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Continue reading →: The Daily ShowOn many days when I’m out looking for birds or other creatures nothing unexpected shows up. I snap pictures of species I’ve seen hundreds of times because you never know when you might capture an unusual behavior or view of a Song Sparrow that has never been seen before, not…
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Continue reading →: Uncommon VisitorThe joyful serendipity of an unexpected bird on an otherwise dullish day is the endlessly giving feature of watching birds that is one of few things in life that makes me believe in grace. This morning was gloomy and windy, a stubborn overcast never really left until about noon, and…
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Continue reading →: Class of ’24Birds are going about their business of making more birds, and as the summer continues, more and more of the youngsters are finding their way in the world. Here is an album of baby birds I have been able to document this year. It’s a bit bittersweet, because as life-affirming…
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Continue reading →: Golden Eagle Expelled by RavensIt was a relatively quiet morning at the river today. An overcast dawn gave way to a choppy wind that blew out all the cloud cover but then hung around keeping birds under cover and hard to hear. Just when the last of the grey was being replaced by blue…
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Continue reading →: Return of an Old FriendOld-timers will tell you that Black-crowned Night Herons were seen and heard pretty often along the South Fork of the Eel back in the day. They recall colonies of the stocky mid-sized heron being a regular feature of river habitat. I remember hearing them at night along the river as…
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Continue reading →: Mink Family AffairIt’s rare to see more than one American Mink at a time along the South Fork of the Eel, but over the past week or so I believe I’ve been seeing a family consisting of an adult (presumed mother) and at least two offspring. I’m not sure if I’ve seen…
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Continue reading →: Ash-throated Flycatcher BreakfastThe short whistle of the Ash-throated Flycatcher, kind of like an old-time police whistle, is always a welcome sign of spring. These elegantly feathered members of the Myiarchus family of flycatchers arrive in Southern Humboldt in April from as far away as Mexico to raise a family and then return…
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Continue reading →: When Opportunity KnocksFor all of the majesty ascribed to Bald Eagles, they have some less than majestic habits, such as eating carrion or road kill and stealing food others have worked hard to catch. I once met an 8-year-old boy who told the story of an eagle swooping down to take a…
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Continue reading →: New Kingfishers in the HouseEvery summer there is a time when a loud abrasive rattle returns to the airwaves after many weeks of absence from the little stretch of Eel River that river I observe . The absence of this noise has serendipitously allowed more focus on the songs of the spring migrants as…
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Continue reading →: Gray Squirrel Moving DayIn the summer of 2022 I was lucky enough to witness an event which for me might have been a once in a lifetime happening, but for mama California Gray Squirrel, was just the routine moving of her young from one nest to another. Maybe she does this to be…
Welcome to Free Range Photography, a photo-journal of encounters with birds and wildlife, mostly in Humboldt County, California.
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