1.
I made to make a second image of another rock that was swallowed by the maelstrom. For both these, I converted the images to monochrome. This enhanced the contrast of the raging sea.
Early last month, I attended the Sonoma County Autumn Photo Workshop hosted by Derrick Story. Our first location was the beach at Salmon Creek. There was a large accumulation of driftwood that was spread over the beach.
Beach Driftwood, Salmon Creek.
This driftwood provided plenty of resources to construct shelters along the beach. This was one of server shelters that we found.
Driftwood Shelter, Salmon Creek.
Crawling into the shelter, I captured this image looking out of the shelter towards the pacific ocean.
Looking Out Of Driftwood Shelter.
There were a variety of methods used to construct these shelters. I found this cord that was used to bind driftwood.
Driftwood Shelter Binding Detail.
Included among the driftwood were several strands of kelp that were washed up onto the beach. The following image reminds me of the Borg Queen!
Driftwood And Kelp, Salmon Creek.
Several pieces of driftwood had been buried below the beach sands. I found this large piece of partially buried driftwood.
Buried Driftwood, Salmon Creek.
After leaving the beach, we headed farther up the coast. Here I captured an image looking back towards Salmon Creek.
Those Sumacs in fall colors just keep lighting up the neighborhood. While, out for daily exercise, I stopped to capture some images. In the following image, I like the contrast of the duller foreground leaves in the shade, against the bright out of focus sunlit Sumac leaves in the background.
Smooth Sumac, In Shade.
The City Ditch runs through our neighborhood. At this time of the year, water still flows through the ditch. Several bridges are installed to allow trails to cross the ditch. In the following image, the water provides the ideal medium to reflect the fall colors.
Reflections In City Ditch.
Here is another image that shows the contrast of the red Sumac leaves against the green leafy background.
Smooth Sumac Fall Colors.
Continuing through the neighborhood, I found another tree that was backlit by the setting sun. There were some interesting shadows that were cast onto one of the leaves.
Leaf Shadows.
My neighborhood walk takes me past a school. Overlooking the parking lot are several rows of grasses. Interspersed between the grasses were some bunches of flowers. On this day, the last rays of sunlight lit up these grasses before the sun dropped behind nearby houses.
Grasses In Front Of School.
Finally, I made this image of the high clouds that were lit up by the setting sun.
Last weekend, I headed down to the South Platte Park. Maybe there would be some birds that had migrated here for the winter. Most of the summer visitors moved off during the last few weeks, but the returning winter visitors had not arrived back! However, the Rabbitbrush bushes were in flower, so I decided to give more attention to the fall colors instead. A Painted Lady butterfly was moving from flower to flower.
Painted Lady On Rabbitbrush No 1.
Here is another image of the Painted Lady that shows the hairs glowing when backlit by the sun in the late afternoon.
Painted Lady On Rabbitbrush No 2.
I headed out under the bridge, hoping to find some birds on the other side of the highway. The concrete bridge was reflected in the slow flowing South Platte River. This created some interesting abstract patterns in the water.
Platte River Reflections.
Not finding many birds, I returned back under the bridge and headed downstream along the river. Sitting on a rock was a female Common Merganser and some friends! We had seen several resident Mergansers during the summer months, so maybe this female was a resident. Or maybe she migrated south?
Female Common Merganser And Mallards.
Further downstream, water flowing over shallow submerged rocks had developed some interesting patterns. These patterns broke up the fall colors reflected from the opposite bank of the river.
South Platte River Fall Color Reflections.
Returning to the parking area, I passed Blackrock Lake. Here the setting sun highlighted the fall colors and created some nice reflections in the water.
Blackrock Lake Fall Reflections.
Close to the parking lot was a patch of grasses that were lit by the setting sun.
Grasses, South Platte Park, No 1.
I approached closer and made a second image.
Grasses South Platte Park, No 2.
Within a few minutes, the sun had dropped below the mountains for the day.
