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!
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
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!
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!
Barn Owls
I have never had the pleasure of seeing a Barn Owl in the wild. Yesterday, two fledgling Barn Owls were brought to the wildlife center. I was honored and privileged to be able to give them both their initial exams, and luckily, neither one has any apparent injuries! So other than being orphaned and a bit young, they are perfectly healthy. We will feed them and keep them safe until they are able to fly, and then they will be released. I have no worries about these two retaining their wild attitude. They let me know with no uncertain terms that they wanted nothing to do with me…
Fledgling Barn Owl
Fledgling Barn Owl
I’m really excited to be working with these two. The Great Horned Owls are awesome, don’t get me wrong, but you just don’t see these guys very often and to be able to work hands-on with them, knowing they are healthy and will be returned very soon, is an incredible opportunity and experience.
Thanks for coming along!
Wild Iris
Well, flowers are starting to bloom, and spring is trying to be here, but for some reason, this cold wind just doesn’t seem to want to release its grip on the valley. So rather than battle the wind and shoot fast shutter speeds, or wait for the wind (and the Iris) to die, I decided to just go with it…
Wild Iris
There was a couple of other photographers out shooting, but the color never popped, and the wind was incessant. Rather than battle the conditions, I went with it, stopped down to f/22, and even dropped a 3stop ND filter on to slow it down and really exaggerate the blur. I think it came out fairly neat!
The Victoria and Wild Rose are blooming in the front yard, too…
Victoria
Wild Rose
And this is the closest I have ever gotten to a good shot of a Whiptail lizard…
Great Basin Whiptail--Aspidocelis tigris tigris
One of these days, spring will actually get here and stay for a little while…
Thanks for looking!
Mojave Desert Sidewinder
I like Sidewinders. They are a fairly small rattlesnake, with males topping out around 2-2 1/2 feet in length, and females reaching a massive 3 feet, but what they lack in body size, they typically make up for in attitude and venom production. This little girl was fast asleep in the middle of the road. She’s lucky my daughter and I found her first…
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- Mojave Desert Sidewinder–Crotalus cerastes cerastes
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- Mojave Desert Sidewinder–Crotalus cerastes cerastes
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- Mojave Desert Sidewinder–Crotalus cerastes cerastes
Birds and a Panamint
Yup…more birds, and a BEAUTIFUL Panamint I found with my daughter…
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- Panamint rattler-Crotalus stephensi
That little Panamint was awesome. He was being harassed by a Raven that was evidently trying to keep him in the road to be run over. Lucky for the snake, not so much for the Raven, we were the first car to come along, so I scared off the raven, grabbed my snake hook, and moved the little guy out of the road.
Thanks for looking!
Strollin’ through the Park one day…..
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- Black Neck Hummingbird
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- House Finch
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- House Finch
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- White Crowned Sparrow
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- Artesian Oasis
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- Nesting Sparrow
I found a new artesian well, too. Prettier than the other one, in my opinion. I’ll be back again…
Thanks for looking!
Walk in the Desert
Well…I went in to town today to try and find some local characters to interview and photograph. I didn’t find the folks I was looking for, but I ran into a good friend of mine, and we decided to go for a quick walk in the desert to see what was moving. So we hopped in my car, head to the Volcanic Tablelands, and started hunting around the rocks…
Western Sagebrush Lizard
Barred Spiny Lizard
Great Basin Collared Lizard
Great Basin Collared Lizard
Not a bad day for a quick trip. The sun was out, the wind was relatively calm, and there were some really nice lizards that decided to come out and play. It does a body good!
Thanks for coming along!
Backyard Bird Watching
Backyard bird watching. It’s almost cliché. People are hustlin’ and bustlin’ around this great big world of ours, and not leaving anytime to enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Money is tight, job security is low, taxes and inflation continue growing… It seems the only thing we have any ability to control anymore is how we respond to the rapidly changing stimuli.
