Cedar Waxwing Bird in the High Desert

Mrsroadrunner Photography | Cedar Waxwing Bird in the High Desert




Meet the Cedar Waxwing! A very pretty bird in my opinion and when a flock of these fruit loving birds show up they have a very distinctive call! They sometimes arrive in good sized flocks of a dozen or more to the fruit trees! The Cedar Waxwings seam to like our honeysuckle we grow here as well.



The rest of these photographs were taken around our small pond that is under our fruit tree. The chain link fence made for a great perch !



I have a tenancy to be outside most of the days when it is nice outside here on the High Desert when I am feeling good, which means the birds do get used to me doing my gardening or just hanging around.



The shot above was taken before we put in the prefabricated ponds due to the drought conditions we here been experiencing here on the High Desert fearing 2015 will be a worse year for drought conditions.



There are many more photographs in the Cedar Waxwing Bird in the High Desert album if you would like to see more photographs. You can hear the distinctive call of the Cedar Waxwing Bird here . You then can hear why I start looking around in the trees and in our lilac bushes / trees for this pretty bird! In 2014 we had the Cedar Waxwings clear up until the little snow we got started falling! This surprised me and the photographs are still in my archive.

Thank you for coming by and seeing my photographs of the Cedar Waxwings we had visiting our garden in the high desert! Make sure to check out their call so you can see them someday too! They really are pretty birds!

Pheasant At My Garden

Mrsroadrunner Photography | Pheasant At My Garden




Meet the Pheasant, a common game bird who is found in Oregon as well as many states here in the USA.



I believed I made a post about this Pheasant, however guess I just spoke about him in social media not making a blog post about him at all!



This Pheasant was living across the street on a farmers property who I know likes to see wildlife on his property. The Pheasant was coming over here to find things to eat in our garden, walking on our walking path that is one of the ONLY patches of grass we have butting up to the neighbor property.

We used to hear this Pheasant and of course see him over here. A couple factors as to why we no longer see him, hear him anymore? Main factor might be that he did not survive hunting season? If this Pheasant will come around me, he would come around someone with a gun in their hand. Heck, he could have been raised by irresponsible people who set him "free" ? People do such things, ending in death for the creature they raise to set free. If it were part of a state program to introduce more of the birds into the area there would be more Pheasants. Or I would think.....

Another factor might be, one of the coyotes, hawks or other wildlife got a hold of him? Even someones roaming pet?? We do have more activity going on in this town, perhaps with so much people moving about the bird thought it was a good time to move on? Whatever reason I am glad he visited!



I like the Pheasant bird I think they are pretty, always have and I have not seen to many here in the High Desert! Over the mountain I was with someone who hunted them as well as other game animals. The Pheasant nests also got ran over by the tractor. I would feel badly for the birds. We had quite a few over the mountain in the valley where I grew up.

Both Guy and I are bummed we no longer see or hear this Pheasant anymore! Big flashy, colorful birds!

Thank you for coming by!

Mule Deer Bucks of The High Desert Of Oregon

Meet the Mule Deer Bucks of the High Desert. Guy (my other half), claims I do not show my photographs of the Mule Deer Bucks enough. So, I thought I would show some of the photographs of the Mule Deer Bucks I have photographed here in the High Desert.
The man above I photographed him early one morning not far from our home. As Guy watched with the dogs I did keep such things as a big enough trees in view to get to if anything went wrong, but really these Mule Deer Bucks have never did anything to warrant such caution as say the antelope bucks (some folks want them to be called proghorns since technically they are not a Antelope. Some of us have been raised to call them Antelope).


This man above felt more secure behind the log he got behind then turned to check us out.


This one above was photographed with his doe.


The Mule Deer Buck above has been one of the biggest racks ( antlers), I have photographed to date. This buck was very cautious of me and my camera!! This Buck felt much more secure keeping in the brush. He was a pretty man! His herd was seen several times by us in this area though he did not poss as he did above all the times we have seen him. Most the time he was running off! This day he must of have just curious?


This buck does not have much going on however further along in the season he may?


I just had to snap off this photograph for this is how we typically see the Bucks. He is heading away from us!


