Camera Critters #239

Although not a rare bird in this area, they are birds I don’t often see.

 

However, while up in the mountains a couple of weeks ago, I found several American White Pelicans hanging out at Sheep Bridge in central Oregon.

 

 

Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.

Camera Critters #238

During a trip into the mountainous regions of central Oregon, we came a Department of Fish and Game truck stocking Crane Prairie Reservoir with 10,000 fingerlings.

And the Ring-billed Gulls knew it and took full advantage of the small, confused fish. 

Several dozen of the birds were slicing and dicing through the sky looking for an easy catch.  And when a morsel was spotted, the gull dove and, in most cases, would come up with a fish.



It was an interesting day.

Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.

Camera Critters #237

Earlier this week, a friend of mine and I decided to head into the mountains and do a little photography.

We went to a place called Sheep Bridge south of where we live and close to the mountains.  After checking out the river bank and seeing a few subjects, we decided to return to the Jeep and go elsewhere. 

As we came around a bend in the river, we both noticed a Bald Eagle on the opposite side, apparently feeding.  I began taking pictures, getting closer, taking more photos, getting a little bit closer, taking more photos, until we were directly across the river from the eagle.

As the eagle fed, a second Bald Eagle circled the one on the ground, then flew off to find a Kokanee Salmon of its own to lunch on.  Moments later, a Ring-billed Gull landed nearby and began making its way towards the eagle.



One long stare from the eagle and the gull decided it would wait and pick on the scraps.

Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over. Go to the homepage here to see more. Then join the fun and add your own.

Camera Critters #137

Not long ago, I presented an image of an American Dipper which I took in October.  In the post, I mentioned it was the first Dipper I had imaged.

Well, I was wrong.

In July of 2008, while photographing some of the waterfalls in the Cascades with a friend, I came across a small fledgling bird in a tree, begging for food.  Although the light wasn’t great and the bird was moving around a lot, I managed to get two good images of the critter.

When I returned home, I didn’t think much of the photos and put them in the ‘So-so’ folder.

The other day I was going over the images in the folder and came across the two fledgling photos.  To my surprise, I recognized the little fellow I had imaged.

Meet the fledging American Dipper.  If you look close, you’ll see it still has some of its youthful feathering around the head.

Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over.  Go to the homepage here to see more.  Then join the fun and add your own.

Camera Critter #132

Earlier this week, I climbed into my sister’s Jeep and with a friend of mine, headed up into the mountains west of where I live.  I was hoping to get some really good shots of really cool critters. 

Well, it wasn’t to be.  There were people everywhere we went and about three hours into the trip it dawned on us…Columbus Day.

It didn’t stop us from looking so we continued on the planned trip.  At one stop at the headwaters of the Metolius River, we were hoping to find spawning Kokanee Salmon.  There weren’t any at the headwaters, and later learned they were actually about a quarter mile downstream from where we were, in an area of private land.

But I did notice something in the water there.

Do you see the American Dipper in the middle of the photo?  This strange, gray bird loves the water.  I have caught glimpses of the species before, as they walked along the bottom of the river or stream I was seeing them in.  But was never able to get a shot of them.

Although this guy spent most of his time in the shallows, he would “dip” now and then as can be seen above.

But for the most part, he wandered the shallows, looking for food, staying just far enough away so I couldn’t get a good close shot of him.  8v)

Misty Dawn’s Camera Critter Meme is a great way see critters the world over.  Go to the homepage here to see more.  Then join the fun and add your own.

My World

I was shown this Tuesday meme by my friend, Misty Dawn, and decided I would join the fun every so often. So enjoy my first post here.

The high desert area of central Oregon isn't known for it's storms during the summer, but come Autumn and Winter, along with Spring, Pacific Ocean born storm systems move into the Pacific Northwest and slam up against the Cascade Mountains. There they sit, gathering power until they came burst forth onto the desert and bring dramatic images to anyone with a camera.

The panorama below is four images stitched together from Roberts Field in Redmond, Oregon, the main airport on the east side of the Cascade mountains. Some of the cinder cones of the volcanic peaks can seen below the clouds.


If you enjoy what you see here, got to the My World homepage and check out some of the other participants. You're find many more players here.