Walkabout the Backyard
Went for a walk with Zayne and Fleur today in the desert behind the house. Managed to get a couple of decent shots…
She can smell them jack rabbits…just can’t see ‘em
Summit of Wheeler Crest
Summit of Mt. Tom
Thanks for taking the time to look!
Cookie-Cutter Brown Trout
It’s fall in the Eastern Sierra. That means the flows on the Lower Owens River are down around 200cfs, the brown trout are active, and the surface action is predictable. So are the cookie-cutter brown trout…
One of several photo copy, cookie-cutter browns
This time of year is my favorite for fishing. The fish are very active, the flies are predictable, and the weather is typically awesome. I’m looking forward to many more days of warm sunshine and dry-fly action…
Thanks for looking!
A Beautiful Morning
My daughter has been begging me for a dog…specifically a Chihuahua, for the last 6 years and change. Me…I don’t like Chihuahuas. Yippy, snappy, barky, bitey, toe-biting rat dogs…I always said we would get a dog “someday”, but stressed that we would not get a Chihuahua. I’m such a sucker…
Yup…my daughter walking her 4-month old Chihuahua, Fleur…
This is them. 2 peas in a pod in only 3 days…
I went and hung out with this puppy for about an hour before I ever told Zayne anything about her. She is actually a very well-behaved puppy, and very easy to train.
Anyhow…on our little walk around the desert this morning, I took a few pics of the local Autumn wildlife…
Great Basin Fence Lizard
Common Sideblotch
All in all, it’s a beautiful morning. And yes…I know my kid is wearing 2 different shoes…
Thanks for stopping by!
Smaller Still…
Through fall and into winter, the fish around here will feed on smaller and smaller flies. So, it’s time to start stocking the tiny ones…
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- #20 Pheasant Tail Nymph
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- #22 Pale Olive
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- #22 Elk Hair Caddis
Little Flies…
A friend of mine sent me a sample of some very nice 14/0 tying thread. What a treat! I’ve never tied with anything smaller than 8/0, and I used to tie size 24 with that. Tying a size 20 Stimulator has never been easier!!
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- #20 Olive Stimulator
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- #18 Parachute Pheasant Tail Emerger
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- #18 Parachute Quill Adams
Emergers for Fall Fishin’
Adding to the fly box for the fall season is fun. I love tying caddis and parachute emergers…
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- #20 Parachute Emerger
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- #18 Midge Emerger
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- #18 Hot Creek Caddis Emerger
Saturday Morning Bench Time
Sat down at the tying bench this morning, intent on tying up some very important patterns for the fall season…
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- #18 Parachute Adams variation
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- #18 No-Hackle Egg-Laying Caddis
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- #18 Elk Hair Caddis
I’m pretty happy with the way these came out. I hope the local wild trout are, too…
Thanks for stopping by!
Midnight Macros
I couldn’t sleep last night. Insomnia has always been an issue for me, so I’ve learned to deal with it. One of my tools is my camera…
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- Tan Praying Mantis
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- Green Praying Mantis
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- #18 Adams Soft Hackle variation
I couldn’t have created better lighting for the green Praying Mantis. It was sitting on the brass base of my porch light, glowing from the bare bulb above it, and I used a hand-held flash. I’m pretty happy with the results of all that brass and reflected lighting…
Thanks for looking!
More from the Tying Bench
Went fishing for a couple of hours this morning, and caught a handful of really healthy browns and rainbow/golden hybrids. Came home and the urge to tie some flies hit, so that’s what I did…
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- #18 Parachute Emerger
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- #18 Orange and Brown Soft Hackle
Tyin’ Them Flies Again…
I used to tie a lot of fishing flies. I used to fish quite a lot. I haven’t done either in many years. Tough to find time to go fishing remote mountain creeks for wild trout when you’re trying to raise a kid…
I’ve been fishing a few times this season, and I’m going tomorrow. I’m feeling that buzz again…that itch to hit the water, even if only for an hour or two. I wanted to share a photo of what I’ll be using…
#18 Parachute Emerger of my own design
Not too bad, I think. I’ll let you know if it works…
Thanks for stopping by!