I added the shot above in just because it makes me laugh!


I like this photograph , this Mule Deer Buck is just looking so curious and proud. Though as you can see I had to go into the brush for this shot!


I actually had to contain my laughter photographing these Mule Deer Bucks! The one was using the tree to hide behind, but curiosity was getting the better of him!


Sometimes I think the Mule Deer Bucks know what a riffle looks like?? Seeing I have a camera that makes a funny noise they are more curious then anything! Just so long as I do not crowed their personal space everything is cool and they get their curiosity full filled and typically they just walk off from me. Sometimes if I move to fast they too will pick up speed and dart off!


Notice the tree's , landscape in the last two photographs and this one?? These Mule Deer Bucks and more of them were all in one herd traveling together. Made these photographs pretty easy for all I had to do is stay still and they went by me! One after the other, sometimes two walked by... Sometimes these creatures hurt my pride, I mean I am dangerous!! Really I can be!! However the way they just ..... well they act as if I am nothing to be to concerned about, after all I do not have a riffle in my hands. They sure are curious animals!!


Granite we like to go where people are not! Never, ever means people are not hunting!! Guy has the biggest job when we go out and about for he is the one who keeps watch for such things as hunters!! We have been caught in the line of fire and WOW one of the times it was not a great experience! In fact Guy had to yell out. We did wonder if they thought our mastiffs were something?? They are larger then your typical dog, their color could look like a wild animal and we did not have their red shirts at that time the bullets came so close to us. We bought the dogs red shirts just because of this experience of the bullets coming way to close for comfort!


The man above was photographed very early in the morning. In fact so early my camera was screaming for more light!


Another who looks pretty young, in velvet.


All hanging together. This was taken right outside of Madras Oregon.


This one above is one of Guy's favorite photographs. See the bobbed wire there?? Guy had to hold that up for me so I could cross that darned wire without getting caught up in it. I have ripped more clothing on those things! BTW this is public lands, the state rents it out now and again to cattle ranchers, hence the bobbed wire.
This photograph the two were hanging out in the shade. The one is just chilling, while the other is at least standing. The one laying down did get up, though no running was involved. They walk amazingly fast if you have never been around these creatures! Eat, walk,eat , walk, look back at me as if laughing at how slow I was.


This one above is one of my favorite shots. The Ochoco Mountains is a fun place to go if you know where you are! I get lost every dang time we are up there it seams!! Guy knows the Ochoco's pretty well. Thank goodness he has worked and hunted up there.....
Perhaps in a photography sense is why I like this shot? I would have loved to see these men when they were out of velvet!!
I have more Mule Deer Buck photographs, series of photographs etc.. in the Wildlife album. Many does!! Guy claims I would make a heck of a hunter. I am a hunter I tell him, with my camera!

Harris's Sparrow Bird in The High Desert of Oregon

Mrsroadrunner Photography | Harris's Sparrow Bird in The High Desert of Oregon




I want to introduce you to a new bird, for me as well! Meet the Harris's Sparrow! Sometimes we have visitors show up here who are different! This pretty bird showed up with the White Crowed Sparrows, obviously not a white crowned sparrow!





The White-Crowned Sparrow fledgeling flew off and it just seamed to me this Harris's Sparrow was hanging with it on the dog kennel fence. The Harris's Sparrow flew up into the tree and I just kept on snapping photographs of it! Pretty bird dont you think?



This set of photographs is from March of 2014. I did not have to much time to watch this Harris's Sparrow on this day, it just was not here for long!





As I was going through this file I first named the files just "sparrow bird", for I new it was a sparrow. That is it though.... Then went to the open web. "Sparrows found in Oregon". Easy enough to just head to the State of Oregon Sparrow webpage !





From what I read about this loner , "he", must have been heading more East and just stopped in for a rest?



The common birds here were not even sure of what to make of this new visitor here at the house! Notice all the birds around the Harris's Sparrow?? Other then the shots of the fledgeling (baby), White-Crowned Sparrow no other bird was photographed around this Harris's Sparrow. Interesting I thought.....



