I was watching this Ash Throated Flycatcher hunt for insects at a local preserve for a little bit during Sunset. As the name Flycatcher implies, these birds main source of food is insects so they actually have predatory behaviors when you watch them. This one was perched on the branch watching the insects fly around below it until it decided to pounce.

BAM☺︎

This was a pretty funny encounter. My wife and I were actually at Cannon Beach in Oregon to view the Tufted Puffins, but I saw this Bald Eagle perched off in the distance. I knew that any photograph I was going to take of this Bald Eagle was not going to be that good because it was way high in the tree and that tree was on top of a cliff, while I was down below on the beach. Therefore, to get any sort of good angle I had to stay way far back. The goal was to get trees behind the Bald Eagle rather than just the gray sky because the sky is not very flattering in photos like this.

I actually spent quite a while with this Bald Eagle because what I really wanted was for it to take off. I positioned myself in a way that there was a chance that it would fly towards me if it decided to leave its perch. Spoiler alert, it never did, but occasionally a Seagull would come by and disturb the Bald Eagle. The Seagulls would swoop down a few times and then leave. Another one, or possibly the same one, would show up about 15-20 minutes later and repeat this pattern. I got a few shots that I thought were worth sharing, knowing that they are not fantastic, but entertaining nonetheless.

BAM☺︎

I generally don’t prefer to take photos that include anything man-made in them but I will on occasion and share those if the man-made object(s) is not too off-putting. In this instance I think the posts are kind of a funny addition because in reality the posts were only sticking a few feet out of the ground but they look massive compared to these two California Quail hiding in the golden grass.

BAM☺︎

This was an early morning shot. The sun had just come up to the left of the frame over a mountain range. The trees in the background would not get the sun’s light until later in the morning so the background remained a bit darker as everything was still in shadow at this time. Since the Osprey was flying towards me it happened to bit in an area where the Sun’s rays were able to shine on it which made the feathers illuminate like this. Unfortunately the Osprey was quite a distance away from me so the bird itself is not super sharp but it’s still a special shot. You might notice other little glowing dots in the photo. When you see things like that it is usually bugs flying around that are also lit up by the Sun.

BAM☺︎