Been A While…
Wow. It’s been quite some time. A lot has happened. Initially, I was unemployed for a little bit, and anyone that has ever been there knows that priorities change. The internet had to go. Time was spent looking for a job, pounding the pavement, rather than walking the streets looking for photographs waiting to be taken. Money got tight, gas prices rose, and activity in my life ran down to a minimum.
But I’m back. I’m working, making money, and putting my camera back in hand, and priorities back in line. So by way of a re-introduction, here’s just a few random shots that have helped pass the time…
Zayne and Great Basin Gophersnake
My son and his girlfriend hunting for petroglyphs in the Volcanic Tablelands.
Goldfinch
Zayne enjoying Hot Ditch. Natural reflection from the water cured backlight shadows nicely.
Random front yard flower
1982 Shovelhead Custom Rigid. She will be mine. VERY soon…
So…yea…just a few shots to say, I’m back. And things are getting better. Thanks for stopping by!!
Little Lakes Valley
Went for a quick hike up through Little Lakes Valley this morning. Such a beautiful area…
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- Paintbrush
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- Heart Lake
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- Golden Mantle
My Son, the Dragon…
Had my son outside breathing fire for a few photos this evening…
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- Kiss of Fire
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- Iron Cross
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- Breath of Fire
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- Breath of Fire
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- Sustained breath
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- Kiss of Fire
American Kestrel Release
We had the distinct pleasure of releasing a gorgeous young female American Kestrel this morning. She was with us for about a month, learning to hunt and fly, and feed on her own, and she’s going to do just fine out in the wild…
Getting ready to step out
Perfect flight to a perfect perch
I also got a shot of our Evening Grosbeak. He, too, will be released fairly soon…
Evening Grosbeak
Thanks for taking the time to look!
Incredibly Rare Rodent
Aplodontia rufa, commonly known as Mountain Beaver, only occurs in the northwestern Pacific Coast of Oregon and Washington, and in a very narrow belt in the northeastern Sierra Nevada Mountains. We got one that was hit by a car into the center the other day.
These animals are very rare. In fact, as far as we can tell, this is the first one registered in any rehabilitation center in the state of California. They are a “living fossil” with traits and characteristics that place them as one of the oldest living rodent species in existence. Really interesting creatures. Checkout this Wikipedia article for more information on this fascinating creature…
So far, I’ve only managed to get one decent photo of this guy, but I will be bringing my camera to work again tomorrow in search of a few more…
Aplodontia rufa californica--Sierra Nevada Mountain Beaver
Thanks for stopping by!!
Tyee Lakes Trail
I took the kids and the dog for a day hike up to the first of the Tyee Lakes. It’s one of my favorite day hikes in the Bishop area, and I try to get up there right around my birthday every year. This year I’m a week early. Anyhow…some photos…
Just about half way...
Zayne and Roach
Roach is Spike’s dog. He is 50/50 Timber Wolf and Malamute.
Roach, looking like he belongs there...
Tyee Falls
This is a seasonal falls, meaning it is typically dried up by the end of August. I guess the late thaw and moderate temperatures have kept it flowing longer than normal. Can’t complain about that!
Thanks for looking!
Spike and Marla
I went for a drive to the Reno airport today with my son and his girlfriend. I managed a couple of sneaky shots before Marla had to catch her flight…
"Which gate do I need?"
Spike and Marla
And I just happened to catch sight of this one. I found it amusing…
Wrong Way
Anyhow…just a quickie. Thanks for looking!
Slowing Down…
The summer is finally winding down. I hope to be getting out and shooting a little more, now that baby bird season is fairly well behind us, and work is winding down. For now, I took a couple of shots while walking around the park with my daughter today…
She really is growing up far too quickly…
Thanks for taking the time to look!
