Leap Year Sunset

Before you ask, let me just say that these photos were not enhanced one bit, save for resizing
so they fit on your puny screen.  No contrast adjustment, no saturation boost, nada.  What you
see is easily one of the coolest sunsets I have seen yet.  (pics by Linda)

Front yard view:

Ornithological Stills

We took CeCe for a walk today and I brought along the Sigma 50-500 to try my not
so steady hand at some bird shots.  The birds common around the house are small
and fast and difficult to shoot, except for the mourning doves, which look like fat, little
chickens.  This is the best photo I took I think.  The colors are nice, especially after
I adjusted the contrast a little in post.

A few shots from the past 10 days...

Brother Beej came to town for some boarding and to chime in his 30th year alive on planet
Earth. The first weekend day was spent out in the snow covered high desert where we sent
a little lead down range.

 

White Stuff

So we got a decent winter storm here.  Nothing too crazy but lots of snow nonetheless.

Back yard facing S. East

More sallies on Jan 1

For the first day of the year, we returned to Russian Gulch for some more hiking and
salamandering.  No more Coastal Giants were turned up, but so many slenders and
Ensatinas I lost count!

Hoves on the sand...

After returning from Russian Gulch, we took CeCe for a walk down to the water.

A perfect end to a surprisingly good year...

On Monday, Linda had to work a little, so I took off by myself to a State Park nearby.
I have loved herps since I was a child, and in all of my 33 years I have never seen
a salamander in the wild....until I started hiking in Russian Gulch State Park.  Within
the first ten minutes, I flipped some rotten bark and found my first sallie.  Wow.  A Coastal
Giant!  I couldn't ask for more...but more I got!