Kern River 2005

We're just back from an outstanding four day trip to the Kern River valley. Our fearless leader, Bob Power, showed us a lot of beautiful mountain birds, including some Mary and I hadn't seen in a long time. One of them, the Green-tailed towhee, has been my nemesis for eight long years, ever since Mary saw it on one side of an interstate rest stop while I was on the other side.

This trip was also notable because I rented a Canon 500mm f/4L from Keeble and Shuchat and dragged it with me everywhere. Although it got heavy from time to time, I really enjoyed using it, and got some decent results, most of which are posted at birdWalker.

You can look at the thumbnails for all the pictures organized in by date, the Kern ones are at the top:

You can look at the reports for days one, two, three, four of the trip, click on the little Cameras to see the photos.

The Tubes, San Jose

Roger Steen in action
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Last night I went to see The Tubes playing at a park in downtown San Jose. They played a great show! I was particularly impressed with the guitar playing of Roger Steen. His soloing can be virtuostic, but more often has instead that thoughtful, melodic quality that I so admire about Eric Clapton.

Quick trip to Cape May

Grey Catbird
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We just had a quick trip to Cape May (see details for day one and day two) where we worked on familiar east coast birds like this here Gray Catbird. Hot and humid, but well worth the trip.

Hooray for summer!

American Avocet
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

I love the part where I can get in a few photos after work and the light is just getting good. On this particular tuesday I was practicing flight shots, and these guys were moving slowly and predicably, so I got them in focus.