If I'm not mistaken, this photo is of a juvenile Cooper's Hawk that I saw in Mineral, CA. It's actually kind of rare that I see hawks up there, especially one as beautiful as this. And since I didn't see any other wildlife to photograph while I was up there, this was a special treat. Although, admittedly, there's enough beauty up there to keep me perfectly happy, whether I see wildlife or not. 

​"The world has enough beautiful mountains and meadows, spectacular skies and serene lakes. It has enough lush forests, flowered fields, and sandy beaches. It has plenty of stars and the promise of a new sunrise and sunset every day. What the world needs more of is people to appreciate and enjoy it."
-Michael Josephson

This is another photo that I took during my recent Sandhill Crane sighting. I'm currently up in Lassen and was hoping to see them again so that I could share a brand new photo with you, but no luck so far (for all I know they've already migrated south). Instead I decided to dig into my photo library and share this one with you. Even though it's not brand new, it has never been seen before. So hopefully you feel special either way! 
​"The fall migration of sandhill cranes is from mid/late October to late November. Sandhill cranes are on their way south to Texas, New Mexico, Mexico, and Arizona and will take the shortest path there."
-cranetrust.org

I described this on one of my previous eagle photos, but every once in a while the stars align and whatever I'm photographing ends up within range, in excellent light, with a colorful and interesting background, and angled in such a way that it's most attractive features are on display. When this happens, it requires very little photo editing, if any. That's what happened with this shot. A beautiful Acorn Woodpecker landed on this really neat, colorful branch, in great lighting, with it's colorful head, beaked profile and claws all in view, with an interesting background on top of it all. This is the type of moment that literally has my heart racing as I snap the shot.

​"When your heart jumps every time your camera locks focus... you've become a photographer."
-Mark Denman

I was fortunate enough to capture this beautiful eagle landing on a tree branch at Manzanita Lake. Even though I love all the eagle photos I've been fortunate enough to capture, it's still fun for me to add a little variety to my eagle collection. So far I have photos of them perched, flying and nesting with a baby, and now I can add "landing" to the list. I'm constantly in awe by their power and beauty, and seriously doubt I'll ever get tired of photographing these incredible birds.

​"The Eagle does not escape the storm. The Eagle simply uses the storm to lift it higher. It spreads its mighty wings and rises on the winds that bring the storm."
-Jack White