ON A CLEAR DAY – JAN 14

Blog Bonus? Yup!!

Generally I get little to no feedback from my blog entries. There are the regular few who are nice enough to tell me that they have enjoyed the

pictures and the adventures. THEN, occasionally I hear from someone who I have not heard from in a great deal of time, but they are on my mailing list, and something will trigger their response to an entry. This happened this past weekend. First I had a note from a cousin who enjoys my bird photography because he is quite a serious birder and can no longer travel. Then I heard from an associate from the North Rim, Grand Canyon, that I have not heard from in years. This all because they wanted to share a particular part of the country that they know, and enjoy and thought I could find something there to enjoy as well, and possibly pursue my photographic art. To you, and to others who occasionally write, thank you for broadening my vision. I will not get to these places in the midwest this trip, but I will take note of them, for another time. Please feel free to either post to this blog or e-mail me directly. Thanks for stopping by.

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Today was the beginning of Santa Ana weather here in San Diego. This brings clear skies, and strong winds from the East. We did not experience the winds in La Jolla this morning, but by the time I got home, about 15 miles to the East, there were very strong winds. So

much so that our neighbor’s large awning was blown up and over their fence and down into our back yard!!

It was a beautiful day at the Cove. The earth shadow as the sun started to rise was beautiful to the West. The birds were posing at times, but there was not a lot of them. There were lots of photographers though. I counted 23 at one point. We did not trip over each other, and generally we were all considerate of our neighbor’s space and where they were shooting.

Here are a few pictures –> Pelicans, Double Crested Cormorants, Gulls. (If you wish to view the photos as a slide show try clicking on the first image and you will see the slide show icon.)

Now it is time to pack for Iowa and the opportunity to photograph bald eagles as they fly and fish for dinner. I leave on Friday, 17, January. Please follow the blog as I will try to post something daily.

BIRDS AT LA JOLLA – JANUARY 8

I am taking as many opportunities as possible to practice my bird in flight photography right now. In one week I will be off to Iowa and Lock and Dam 14 on the Mississippi River to photograph bald eagles feeding in the river. One really needs to practice as there are techniques which need to be honed for success: lock focus on bird, follow through as there are actions after the main event that might be of interest. Check you exposures as light conditions can be in flux.

With that in mind, today I was off to the cliffs of La Jolla to once again try to get some clean, sharp shots of the brown pelicans in breeding plumage, as well as the fun of capturing the gulls in flight in pursuit of breadcrumbs. Today the light was not the best as the marine layer of fog lingered just above the cliffs and blocked the sun for some time. Even so we had a good time and I came home with a couple of “keepers”. This after culling 507 images down to  74, and then picking 11 to share with you.

   

Once again “A wonderful bird is a pelican. His bill can hold as much has his belly can. He can hold in his beak enough food for a week, but I am damned if I can see how the hell he can.” The birds are quite humorous to watch as they come into land, etc. Enjoy.

 

 

 

ON TO THE NEW YEAR, 2014

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL -

The Raven has been flying around San Diego for the past month doing many things, but not getting to the Blog. There was Thanksgiving with a friend from our time in Hawaii, Christmas preparations, a hike or two, and evening walks with some beautiful sunrise/sets:

Then came the activities associated with Christmas. I hope all of your experiences were as filled with joy, laughter, and fellowship as ours.

The nest is back to a semblance of normal so I will try to be more faithful in writing about hikes, travels, and photography. We continue to have sunny skies and very comfortable shirt sleeve weather here. We really need some rain though.

Here are some pictures of what has been happening here in San Diego -

Sunset/rise colors --

Sunset Dec. 16

Sunset Dec. 16

Sunrise, Dec. 17

My daughter, Tina, and I went out one afternoon to do a little bird photography at Santee Lakes where we saw mallards, wood ducks, ring-necked ducks, widgeons, cormorants, and ruddy ducks.

Chatting Mallard

Ruddy Duck

Widgeon Madam

Mixed Pair: Mallard and Lady Widgeon

Mallard in Flight

Lady Mallard approaching Landing

Cormorant

On New Year's Eve I went to meet fellow photographers to photograph brown pelicans and a few cormorants. It was another lovely day outside on a beautiful morning. 

A Long Stretch

Landing Approach

Got an Itch

Double Crested Cormorant

It is A Beautiful Day

You want to land here?

Sopwith Camel making Approach

What a stretch

Brown Pelican in Flight

Flying

You Caught Me, Again

Got to get that Itch

On January 3rd I went on a nice hike to Iron Mountain which is located East of the City. As you will see, the mountain is not very high, elevation 2696 feet, but it is typical of the area with the hillsides covered with lots

of boulders.

Boulder Pile Up

Do You See the Face?

Sleeping Boulder

Iron Mountain Trail

Iron Mtn. Geology

Spice Bush

Grove View

                  









Wish you all a wonderful New Year full of adventures, good health, and great companions.