birds n stuff

Yesterday I went on a field trip. My friend AC teaches a 2nd/3rd grade class, and they had a field trip to the Cosumnes Preserve. I went along as the designated bird nerd. It was fun! We walked about 5 miles, had a picnic lunch, I got to point out lots of bird species and tell the kids a little about them, and attempt to answer questions like "Katherine, I saw a bird. What was it?" Uh. Some of the kids were really interested, and some obviously wanted to be somewhere else.

Of course I had to bring The Beast camera with me, and let me tell ya after 4.5 hours of carrying a 4.5 pound camera, my arms were a tad tired. But I got some decent shots, and all in all it was a good day.

Two female Anna's Hummingbirds at the visitor center. The following three photos are all the same photo, cropped tighter and tighter. I love my camera!



Hey wait, this one isn't a bird. It's a tree frog.

I think I decided this is a Least Sandpiper, but shorebirds were never my strong point:

Green-winged Teal drake:

Swainson's Hawk (light morph):

Back at home, here are two wild tom turkeys having trouble with the "fly over the fence" concept. It always takes them a while...


Current project: taxes. Yeah, no work in progress photos for that, since it would just show you paperwork all over the floor!

Soonish I will start the preliminary sketches for the knife scrim.

I need to figure out entries for Horse Expo, State Fair, and Draft Horse Classic.

Match.com is trying hard to get me back, wooing me with emails several times a week. No thanks. Not now. If Prince Charming rides up on a Friesian though... I'll at least keep the horse. ;-)