This is the father of the siblings in Mule Deer 14. I hope to be your favorite wildlife photographer one day.

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This is a pair of young Mule Deer siblings. I hope this image speaks more for itself than anything I have to say about it.

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I knew this photograph was going to be good when I took the shot. I knew it was going to be good because I knew that the blue feathers of the California Scrub Jay would contrast well against the rest of the scene which consists of warmer tones. I knew that the cool blue feathers would pop because they are in focus and sharp as opposed to the rest of the photograph that is warm and out of focus behind the Jay.

I hope this insight helps someone take better photographs.

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Banana Slugs are not primarily fruit eaters but apparently they do eat them on occasion. I think it was rather lucky to encounter this Banana Slug chowing down on a Blackberry.

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An early morning photo of a White Crowned Sparrow in Northern California. Males have the distinct white crown of this species and females have a light beige crown with brown markings. Do you see the female in the photograph?

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This Douglas’ Squirrel was very curious of me when it saw me from a distance. I was hiding behind this fallen tree that that you can see in the photo. The Squirrel was a distance away on the opposite side so I would duck down to take photos of it. It happened to come closer to me as it was picking through things on the ground when it spotted my movements.

It stood up curiously and started moving closer to me. As it was nearing me, I slowly backed away. The squirrel climbed up on the fallen tree that I was ducking behind so I knelt down and took a bunch of shots at it as it was checking me out. This is one of those photos.

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This shot was taken at a River offshoot of the Whiskeytown Lake in California. This photograph would generally not be possible but the circumstances worked out perfectly.

You see, this River is usually roaring, but when I arrived the morning of this shot the water level was very low. The width of the water stream was about half the amount it usually is.

There is a trail that people like me use to walk around in nature that parallels one side of the river. The trail is set back, especially in certain areas, and it’s about 10 feet above the normal water level.

So as I was walking this trail I noticed down below some motion in the water, just after texting a photo of some Mushrooms I found to my wife. The motion was farther out since the water level was so low. But I looked through my camera’s long lens and I could see that there was a romp of River Otters (yes, a romp, I looked it up right now). I texted my wife again, “Omg river otter,” and then turned around and ran.

I ran in the opposite direction because I knew of spot where I used to climb down to the edge of the water. I took some earlier Osprey photos at that exact location. But now that the water was so low and the riverbed was exposed, I knew that I could try and walk on it back towards the River Otter after doing down to that spot. This was the only way to take a photo at the River Otters eye level. Being level with your subject matter’s eyes makes for very good photos. That’s one of the only reasons why my photos look better than the photos you take with your phone.

As you can see, the plan worked perfectly, although, the riverbed was very muddy as it wasn’t fully dry. I’m not sure people understand the work that is involved with my photography as I haven’t discussed that anywhere yet. Maybe, if people are interested, I will tell you all the work that is involved. But after I was done for the morning I was drenched in sweat even though it was 50ºF.

Anyways, I did my best to run, and then sneak up closer to the Otters. And I did a pretty good job of not being seen by them for a long time, even though I was the only thing larger than a small rock on that riverbed.

The romp was diving down and grabbing things to eat and chewing away on them when they returned to the surface. This particular Otter in photograph River Otter 01 obviously caught a decent size Fish so it brought it over to the shore. Unfortunately it went to the shoreline that was farther away from where I was posted. Other photographers will understand the struggle of wishing a photograph was a little closer. But I love this photo anyways, even if the River Otter is murdering a Fish.

More River Otter photos coming to Field Notes soon!

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I found this Blue Heron in Dunsmuir, California, near their Botanical Garden area.

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This is the second photograph of this particular California Quail. I really like how the tree was lit up in the background.

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