PETER & KATE'S HOME

Our daughter Mary took us down to Aromas, California, to visit our son, Peter, and daughter-in-law, Kate in their new home over the past weekend.  They have a beautiful place on a hillside overlooking a large valley where the Driscoll Corporation grows strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, etc  This is the view from their house (you can enlarge the photo by clicking on it):

As I mentioned above, the house itself sits on a hillside which is full of eucalyptus and assorted fruit trees.  It's their own little Garden of Eden.  Here's a view of theri home from down the hill:

One of the great treats of a country home is the wildlife.  In the morning and evening, the bunnies come out to feed.  I caught this one with my 400mm lens.  He's a handsome little guy.  Don't you think?:

There were birds around, too.  One I hadn't seen before was this one.  I think it's a California thrasher:

Peter told me there were hawks around, but we didn't see any until we were on our way out of the property.  Then Mary spotted this red-shouldered hawk as he flew from the road into the trees with some kind of a meal.  We couldn't tell what it was.  I hope it wasn't a little bunny!:

Anyway, it was a fun visit, and I'm grateful to Mary for doing the driving!

Fireworks!

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!♫ zampi

Independence Day

I haven't done this for a while.  At my age, I almost forget how to do it.  Not to worry, it's all coming back to me now!

We had a full moon last night so I took a shot.  This is what I got:

Dickie had a birthday last month.  Our daughters, Heidi and Mary dropped by to deliver some presents and we all had a great time.  Now Dickie has two new magnifying lamps to work with when she sews.  Here are the three of them mugging it up for the camera:

Dickie and I walk down a road that borders a vineyard here in town.  Before we reach the vineyards we pass these hollyhocks that are in beautiful bloom just now.  The bees like them, too.  You can see one in this pic, if you look carefully at the top of the flower (or click on the picture to see a larger version):

Below is a shot of what we see in the distance as we walk along the road.  Just now, everything is very green and the grapes are still tiny:

When the spirit moves us, we travel down to Schollenberger Park in Petaluma.  There's a large shallow lake there with an asphalt path built completely around it.  There are always plenty of waterfowl like swans, ducks, stilts and avocets.  However, all around the edges of the lake there are quite a number of other birds like red-winged blackbirds, swallows, and finches, not to mention hawks and harriers.  If you keep your eyes open, you'll usually spot this hummingbird who makes his home there.  I caught him up close the last time we visited:

Another place we like to visit is the fish hatchery at the north end of Dry Creek Valley.  The water there is convenient for a large number of cliff swallows.  They dig the mud from the pools to make their nests.  I caught this one on the wing - not an easy thing to do.  I felt very lucky.

I hope you're lucky, too, in whatever you're doing these days.  Have a happy 4th of July!

MAY DAY!

It's been a while since I've done any posting to this blog, but the muse grabbed me today and here I go.  I want to do a little boasting.  Our daughter, Mary Szecsey, is the executive director of the West County Health Centers here in Sonoma County California.  Recently, she co-authored an article in PACIFIC HEALTH.  I've copied it out below so you can take a look (just double-click the photo for a readable size):

Good things are still happening in this world!  I'm proud of our daughter's contribution.

My own contributions have been quite modest lately.  Getting out to find those hawks and shore birds is getting harder and harder for this 83 year-old.  I have gotten lucky occasionally.  Here's a red-winged blackbird I shot (with my camera) not too long ago:

He looks almost angry, doesn't he?  Truth be told, he was quite happily chirping away as he guarded the nest.

One of my favorite birds is the avocet.  There were quite a few of them assembled at Shollenberger Park in Petaluma the last time we visited.  The avocet comes from the same family (recurvirostridae) as the stilt which is black and white and similar in size.  Here's what an adult avocet looks like at this time of year:

For years Mary and her husband, Christopher, have been telling me they see coyotes on their property out in Occidental, CA.  I finally got to see one on Mother's Day weekend.  I took this pic through a window, so it's not as sharp and clear as I'd like, but, if you look closely, you can see the gopher in his mouth:

I guess that's enough for now.  It's time for me to get ready for the Cardinal ballgame.  Dickie and I watch them all.  Happy May!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!, originally uploaded by ♫ zampi.

♫ zampi

MY BIRDS

Here are some of the birds I have managed to photograph in the last few years. I have dozens, sometimes hundreds of photos of each, but these are a few of the best shots. Hopefully, I'll ge able to add a few more to my collection before I'm done. It has certainly been fun so far.

Ps.  Just keep clicking on the photo to expand it for a better look.

Family

Another Hummer

Another Hummer, originally uploaded by ♫ zampi.

I was sitting out on our patio this afternoon when this hummer dropped by for a cool drink. He split when I snapped the shutter, but not before I grabbed his profile.♫ zampi

Osprey

Osprey, originally uploaded by ♫ zampi.

I had to photoshop out some telephone wires in this pic, but I always like to get shots of ospreys. Haven't had that many oportunities. This one occurred as we were leaving Bodega Bay recently.♫ zampi

HAPPY EASTER!

HAPPY EASTER!, originally uploaded by ♫ zampi.

