I know what some of you might be thinking... where have you been since your last blog post in 2017 and why are you writing one now?? Those are good questions of course, and I'll try to give a simple answer when I realize a much longer explanation could be more helpful.
The short answer is that since starting my real estate photography business ten years ago, I found myself increasingly busy with that and having less time for the scenic and nature photography that has been my bread and butter. Of course I wasn't so busy that I could take time every now and then to get our for these "fun" shoots, but quite frankly, real estate photography IS fun for me, so I was getting more than my fill of fun capturing photos and finishing them with post-processing tools.
So that's where I've been. The second question prompts a response that springs from the first, and that is, things have been slow this past couple of months. The real estate business is always slow in November and December because of the holidays, but the economy with the rapidly rising interest rates have combined to put quite a damper on the industry. I'm still getting projects, but they are few and far between. So I decided I had no excuses NOT to get out and do some photography at a couple of my favorite local places.
One of these places is the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary (SJWS) in Irvine. The SJWS is a San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary is a 300-acre natural water treatment facility of the Irvine Water District IRWD located in the flood plain of San Diego Creek just above its outlet into the Upper Newport Bay. The site was used for farmland in the 1950s and 1960s, and (prior to its reconstruction) as a duck hunting range. Restoration of the wetlands began in 1988 and was completed in 2000. Currently, the site serves a dual purpose of removing nitrates from the creek water and providing a bird habitat. The water district also operates an adjacent wastewater treatment facility but the treated wastewater does not enter the wildlife sanctuary.
Within the sanctuary, water from the creek percolates through a system of ponds, constructed in 1997 and ringed with bulrushes; the ponds are periodically drained and re-seeded, and the surrounding land is covered with native plants. A small hill at one edge of the site serves as an arboretum for non-native trees, planted for Earth Day in 1990.
The landscaping has been designed to attract birds, and nesting boxes for the birds have been provided. While waterbirds such as herons, egrets, pelicans, sandpipers, ducks, geese, and kingfishers predominate, monthly censuses have found over 120 species of birds, including terrestrial hawks, swallows, roadrunners, and hummingbirds. The site is also know for having bobcats, rabbits, racoons, and other small animals.
So I'm sure you can understand why this is such a great place for nature lovers, and photographers in particular. The first picture in this series in an Egyptian goose. These can be found all over Orange County, and although not considered rare, are less common than other species, and with their unusual markings and colors are a fun sighting.
The second image is of a Hooded merganser. These are less common, and I've not seen them at the SJWS before. They are a little skittish, as are most birds, but are exciting to see and one feels lucky to get a good photograph of them.
Several of my favorites, and commonly make their home wherever bodies of water can be found are depicted in my next several photos. These include the American white pelican, and the Black-crowned night heron (this is a juvenile which explains the mottled and undeveloped white and blue feathers more typically seen).
Also making an appearance was a very friendly roadrunner, a graceful Great egret, and a Northern shoveler duck.
A treat for a photographer is whenever a bird (or animal) is feeding or catching it's prey. The below two photos are good examples. The first is a Cedar waxwing eating a berry and the second is an Osprey with a freshly caught fish. You no doubt have heard that luck is where preparation meets opportunity, and it's that "luck" which explains these two photos. You have to be in the right place, at the right time, often enough, and with the right gear...and only then do you have a fighting chance to get photos like this!
The last couple of birds are also not particularly rare, but like all bird photography, they're not just sitting around waiting for photographers to come by with a camera. The first bird is a Kestrel, and no, that box is not her home. That box is one of dozens around the facility and serve as homes for the hundreds of swallows that can be seen flying around (now THEY represent a photography challenge with their small size, and their fast and erratic flying). And the second bird you see perched on a tree branch is a California thrasher.
You might be asking yourself a couple of questions at this point. The first might be, how did you get to the point where you know all these bird names? And that's a fair question. And to be fair, the credit goes to a couple of my good photography friends with many years of experience with birds. Whenever I'd photograph a new bird, I'd send them the photo and ask "what's this?". They're very knowledgeable, and VERY patient with me. One of my friends got to a point where he gave me a book on birds to help me out (and I suspect an attempt to cut down on the number of "what's this" emails)!
The next question you might think to ask is the following-- are these photos taken across a period of time like weeks, months, and/or years? And the short answer is no. These were all taken on a single afternoon's outing. And that's what's so incredibly wonderful about the SJWS! It seems that every time I go there, not only do I come back with a bunch of fun photographs, but I invariably come back with something new that I've never seen before!
So I hope you've enjoyed this new blog post. I'll try to post more frequently that every several years! And based on comments and feedback may include more of my photography from real estate assignments a I frequently get questions about the business, the nature of the different homes I see, and the challenges and difference of shooting interiors versus outdoor nature and wildlife--and oh there are challenges
In the meantime, feel free to send me comments, feedback, questions, etc, at CostaMesaPhotography@gmail.com or take some time perusing my website www.CostaMesaPhotography.com
Happy New Year 2023 to you!
