Just like everyone else, I’m looking for things to do while the this quarantine/social distancing drags on. Going through photos is an activity I’ve been enjoying. I took a lot of photos of Ospreys fishing last year. They look angelic to me against the soft summer sky.
Osprey fishing
You can see that the Osprey is intently studying the water below.
After the Osprey sees a fish near the surface it starts the dive.
Starting the DiveDiving
These photos don’t capture the speed that this all takes place at. I had to take a lot of photos to get it done. 🙂
My habit is to get obsessed with a particular species. For awhile, I chase that species in what I hope is a compulsive but healthy manner, until I have a collection of images that I like. In the pursuit I learn a lot about the animal or bird, where to find, good methods to get close to them, general habits and knowledge to aid in the quest.
American Kestrel
A friend of mine was commenting that he wanted to get some photos of Kestrels. I told him we have many in the area and general places he could find them. He kept expressing, with some frustration, that he was not able to find them and that was all it took to awaken the species challenge in me.
American Kestrel
These are beautiful little birds that are relatively easy to find and photograph. They are widespread across North America and are doing well, not threatened or endangered and fun to watch. They like open fields and border areas. They use trees, power lines, fences and rocks to perch on. They hover over an area to hunt and then dive onto their prey. They eat insects, lizards, small birds and mammals.
Kestrel with Cricket
Kestrels are the smallest bird in the Falcon family and the only Kestrel in America. They are unusual in the Falcon family as the male and female differ subtly in colors.
The Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge is a large complex of refuges on the California/Oregon border. Every winter over 500 Bald Eagles choose to winter here because of the abundance of wintering snow geese and tundra swans that use the refuge through the winter. A couple of years ago I made several trips up there to photograph wildlife but never made it back in 2014. I got a new lens and could not think of a better place to try it out so I made a quick trip up there last week. I think I got a pretty good representation of the wildlife you can find on the refuge in the photographs I took.
Great Blue Heron
Great Egret
Bald Eagles
Mule Deer
Coyote
Red-tailed Hawk
Northern Desert Photography 