That’s why I LOVE my backyard. Let me explain… I live in the High Desert. My house is situated at about 5,000′, right on the feet of the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in eastern California. I can look out my living room window and I have an unobstructed view for close to 10 miles, all the way up the western slope of the White Mountain peaks, which is the western most border of Nevada. Now…there is a major highway running through there, and a multitude of high-power, high-tension lines zig-zagging back and forth. Views are spectacular, but these ugly lines are very destructive to landscape compositions. But the wildlife is incredible…
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- American Goldfinch
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- American Goldfinch
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- Common Sideblotch–Uta stansburiana
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- Domestic Iris
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- Male House Finch
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- Female House Finch
It’s amazing how curative a backyard like mine can be. I’m gonna tell you guys a little secret…I lost my job last week. Yea, right in the middle of my visit with my son, I found out that I was no longer employed. But it’s OK. I had an incredible week visiting with my son, and my emotional well-being has never been more positive. Even being unemployed and quickly running out of money, I can’t help but smile. I walk out back, and it just happens. Something will come through. I have a lot of experience in a lot of fields. I’ve done everything from flippin’ burgers and pouring drinks to antique restorations and hotel management. I also found out about some pretty cool job openings in my area, including backcountry habitat recovery and wildlife rehabilitation, and not only would I LOVE to have either of those jobs…I’m fairly well qualified for both. So something will come through. Just gotta ride this wave for a few days…
Thanks for taking the time to stop and look!
The Buttermilks and Mono Lake
Turkey Vulture
- Panamint Rattler–Crotalus stephensi
- Panamint Rattler–Crotalus stephensi
It was quite a lovely day…
- Kevin trying to get the shot
- Little Peak
- Buttermilk Ridgeline
Kevin’s flight back home was this afternoon, so we left the house around 5am, and headed up to Mono Lake, to get some early morning shots before he had to go. It was another spectacular day…
- Mono Lake Tufa
- Looking for a shot
- South Tufa Portrait
This has been one of the most incredible weeks of my life. I’m really glad I took a chance and reached out to my son. I’m even more thrilled that he responded positively. I think we have a good thing to build on here…
Thanks for taking the time to look!
What a Day!
So…I picked my son up at the airport on Sunday. I haven’t seen him since he was 2 years old, and he has no conscious memory of me at all. He’s a 21-year-old Army combat veteran, now. We had a 4 hour drive from the airport to the house, and we spent 99% of it talking, laughing, and getting to know each other. It really surprises me how much we have in common, both in terms of things we enjoy, and our personalities…the way we think. We share similar opinions on many subjects, and enjoy many of the same hobbies and activities.
It’s really been a nice couple of days. We went for a walk around the Buttermilk area, looking for snake and lizards, and taking pictures yesterday afternoon…
My son, Kevin, looking for snakes and lizards, camera 'round his neck
We did manage to find a few lizards, but no snakes…
Great Basin Fence Lizard--Sceloporus occidentalis longipes
And a B&W panorama of some of my favorite mountains…
2 shot pano--Paiute Crag to Mt. Humphries
Last night, Kevin and I went road cruising for snakes for a little bit. We didn’t see any snakes, but we did find a Great Basin Spadefoot toad, which is always a welcome and rare treat in Inyo County…
Great Basin Spadefoot--Spea intermontana
It’s been fantastic so far! We are going to pick up Zayne either tonight or tomorrow. These two haven’t met, yet, so I’m pretty excited to get them both together…
Thanks for looking!
Endangered Toads
The California Black Toad(Bufo exsul) exists only in a tiny chain of natural springs in Eastern California. They are endemic to this area, and as a founding member of the Eastern Sierra Herpetology Club, it is a privilege to be able to work with the California Department of Fish and Game to protect and maintain the habitat for these animals. Yesterday, we took a trip up there to check on the toads, and see how the breeding season was coming along…
Adults in amplex amid egg strings
Adult pair in amplex(mating)
We observed 4 or 5 pairs of adult toads in amplex, which means the male has mounted the female and breeding has begun, and we also heard several “release” calls, which is a signal that mating has finished and the male is releasing the female. We also saw millions developing egg strings, and even a few tadpoles…
Egg Strings. Each tiny, black dot is a developing tadpole. The empty areas are from recently hatched tadpoles...
2 tiny tadpoles, likely only a day or two old...
After visiting the breeding habitat, we followed the spring system to a location known to be home to several toads to see how they were progressing. We were pleasantly surprised to see a countless number of juvenile toads, likely hatched last year, hopping and swimming around, seemingly everywhere we looked. To say there were thousands would be an understatement…
Juvie Black Toad
Juvie Black Toad
It was a real treat to see so many breeding adults peacefully using the breeding habitat that we, as a club, helped to restore and protect. It was also a real treat to see that the implementation of a seasonal road closure, also initiated by the Eastern Sierra Herpetology Club, led to such a successful amount of breeding last season. We were all smiles and giggles over our short-term successes. Now we can begin long-term documentation and maintenance and hopefully watch this endangered, endemic population of toads thrive in their only native habitat.
Obviously, while out on these trips, we see other reptilian wildlife and even a few insects. So here are a couple of “bonus shots” from the day…
No idea...any guesses on species out there?
