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Thursday, March 26, 2009

Western Pond Turtle

I saw this rock walking across the road the other day, and after successfully swerving to avoid hitting the little guy, I grabbed the camera and went and lay in the dirt...

I've identified it as a Western Pond Turtle (and had that confirmed by experts - thanks Traci).











You can see a few more out of the series here. After being harassed by the paparazzi, this dude decided to wander back into the road, and I got worried about his pace, so I picked him up and carried him about 30 feet from the road - I hope he decided to stay off the asphalt after that.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Wildflower Madness...

Here's a few shots from Wards Ferry Rd. in the Tuolumne Canyon...


click the photo for a larger view - then use the left and right arrows to brows the others...











I'll be adding more photos to this post, so check back soon for more...

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Osprey!

I went to a spot where I knew there was an Osprey nest today to see what I could see... The light was bad and the nest was too distant for good shooting from the roadside pullout (and with my son in his car seat I can't exactly leave the truck), but when one of the pair left, the other bird soon headed for a pine near to another loop in the road. I didn't expect it to still be in the tree by the time I packed up and drove over there, but the bird exceeded my expectations...

All shot with the Tamron SP 400mm f/4 with the Tamron Adaptall 1.4x TC. From the point where I originally set up I was able to move about ten feet closer at one point, but the significantly closer images are crops...

Click the photos to see a larger version...

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My two favorites of the series...


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Sunday, March 01, 2009

cosumnes river preserve...

Got to check out the Cosumnes River Preserve yesterday and shoot a few photos. I was using the Sigma 50-500mm (the Bigma) on a Kenko 1.5x teleconverter on my Pentax K20D, and while the results weren't universally good, they weren't universally bad either - I did get some sharp photos, and it was a good time...

I'm no bird expert, so feel free to fill me in on names I don't know or correct me on what I got wrong ;).

Here are some of the better shots...

(click to see a larger version)...

Egret


Black Necked Stilt (identified by Marc L, a real bird photographer. - Thanks Marc.)





Red Wing Blackbird


Sandhill Cranes


???


Great Blue Heron