Great Day at Whites Creek Canyon

I moved to the Reno NV area about 3 years ago leaving the SF Bay area behind. Whites Creek runs north our home and its source is Mount Rose and runs through Whites Creek Canyon. I also lead bird walks in the area and since Whites Creek is my running area of coarse I lead walks through Canyon. One of the harder birds to photograph is the Ruby-crowned Kinglet. It is hard to capture the ruby crown and I’m still trying to photograph the crown raised. This guy was in the sun so I was able to use a high shutter speed and a relatively low ISO.

Featured Photo: Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula), WAS (NV)

EQ: D850, 500mm f/4 Taken: 3-29-2019 at 9:34

Settings: 500mm (35mm eqv), 1/1250s, f/4, ISO500, 1/3EV Conditions: sunny

Common Raven (Corvus corax)

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)

Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)

Spotted Towhee (Pipilo maculatus)

A surprise in the morning was this rare sub-species the Slate-colored Fox Sparrow. The Fox Sparrow common to the area is the Thick-billed so finding the Slate-colored was a great find. Another great find was a Red-naped Sapsucker, which is an uncommon migrant that travels through the area in the spring and fall migrations.

Fox Sparrow, Slate-colored (Passerella iliaca [schistacea Group])

White-headed Woodpecker (Dryobates albolarvatus)

Red-naped Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus nuchalis)

On one of my runs, in February, through the Sage Brush scrub land leading to the conifer forest, a Mountain Chickadee flew passed me a few times. The next day the guy did it again so I extended my hand and he landed on my finger a pecked at my hand looking of seeds. I decided to run with seeds and a couple of days later I ran into the guy again but this time she was rewarded with seeds. I encountered this behavior a few more times but further up the canyon as spring took hold. One time I had 3 coming to my hand. During a bird walk around the canyon the guy flew by me and I put seeds in the hands of people in the group and she came to each our hands taking seed, flying off, stashing the seed, then returning to get another seed. Surely a great way to begin or end a walk.

Mountain Chickadee, Sierra Nevada (Poecile gambeli [baileyae Group])

Bird in the Hand: What fun

Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)

White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis)

Cassin's Finch (Haemorhous cassinii)

Moon rise

Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

Your comments are welcomed and if you have any questions about these photos or any other leave me a message.