“Egret On The Hunt” — A great egret hunting in a California Central Valley field.
I photographed this great egret back in late February during one of my last seasonal visits to a place where I photograph migratory birds every winter. This bird, like so many egrets I see out there, was hunting on its own, moving methodically and slowly toward its prey. If you did not realize what the bird was doing you might not understand its behavior, but once you do the purpose of its focused attention becomes clear.
“Autumn Brush” — Autumn colors on brush in Utah canyon country.
A few years a small group of us were headed into a beautiful Utah canyon on a late-October morning. We were looking forward to photographing the colorful canyon walls, the river flowing along its path, and autumn cottonwood tree colors. But as we approached the canyon entrance, before the walls began to rise above us, we were distracted by an area filled with this brush with its own version of fall color.
“Autumn Tree, Sculpted Sandstone” — A cottonwood trree with autumn foliage grows next to a sculpted sandstone cliff.
A group of us ventured down into a narrow Utah canyon, lined with red rock walls and dotted with autumn trees. A creek flowed along its length, and the soft sound of its moving water was never far away. With the fall colors and the colorful rock faces there were photographs everywhere. Not surprisingly, our progress was slow… but very productive.
“Desert Gold Bloom” — Desert gold wildflowers in bloom, Death Valley.
You often hear the expression that there is a “carpet of wildflowers” in a landscape. That description was apt in quite a few areas of Death Valley National Park when we visited in late February. To be clear, much of the landscape of this desert park sill looked like… desert. But in places there were wildflower blooms of impressive size.