Great Basin Fence Lizard--Sceloporus occidentalis longipes
Common Sideblotch--Uta stansburiana
Northern Desert Horned Lizard--Phrynosoma platyrhinos platyrhinos
I did find a very pretty and extremely healthy Mojave Patchnose snake(Salvadora hexalepis mojavensis) on the way up to the habitat, but I didn’t get a picture of it. I got to share it with my friend Rusty who had never seen one before, though, so that’s good enough for me…
Thanks for coming along!
I Love My Backyard
It’s not quite a year since I moved into this new place. By the time we got here in May last year, the flowers and trees had already been too neglected to recover by much. They did OK, but this year, with ready tending, watering, and cleaning, they are blooming like crazy. With that comes the insects…
Yellow Swallowtail
Yellow Swallowtail 2
There is also several acres of empty, rolling scrub land behind the house that usually has birds flitting about. This afternoon, I saw a cute little chipmunk…
Li'l Chipmunk
It’s nice to live in an area that has so many varied wildlife opportunities close at hand.
Thanks for lookin!
Backyard Birding
When you haven’t got a lot of time, you work with what you got. I got a nice, big, empty desert loaded with songbirds and blossoming brush as a backyard…
Household Macros
The weather is playing cruel tricks on me. It was really nice out just about a week ago. Nice enough for long enough that I actually spent a few hours road cruising for snakes just a week and a half ago. I didn’t find any, but still…
The last week or so has been CRAP!!! Spring went bye-bye, and Mother Nature brought winter back for an encore…with a vengeance. So I’ve been sitting at home, miserable, new gear to play with, and shitty-ass weather. Good thing my girlfriend likes flowers…
Another shot of her Valentine Orchid
A Lily that has seen better days...
Domestic Beauty-No idea what they are, but they're pretty
The last one is my favorite shot of the day…
Thanks for stopping by!!
Orchids and a Rose
50mph winds and heavy rains all day kept me inside, nice and warm. So what better way to kill time than with the 105mm macro lens?
These are my girlfriend’s orchids. I got them for her for Valentine’s Day. They’re cool, and she is WAY better at keeping stuff alive than I am.
Next up is the Rose…
Rosie Posie is my girlfriend’s daughter, and she is always down for getting her picture taken…
Thanks for looking!
Sure Signs of Spring
So I was outside this evening shortly before sunset, and I noticed my almond and peach trees were just glowing beautifully with fresh blossoms. So I grabbed my camera and my 105mm macro lens for some shots…
I have 2 peach trees. One provides LOADS of smaller, white fleshed peaches, and the other provides fewer, larger yellow fleshed ones. These are all from the white-flesh tree…
Then I saw this guy buzzing around my almond tree…
He knew he was further than I wanted him to be, so he flew down to the peach tree for a closer look…
That’s it. Just some sure signs of spring from my front yard. Thanks for looking!
Morning Rain
I woke up extra early this morning, anticipating some early cloud coverage and a spectacular sunrise. I was half right… It was pouring down rain and the clouds were so thick you couldn’t even tell sunrise happened until the sun was well above the mountains. But storm fronts are cool whether rain or snow, so I went out and shot for an hour or two before work…
I went straight to work after shooting a few scenics, and took a couple of animal pictures, to round out the day…
Bailey-Blue and Gold Macaw
Nina
Chinchilla Closeup
And an obligatory water-macro-abstract-thing…
Yup...water...
It’s nice to be getting shots, even if they aren’t the ones I had hoped for…
Thanks for taking the time to look!
Bishop Creek Canyon
Went with my friend Rich for a short morning walk around Bishop Creek Canyon yesterday….
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- Middle Fork Bishop Creek
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- Mountain Mohagony
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- Aspen Grove
Buttermilk Sunrise
Not a spectacular morning as sunrises go. Rather than battle the hundreds of other photographers at North Lake this morning, I opted for the lower elevation and less-crowded desert of Buttermilk Country…
Nothing fancy, but a very pretty morning to be awake. Thanks for looking!
Great Basin Gophersnakes
Found 5 or 6 Great Basin Gophersnake hatchlings this evening between sunset and moonrise. All of them were very young, probably only a few days to a couple weeks old, and all were out warming themselves on the pavement for what could very well be their first meal…
Anyhow, I got some decent pictures of a couple of them, so here they are!
Time for your closeup!
Heading for the bushes...
My favorite shot of the night...
Anyhow…it was a really nice night. I took a new Eastern Sierra Herpetology Club member out for his first roadcruise, and we were lucky enough to find several hatchlings. Not bad, if you ask me.
Thanks for taking the time to look!
