Liza's Bird Photography Rules #3

Varied Thrush
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

Gentle Readers,

When one takes a bad picture through a car window when one should have gotten out of the car and taken a better picture, one can salvage the situation by claiming the picture is artistic and that one wanted that effect. It's so much better than admitting to laziness!

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In other news, Ruby is doing well. She's adjusting to life in our crazy home. She still finds the kids a trifle intimidating but, as you can see, is starting to see some benefit to them as well. I'm also glad to see her being a little naughty -- she is a puppy, after all. Today, she got toys out of their rooms and started chewing on them. Fortunately, I found her before any damage was done -- but she had gotten 5 stuffed dogs out of Ruthie's room and one from Gage's!

My girls: Ruby and Ruthie!

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Don't forget to check out another I and the Bird!

Camping Weekend Bird Report

California Towhee
Originally uploaded by egret's nest.

What a great weekend for birding! I didn't get enough of it -- of course -- but still, it was so great. We were camped at a reservoir in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains. The river was dammed and has backed up to fill many, many valleys and canyons with water. We were camped on the top of a hill that juts out into the water. It is oak tree country and grassy. Utterly beautiful. I took as many pictures as I could but the light was not great and my skills are not great and so many did not turn out. Mostly, they were just so that when I washed them out and zoomed in, I could see enough detail to ID the bird. I did get a bunch of life birds but I haven't entered them into eBird yet to see how many I got.

This California Towhee posed beautifully for me in this bramble at Columbia, California -- an historic Gold Country town that has become a State Historic Park while still being a real town. Very cool. And, we bought great homemade chocolate there so . . . it's well worth a stop!

Here's a brief bird list:

California Towhee
Spotted Towhee
Oak Titmouse
Acorn Woodpecker
Hairy/Downy Woodpecker
Dark-eyed Junco
Western Bluebird *
Northern Flicker *
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
Phainopepla *
Mockingbird
Canada Geese
Turkey Vulture
White-breasted Nuthatch
Wild Turkey
Hawks of many varieties
Immature Bald Eagle

Here are a few of the photos I got that I was pleased with . . .

Northern Flickr
(taken through the window of the motorhome at 7:30am!)

Western Bluebird
They were everywhere -- so utterly beautiful!

Turkey Vulture
I could not believe how close I was to this amazing bird.

White-breasted Nuthatch
Look at that little acrobat!

So, while I could have wished for better light all weekend, I can't complain about the birds I saw. Greg heard an owl in the middle of the night but it stopped hooting as he rolled over to wake me up.

Oh, and other wildlife . . . I saw three Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) and a Black-tailed Jackrabbit (Lepus californicus) and we all saw a Bobcat (Lynx rufus)!