♫ zampi

THANKSGIVING

Oh, what the heck! I haven't anything else to do. Might as well put up another blog page. It has been a while! Let's see, what have Dickie and I been up to lately? We tried to go walking this morning but decided it was too windy when my hat blew off as we turned the corner to the local park. Went grocery shopping instead, after Dickie dropped off some books at the library and I picked up some gas at the Chevron station. Gas is $3.23 a gallon here in Windsor. I can get it cheaper at Costco in Santa Rosa, but it's a twelve mile round trip which is about a half gallon of gas, so it's hardly worth traveling that far.We were having lunch today (Tuesday) when our son-in-law Jonathan stopped by to visit. He's good that way. He was working in the area. Brought his dog, Lulu, a sweet-tempered yellow lab and we had a nice chat.

(Click on any of these small pics to view them larger)

Last Wednesday Dickie and I made a trip out to the ocean to see if I could catch any shore birds with my trusty camera. Didn't see that many interesting birds so I snapped a gull or two. Here's one I caught flying by:

On the road into Bodega Head there's a man-made water hole left over from some years ago when they planned to build a nuclear power plant out that way. Fortunately, that never happened, but it left a nice place for the birds and animals. There's a night heron that we've often seen fishing there. He was there this time, too:

A couple weeks back we drove out to Alexander Valley to see the colorful autumn vineyards. There were some glorious sights. None better than those we saw at the Stonestreet Winery. This is what it looked like on the road into the winery:

And this was the view from the exit to the north:

 

The reds and yellows in the vineyards then were a real feast for the eyes:

The vine-covered stone entrance to the Hanna Winery looked good, too:

We'll be spending the Thanksgiving holiday with our children and grandchildren out at Heidi and Peter's home in Occidental. If you're reading this, I hope you have/had a wonderful Thanksgiving, too:

MAY 2010

With Mother's Day just around the corner, I'm dedicating this flower to mothers everywhere:




Dickie and I traveled to Petaluma on the past Wednesday to visit Shollenberger Park, one of our favorite birding spots.  While we were there, we learned of an adjacent area that is also stocked with plenty of wildlife.  We found this mommy shepherding her ducklings:




In fact, there were nine ducklings in all in this particular family.  I managed to get eight of them together for this shot:




There were also a number of mute swans nesting in the ponds there.  This one kept him/herself busy chasing away the Canadian geese that got too close to its territory.  Would you want to meet this bird in a dark alley?:




I got this goose as he/she flew away:





There were dozens of geese in and around the ponds.  Occasionally, a couple would fly up together.  That's how I got this shot:




So much for now!  Have a great month of May!  See you later!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!, originally uploaded by "zampi".

It's that time of year, just past the vernal equinox and the full moon! Enjoy!"zampi"

MARCH

I walked out to get the mail the other afternoon and saw a beautiful rainbow in the sky. I ran in the house to get my camera, but, by the time I got back outside, this was all that was left. Really, when I first looked at it, it stretched fully across the sky. I hated to miss that. Here’s what I did get:

So often great photos depend on one’s being at the right place at the right time. Of course, the best photographers do everything they can to put themselves in that right place at the right time. It takes planning and effort, something I’m a little short on these days.


I had a bit of luck last Sunday. Dickie and I had gone with our daughter, Mary, to check out rental homes at Dillon Beach. As we drove through one neighborhood, high on a hill overlooking the ocean, we came upon a doe and her fawn grazing on the front lawn of one of the homes. The fawn walked across the street to check us out. I thought it was going to come right up to the open window of our car, but it stopped a little short and I got several shots of it. Here’s one. He’s a scruffy little guy, but he has a certain charm:

For the past month or so, we’ve had quite a bit of cloudy weather here in northern California and a good bit of rain. I’m not complaining. We need the water, but all the rainy weather has put a crimp in my photo ops. We did get out to Alexander Valley one morning where I was able to capture the beauty of one of the mustard fields. They really are gorgeous in the sunlight. Here’s one view:

In a day of better weather, we also made a trip to Shollenberger Park in Petaluma. That’s the wetlands area that practically dried up last summer and fall. With all the rain lately, it has come to life again and the waterfowl are back, including Canadian geese:

And some mute swans

Also northern shovelers:

The red-winged blackbirds love the reeds in the sloughs there. You can see and hear them everywhere:

I was also lucky enough to spot a kite hunting in the swamp. I think kites are one of the prettiest raptors:

People are always walking their dogs at Shollenberger. His owner let me take this head-shot of a Bernese mountain dog as they passed by. I think they are really beautiful dogs:

That’s it for now. By the way, if you want to say “hi” or leave a comment, all you have to do is click on the word “comments” below this paragraph. You don’t have to belong to Google or Blogger, just write your comment in the dialog box that appears and scroll down in that dialog box to the line that says “Name/URL” and check it. Then write your name and click on the bar that says “PUBLISH YOUR COMMENT”. It won’t show up in the blog until I see it and approve it, but it will be recorded. Trust me. I’d love to hear from you if you’re reading this.

Red-tailed Hawk

Red-tailed Hawk, originally uploaded by ☼ zampi ☼.

I stumbled on this guy just before Christmas. In fact, Dickie saw him first. He was more interested in locating his lunch than bothering with us. He flew from pole to pole around us and back again which gave me numerous opportunities to photograph him. A neighbor came by and told us that he and his mate were often perched on those poles and, in fact, even on the fence posts where he had been able to approach him within ten feet or less. Suffice it to say, we'll be back there!☼ zampi ☼