It’s Been a While…
I’ve been slackin’ on the posting. Work has been incredibly busy, and I’ve had no time to go out and shoot photos. It’s been hectic, to say the least. But I brought the gear to work the other day, went in a couple of hours before I was scheduled, and took some shots…
Cooper's Hawk
Jeremy and Cindy examining a Golden Eagle
This Golden Eagle was found hopping on the ground, unable to fly. An early exam revealed dehydration, near-emaciation, and all of his primary feathers broken on one wing. The flesh and tendons are viable, no signs of electrocution, and was given subcutaneous fluids, and fed gently. He is recovered well enough to be transported to a facility with on-staff veterinarians and raptor specialists, and after full-recovery, he will be brought back to us for release.
Love Dove-European Collared Dove
This dove came to us as a tiny baby. We raised her up, big and healthy, and tried to release her, but she came back and hangs out at the center. There are other doves in the area, and they all get along well, so we’ll let her stay…
Roadrunner
This young Roadrunner is completely wild. He has never been a patient at the center, and doesn’t appear to be even remotely injured. He just hangs out in the desert behind the center, and has gained enough confidence to allow us to approach him…sort of. We don’t get closer than a few feet, but I have passed directly underneath him whilst he was perched on this branch several times, and he is less than 6″ above my head, so…pretty bold Roadrunner…
"Quoth the Raven, 'Nevermore!'"
First Flight of Freedom
Lenore came to us as a little nudie baby, orphaned, naked, cold, and starving. She grew into a big, healthy, beautiful Raven. I was quite fond of Lenore, and shared pictures of her a few weeks ago. She’s a big girl now, and we released her the other morning to be free as she can be…
Thanks for looking!
Cruising for Snakes
I went out last night for a short snake cruise, hoping to scare up some Sidewinders and Panamints, but alas, the rattlers didn’t want to come out and play with me. I did find a couple of other snakes, though…
California Kingsnake--Lampropeltis getula californiae
This king was absolutely gorgeous! He was about 4-4 1/2 feet in length, very healthy and crisply colored with jet black and pure white bands. This is a true “Desert Phase” California Kingsnake. Quintessential in color, size, and attitude, but he did settle down and stop trying to bite for long enough to get a few pictures…
Further down the road I found this guy…
Great Basin Gophersnake--Pituophis catenifer deserticola
I have found and played with a ton of Great Basin Gophersnakes over the years. This species is always fun to find, because you never know what kind of attitude they are going to have. Some are incredibly calm, content to be picked up, held, and moved out of the road, and others…well…not so much. This was one of the most defensive Gophersnakes I’ve ever had the pleasure of encountering. He was medium size, about 3 1/2 feet in length, but he was absolutely FULL of piss and hatred for me. He was easily one of the loudest hissers I’ve ever encountered, and he struck at me more times than I could possibly count. Not little strikes…2/3 body length, almost aerial, lunges towards me, the flashlight, the camera…anything that moved in front of him. Of course, he was determined to convince me that he was gonna kill me, but that’s what I like to see. If a snake is that angry at me, it means he will treat every other human he encounters the same way. When this dude reaches 6 feet or more in length, he will be one helluva snake to deal with. Hopefully, I will get the opportunity to meet him at that point. Think he’ll remember me? 
Here’s another shot of the same Gophersnake. Notice the similarity of pose and attitude? He didn’t stop for a second…
Even after picking him up, moving him across the road in his intended direction of travel, and calmly setting him down inches from the cover of sagebrush, he had his sights on me. What a great little snake!
Thanks for taking the time to look!
Summertime Rolls…
Summertime is in full swing here in the Owen’s Valley of the Eastern Sierra…
Gazebo at the Town Park in Bishop
Skatepark at the Town Park in Bishop
The weather is settled and finally on our side, so get out there and enjoy it while you can!
Thanks for looking!
Photo Manipulations
Yea…I haven’t had a lot of time to get out and shoot photos. So, as usual, I’ve been playing around in Photoshop, manipulating photos, and coming up with brand new looks for some of my older shots. Hope you enjoy them!
American Kestrel
These are some absolutely amazing little raptors I love seeing them darting around out in the wild, but this is the first opportunity I’ve ever had to work with them up close and personal…
