Sometimes when you live in Sonoma County in Northern California you have to just experience where you live and be thankful.  Be thankful for living in one of the most beautiful and unique places in the world.

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here.  Crystal clear fall weather.  A few drops of rain have fallen sporadically to clean the air and add some much needed moisture.  But fall in the North Coast means crystal clear weather with no fog in sight at the coast.

I have been venturing out to Bodega Bay a couple of times in the last few days to photograph the wildlife at the Bay along the westside road that curves out around the Bay.

The birds have been absolutely incredible to see and photograph.  Many breeds and the numbers of birds have been numerous.   Their activity has been highly energetic.

Egrets are always found at Bodega Bay.  But lately the numbers of them and the feeding activity right along the road has been wonderful for photographic opportunities.

I have been experimenting a little lately by bumping up my telephoto lengths I am using to fill the frame.  I have been attaching a Nikon TC17-E II to my Nikon 200-400 AFS zoom lens AND using the 2X multiplier on my Nikon D2X.  This creates a focal length of 1300 mm.  Great care is needed in keeping things sharp and in focus. 

Birds in flight are very difficult with this setup but with patience, luck and skilled post processing good images can be created.

Birds that are feeding along the shore can be captured with excellent detail when you use your car as a blind.

The late afternoon light coming from the west lights the birds up with warm and colorful light.

Sometimes the vultures are gorging on prey and they don’t even know or care that you are just steps away from them.

The migratory birds are settling in to their winter home.  Like the fishing fleet at Spuds Point Marina, they are protected in the Bay from the future storms that will occur.

Sometimes when you live in Sonoma County you just have to venture out and explore and appreciate the beautiful place that it is.

I wanted to photograph someplace I had not photographed before.  So last saturday I took a drive down to the Marin County line to explore a little at the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge.

The refuge is located on Highway 37.  It is one of the busiest highways in the Bay Area serving as a link between Interstate 80 and Highway 101.  It is just about the last place you would expect a wildlife refuge to be. 

The San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge (NWR) was established to serve as a sanctuary for migratory waterfowl.

There were some American Avocets in their winter coat feeding in the shallow water.  They were oblivious to the noise of the cars and the big rig trucks that rolled by continuously on busy Highway 37.

It is dungeness crab season in Sonoma County.

The crab fisherman are predicting another down harvest.  Not due to any global warming or overfishing as one might expect.  Actually, it is a natural occurence.  http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20091109/ARTICLES/911099957

The dungeness crab season goes in cycles due to reproduction cycles of the crab.  We had some great harvests for a few years and now we are in the midst of some bad harvests for a few years.

Some of the fisherman have stated they will not venture out this season.  Too expensive they say with fuel prices and decreasing harvest numbers.  But they are still getting the crab pots ready out at Spud Point Marina.  They were lined up in the hundreds ready to load onto the boats.

I have always found crab pots lined up like this to be very photogenic.  It is the color of the buoys and the intertwined rope inside of the pots that attracts me.  The different colors of the buoys that mark who owns the pots is very colorful.  They are often colored in very saturated colors so the fisherman can spot them easily in low light, fog and large waves.

I did something different with these images.  The saturated colors of the buoys screamed KODACHROME film to me.

So I processed these images with the Nik Software Color Efex Kodachrome professional 64 film effects setting.

My work flow was as follows:

I set the white balance to shade, set the camera calibration to Nikon D2X Mode 3, processed noise reduction in Nik Sharp Dfine, did pre-sharpening with Nik Sharp Pro 3.0, processed in Nik Sharp Color Efex Pro with the Kodachrome 64 professional film effect, did a final output sharpening wiht Nik Sharp Pro 3.0.

These were taken with my Nikon D2X with my Nikkor 20 mm f2.8 wide angle lens.

I can’t wait till the crab arrive at the marina.

Black-necked stilts are an abundant shorebird.  They can often be seen and photographed in many parts of Northern California year round.

