Flutterbyes

 On the deck outside the kitchen door each summer these creatures come to harvest nectar from flowers I planted in a half wine barrel. They seem fairly oblivious to my presence as they focus on their task. Their wings are constantly moving so it's sometimes difficult to get a non blurred picture. I set the camera to burst shooting so that each time I press the shutter it takes several shots so I can find one that isn't blurred.

 A different perspective on the same visitor.

I just couldn't resist putting this one on the blog.
A friend of mine in Marin county grew this tomato. The nose was actually there and I just couldn't resist adding the eyes and mouth that I borrowed from another image. Photoshop can be fun.

Up the Haul Road

 We're gradually walking up the Haul Rd. that goes north from Ft. Bragg and was once the road used to haul logs in earlier lumbering days. We're walking it in increments along the ocean and finding lots of little treasures some of which are pictured here. To the right is a sparrow hawk also called an American Kestrel, one of the smaller hawks that lives all across the country, sweet coloring. I tried to get closer but it was skeptical of my intentions and flew off northward.

 At Mackerricher State Park there are harbor seal rookeries, this one was just north of the park and contained about 25 seals. This is the time of year when they have babies. It's important to not get too close to them as they are skittish and the mother seal, if scared by people or loose dogs, might escape into the ocean losing contact with her pup which is then in danger of starving to death. Volunteer monitors are on hand to try to get people to maintain their distance and to take care of abandoned pups. I was happy that my telephoto lens helped get this image.

At little Lake Cleone at Mackerricher Park the water is high and coming up over the visitors parking lot. On sunny days the starlings take baths in the warmed shallow waters. This fellow was standing contemplating bathing I guess. I'm really happy with the shadow image which, of course, I didn't even see when I snapped the picture.

An Albatross

 An albatross. It had been hurt and was a guest of the Monterey Aquarium while it recovered it's strength. They brought it out into a small courtyard each afternoon so that people could see it fairly close up. The woman talking about it warned people around it to not get too close because it could be a little aggressive if it felt threatened, although she was able to touch it and it responded positively to that. It was a large and impressive bird. The 2nd picture is the actual one, I couldn't get any pictures that didn't have various people in the background so

 I extracted the albatross from that background and overlaid it over a background of Marin Headlands skyscape. I'd rather remember this bird like that. I collect pictures of clouds everywhere that I go, the incredible variety of cloud forms amazes me.

 I never tire of taking pictures of flowers, and most especially roses. Roses are so varied in color and texture and have so many visual moods that it seems endless. They become even more magic when I get in very close to them, sensual and exotic and yet familiar too. Can't wait for spring so I can go out and capture some more images.

The statues on top of the building that is now a bank were originally created back in the 1860's. Ravens, starlings and seagulls often use them for perches

The ocean was rough and the clouds were gorgeous just before sunset on the headlands just down the road from the Mendocino Art Center.

The Presbyterian Church was also built back in the late 19th century but is still a very active place.
I must admit however, that I kidnapped the clouds behind the church from the sky around San Luis Obispo and brought them back here. Tricky me.

The statues again, from a different angle, complete with raven, the edge of one of Mendocino's water towers at the side. The water towers are mostly decorative now but once windmills worked hard on them.

While eating at an outdoor courtyard in downtown Santa Barbara I saw this visitor at an adjacent table. I was intriqued by his/her intensity of focus on the bowl left behind by another diner.

These are swallow babies in a nest located under the roof of the front porch at the Caspar Community Center taken during CasparFest in August of 2011. I had watched them being fed by the parents for several weeks before this shot. During the weekend of CasparFest I observed what seemed like odd behavior of the parent birds. They would fly near the nest like they were bringing food and the babies would perk up noisily with mouths stretched wide but the parent would veer off after coming very close. The babies would reach out and it looked as if they were close to falling out of the nest. Someone standing nearby said that it might be a strategy by the parents trying to get the babies to leave the nest. That seemd to be true and it seemed to succeed as they were gone from the nest a couple of days later.