Another thing we all have to keep in mind, this is nature ie wildlife. Who knows what is going to show up where? Sure logical guesses from those who do nothing but study such things...... when it comes to nature and wildlife, nothing is set in stone!



I am grateful for the critters who do show up here at the house in the High Desert of Oregon. It makes my day to day routines worth it!

Thank you for coming by my photographs of the Harris's Sparrow!

Swallowtail Butterflies and The Zinnia Flowers

 Swallowtail Butterflies and The Zinnia Flowers

The swallowtail Butterfly is a larger species of butterfly we have here on our small plot of land.

It is about that time to plant for some of us, some flowers have already bloomed or are growing. Seeding time for us here in the high desert of Oregon is getting near and I can hardly wait!!

To attract these lovelies to the garden is not real hard, just need to find the flowers they like to feed on. The Zinnia is the first of these flowers I would like to speak of for they are pretty and found at most stores in the garden area.

I personally leave the Zinnias in the ground from start to finish. This gives the butterflies something to eat even though to us the flowers may no longer look desirable, however we are not butterflies!

As for photography, I like photographing the butterflies when they first come from their cocoon. All butterflies are the most colorful , vibrant and unharmed from predators at this time.

Zinnia flowers come in all flavors. These zinnia flowers of ours are "dahlia", zinnias.  They grow oh, two feet tall.

I personally spend a lot of time outdoors when the weather gets nice and everything is blooming. What I find interesting about the butterfly and other insects is the details of day to day life. This of course means I have a lot of photographs that to the untrained eye are not different. However, for us who love detail we notice each photograph is different and lots of activity going on!

After some time of being out in the Zinnia flowers the swallowtails do start to ignore me, going on with their day to day life's. Of course depending on the competition they have for the flowers!! One or two swallowtails, ya they may just fly off. A dozen or more swallowtails and they tend to not care so much about what I am doing.

I also do not see one color of the Zinnia flower getting more attention from another color of the Zinnia flower from the Swallowtail Butterflies. The Zinnia Flowers even have several different insects feeding off the same flower!

One thing I have not noticed is the Swallowtail Butterfly laying eggs on the Zinnia Flowers. I do not have any proof though I think the Swallowtails would much rather lay eggs in the Lilac bushes and the trees that give the caterpillars a much better food source then the Zinnia Flowers.

Sometimes more then one Swallowtail Butterfly can be captured with the camera.

Mostly though, I like to get right up and personal with one Swallowtail Butterfly. For photography folks out there, I do use manual settings AND no tripod. Manual lens for the auto just does not cut it for me. Just a personal choice and using the tripod is to restrictive for this type of photography for me. Keep in mind this is a personal choice..... As for the natural light, well we can not dictate to butterflies, Swallowtail or otherwise when it is time to being active ! We are in their world. The butterflies are NOT in our world if we want to capture with the camera their day to day natural life.

If we want to attract the Butterflies we have to find the flowers they like to eat. We also need to keep in mind their water source. If their is a food source and no water source for them, we may get some to our garden. Then the butterflies have to leave for a drink. If we supply the butterflies with a water source, and a food source well..... we will see a increase in the butterfly activity. We water two times a day and leave a muddy area for the butterflies and other insects. Not real fancy, nor does this way of ours cost us any money other then the water we use.

I will do a series of the Swallowtail Butterfly here in our garden and what flowers I have found that the Swallowtail like from my own observations. Might give you some ideas of what to plant in your own garden?

I do have MANY more photographs of the Swallowtail Butterfly that are common here in the High Desert of Oregon here

Thank you for coming by and spending time with me! I do sale my photography. Find my facebook page  Facebook fan page (give a like??), of course Twitter .

The Tale Of The Bread Thief

Coralie aka Mrsroadrunner | The Tale Of The Bread Thief

As I was sitting in my spot watching the birds,butterflies,bees just enjoying the nice weather we have here in the high desert of Oregon I looked over to one of our ponds and seen the swimming young frogs wanting their piece of bread.

Well, I can not just feed them one day and not the other right? I admit I am against feeding the bigger wildlife, however these smaller wildlife do not have much of a life span and are not typically hunted.