Their black & white color with vibrant red legs always make for good photography.  They are often probing into shallow waters for insects and larvae to feed on.

I spotted this particular one in a waterway that is located near Novato, California in Marin County.  Above the shore of the water were some trees that were starting to turn to fall color.  The golden color of the leaves and the late afternoon light provided a nice background reflection for the stilt.

I processed this image in Adobe Lightroom with some of the Nik software plug-ins that I use.  For this particular image I first adjusted my white balance in Lightroom and adjusted my camera calibration to a Nikon D2X mode 3 setting.  I then exported my image to Nik Sharp Dfine to eliminate noise from the high ISO setting I use when shooting wildlife.  A second export was then done to Nik Viveza to adjust some balance in exposure and color in the background reflection of the leaves in the water.  I then did some processing of the image in Adobe Lightroom, adjusting overall image exposure and saturation.  A final export was then done to Nik Sharpener Pro 3.0 to do my output sharpening of the image.

Seconds after taking this image the Stilt flew off and away from the beautiful, colorful fall background of the leaves reflecting in the water.

I did an early morning saturday trip to the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge.  http://www.fws.gov/refuges/profiles/index.cfm?id=81621

I enjoy the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge.  It is a small cousin of the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge.

I climbed out of my bed in Santa Rosa, California at 3:30 am.  Made coffee, took a shower and hit the road at 4 am.  The Garmin Nuvi GPS said I would arrive at 6:15 am, and it was correct.

Dawn was just breaking when I got to Colusa.  As usual in a lot of my travels I was the only person around and had the whole place to myself.

I drove into the refuge and the wildlife were active.  I chased up a racoon who ran out of the bush across the road.  A few jackrabbbits did the same.  To my surprise I stirred up a few deer as I drove the auto road tour for a quick drive through to see what was around in the refuge.

The predominant bird at the refuge right now were ducks.  The Northern Pintail were numerous.

Also the Greater White Fronted Goose were in residence on this early November morning.

I spotted a Cooper’s Hawk at one point.  It sat up on some reeds scowering the shores of the water looking for something to prey on.

It was a good early fall venture to the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge.  The early rise and drive were well worth the effort.

I first heard of the Bald Eagle congregation that occurs on the Chilkat River near Haines, Alaska in the early 1980’s.  The description I read made this wildlife event that occurs there every fall sound like something that had to be seen someday.  The description of 3,000 Bald Eagles congregating to feast on salmon along the Chilkat River was something that had to be witnessed…some day.

It took me 2 decades to finally make it there but I eventually did.  It was a long journey to get there, both in terms of the 2 decades in time when I had first read about the Bald Eagles of Haines; as well as the 2 days travel it would take from my home in California to get to this special spot outside of Haines, Alaska. 

Some things are just worth waiting for…

Upon arrival on my first morning at the Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve along the Haines Highway (http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/eagleprv.htm), I realized immediately that it was everything I had read about and had anticipated seeing.  The descriptions I had read of thousands of Bald Eagles along the banks of the Chilkat, dozens of Eagles sitting in trees, Eagles everywhere you looked, were true. 

It is a stunning sight to see.

The Bald Eagle is a fascinating bird.  They mate for life, their young stay with them many years.  They soar majestically in the air with their wing span of up to 7 feet.  They fly at speeds of 30 MPH and can reach a speed of 100 MPH when diving.  They look just as majestic when resting on the branches of the trees glaring with their keen eyesight looking for salmon.

Just as stunning as the view of the Eagles were the sounds of the Chilkat Preserve.  The calls of the Eagles were just as impressive as the visual impact of these beautiful birds.  It is a sound that I will never forget…the call of the Eagle…and a sound that I want to experience again someday.