So I headed in and got them their bread breaking it up into chucks to get water logged which is the only way they can consume such a thing. Went on with the other thing I found to do, which was photographing a spotted new species of frog who showed up.

Not to stress out my little visitor I left the spotted frog to go back to my chair. Folks I am sure understand that photographing wildlife can be a thankless thing with a lot of waiting around, and waiting and waiting!

As I wait, I observe the activity around me. There is so much activity! I looked over to see how the swimming young frogs were doing with their bread. Geesh, quite a bit of it was gone!! They never ate their bread this fast before! Something was up!! So I give a dirty look at the dogs, thinking one of them got into the pond and ate the little pieces of bread even though the dogs have never did this before!?

So I wait.

Soon a pair of Brewer's Blackbirds showed up!

As a bird as smart as these blackbirds are, this Brewer's Blackbird being no different, the female walked out into the pond grabbed a piece of bread from the swimming frogs and devoured it. Oh you little stinker!!

That was not the end of the show! Oh no end of the show yet!

The male Brewer's Blackbird jumped onto a rock we have in this pond for the birds. He grabs a large piece of the bread and eats it right in front of his female! The female was not impressed! She ran in grabbed a small piece of the bread and flew near the other pond!

The male was hot on her tail with his remaining piece of bread in his beak!

I swear you could actually see the wheels turning in the females brain!! How do I get that bread from him?? She walks over to the edge of the water of this other pond. Walks in the water and pretends to eat something?

Well, this was just to much for the male to bare, not knowing what she was eating and all. So watching her, he moves towards her. Mind you he still has a good junk of bread left himself, but greed is getting the best of him!

He moves closer to her to see what she is eating.... she sees her opratunity and takes it! She flies to his bread, grabs it in her beak and off she flies! Whipping those wings near me, with the male hot on her tail and screaming at her!!

I just laughed!!

This is the tale of the bread thief. Hope you enjoyed it I sure did as it was happening haha!

Karner Blue Butterfly Nature Photography

One thing to be assured of here in Oregon is, never know what you are going to see here!

I noticed this blue butterfly fluttering around, then oh my I noticed a whole lot more! I paid attention for these photographs to just one.

The site of so much blue was quite pretty. Sure the wild Lupine flowers are blue, but these were flying!!

So, what is a person who is armed with their trusty camera to do? Take photographs of course!

Update at the bottom of the post.

 

Since 1992 the Karner Blue Butterfly (Lycaeides melissa samuelis, the Melissa blue for short), has been listed as a endangered species. Why? Because the larvae and/or caterpillars only feed on the wild lupine. I even read where they will not venture more then 600 feet from their hatching spot! The adults will feed on other things, but their offspring cant.

 

Here in Central Oregon we have a lot of wild lupine!! We even grow the wild and the subspecies in our garden here at home.

With the wild Lupine disappearing in many areas, sorry to say so is the Karner Blue Butterfly. I found absolutely no information on the web about how these species is doing here in Oregon. Though I had read where scientists are breeding them and releasing them into the wild to reestablish themselves.

In this spot where we found MANY of these (well many, we are talking 20+ Karner Blue Butterflies). The hatching spot must be close by and this is one of the times of the year that they hatch. having two hatching's a year.

 

It is safe to say, at least in our part of Oregon the Karner Blue Butterfly has started breeding in the wild just fine. Or lets just hope this is not a rare sighting and will be seeing more and more of these butterflies in years to come!!

I did find several videos on youtube and here is a link to one on youtube.

 

The hardest part to doing these posts are limiting the photographs posted. We may go back to this spot in the national grassland this weekend, who knows?

(Update, this shot above is diferent then the rest for I noticed a duplicate so added this shot).

Update;

Congratulations! Your submission to Living Beyond Pain entitled “Karner Blue Butterfly” has been selected to be part of the Living Beyond Pain Gallery Exhibit being featured at PAINWeek 2011, being held September 7 – 10, 2011, at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. PAINWeek is the nation’s largest conference on pain for frontline healthcare practitioners, and you may learn more about the conference by visiting www.painweek.org. - This is a huge honor and I am grateful to Living Beyond Pain , Coralie

This post is now available as a free ebook !