Photographically speaking, the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve is an outstanding destination for the photographer.  You are close to the Eagles, but you still need some high quality telephoto optics to get outstanding shots.  I used a 300 mm F4 with a 1.4 teleconverter, that combined with the 1.5 crop factor in my Nikon D300 were a good minimum starting point.  Of course, like in all wildlife photography, I would have wanted more.  But you can get good wildlife shots with a setup like this.  A tripod with the capability to pan to get birds in flight is an absolute necessity.

Conditions are tough.  Grey skies, snow, and cold temperatures on an almost daily basis.  Protection from the elements for your camera and lens are absolutely required as precipitation in the form of snow is to be expected.  Lighting is difficult with often cloudy skies.  When the sun is out it will be at a difficult angle as the viewing locations often face into the sun.  A camera with the capability of shooting with low noise levels at a high ISO is definitely required due to the lighting conditions and the speed in flight of the Eagles.

The sights and sounds of the Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve are unique.  The Valley of the Eagles can require a long journey to get there, but the experience is one that can only be described as priceless.

One year ago today I was in one of the most beautiful towns you could ever be lucky enough to experience.  Haines, Alaska.

I was there for the Alaska Bald Eagle Festival held every November (http://www.baldeaglefestival.org/).  In the fall thousands of Bald Eagles descend onto the Chilkat river to feed on a late salmon run.  Due to unique geological features the river does not freeze and it provides an excellent feeding opportunity for the eagles.

The Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve (http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/units/eagleprv.htm) provides outstanding photographic opportunities for a photographer.

The town of Haines was a pleasure to experience.  The journey to Haines was done by flying into Juneau, Alaska and then taking the Alaska State Ferry system up through the Lynn Canal.  The ferry was a great experience and a wonderful way to travel.

Haines is filled with friendly Alaskans who enjoy the visitors to their quaint little town.  You can walk all over Haines as it is just a small town.  Haines is filled with history due to the presence of Fort Seward, a National Historic Landmark.

The culture of the Tlingit people is present thoughout the town in the form of art and totem poles.

The small harbor with the local fishing fleet was a great place to walk around and do some photography.  The surrounding mountains provided a great background to the small fleet of boats.

The people, the landscape and the eagles all make Haines, Alaska a place I will go back to again some day.

Turkey Vultures are one of those birds that you see flying around a lot in California. 

They are kind of an enigma. 

They look so beautiful in flight with their broad wings and their colorful red heads…but along with that beauty is the fact that they are a bunch of scavengers that feed on dead animals.

I came across a Turkey Vulture today while driving around Marin County looking for some birds to take pictures of.  I kind of stumbled across this Turkey Vulture.  It was sitting in a plowed field kind of looking like it was a little lost (perhaps like me it was a little disillusioned by the SF 49′ers loss today).

I was able to pull my Subara Forester up alongside without scaring the bird off.  At one point the Turkey Vulture jumped up onto a fence post and posed for me.

Then it jumped in the air and flew off to parts unknown in the late afternoon light.

This picture was taken 2 years ago during the Halloween season.

There used to be a small farm up the road from my home here in Santa Rosa, California.  I live in what is still governed as “County” land rather than within the City Limits of Santa Rosa.  Because of that we have a mix of urban, suburban and country type neighborhoods in my area of the City.

I noticed this jack o’ lantern patch on this farm one night on an evening bike ride after work.  I thought with the right lighting and background sky it would make a good picture some evening.  I also noticed a nice moon would be rising one night later in the week.

On another bike ride after work a couple of days later my pre-visualized picture came to be.

I was riding back home on my evening bike exercise and I road by the farm and saw that the moon was up, nice were clouds in the sky and the light of the sunset would provide just perfect lighting.

I dashed home on my bike, grabbed the camera bag/tripod, jumped into the Subaru Foresterer and drove back up to the farm that is just down the street from my house.

My picture I had pre-visualized was there for the taking!

Halloween in Santa Rosa

These are some pictures of some Egrets out at Bodega Bay.

Egrets are a very common bird to see in Sonoma County.

They can often be found stalking the shore of Bodega Bay during a low tide.