What's New!

Lots of Love - Judith Sparhawk

When I was in Costco last time, another new wine I spotted in the liquor department, was this one, titled LOVE, a Red Blend, from Paso Robles, CA. I thought it was fun, and I lived the colors used in the letters. My membership to Costco expires in April, and I may not bother to renew, as they have closed down their Photo Departments. Without that, there's not much else I buy there that I couldn't get somewhere else. So, my wine wandering may soon be coming to an end! 2/24/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

The Masked Lady - Judith Sparhawk

When walking in downtown Redlands, I noticed this beautiful mask in the window of a jewelry store. Couldn't resist--I took a few shots of it. Afterwards, I looked in my files for a lovely lady to wear it, and this is what I created. The model is Meesha, someone I photographed on a shoot back in 2016. I hadn't used this particular shot before, but it seemed to work for this purpose. 2/23/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

White Owl Looking Out - Judith Sparhawk

I have tried several times to photograph this window--so far this is the best one I've gotten. The window is at Parliament Chocolate, in downtown Redlands. Inside, we can see the big stainless steel drum, which was turning, processing chocolate. The three hanging lights are inside the shop. The bright reflection is of buildings across the street, lit by the setting sun. The significance of the owl is that this was the location of the White Owl Cafe, up until about 1936, when it was demolished when the construction of Redlands Blvd. required widening of the road. The owl on the window is homage to this historic place. I know it's a confusing shot, but I thought the various elements were interesting. 2/22/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Up & Down - Judith Sparhawk

I went for a walk in downtown Redlands after work today, and happened to go into a building I'd never been in before. The building has a restaurant, some beauty salons and other businesses in it. I was attracted to the configuration of the staircase, and took a few shots of it. This is one of my favorites of what I took. 2/21/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Lesser Goldfinch - Judith Sparhawk

This pretty little male Lesser Goldfinch was one of the birds hanging out near the feeders at Big Morongo Canyon Preserve. They are pretty common, but I don't often get a shot of one, as flitty and quick as they are. This one stopped momentarily in a tree near where I was hanging out. 2/20/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

California Thrasher - Judith Sparhawk

While birding at Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, I saw this California Thrasher with his great curved bill. There were actually two of them, but the only shot I got of both was of two backsides only! Not the best view, for sure! He was digging around in the dirt and leaf litter with his bill. He is a fairly skittish bird, but I was able to get a few shots while hiding behind a post. Something flushed the birds in the area, and this fella never came back. This thrasher lives year round in California and into Baja California--in coastal, valley and desert areas. 2/19/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Black Rock Canyon - Judith Sparhawk

After birding at the preserve in Morongo, I drove the 25 miles to Black Rock Canyon Campground. I found NO birds there this time, but I did hike around a bit with my camera. This campground is part of, but separate from, Joshua Tree National Park. I did like the Joshua Trees and the cactus plants there. 2/18/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Bluebirds Four - Judith Sparhawk

When I was at Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, I noticed several Western Bluebirds playing in the water feature. This shot shows two males and two females. They were flying in and out of the water, drinking, and splashing around. For those who live further east and have Eastern Bluebirds, notice how on the males, the blue comes down below the chin and on to the upper breast. In the Eastern Bluebirds the rusty color wraps around the neck and comes all the way up to the beak. 2/17/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Phainopepla - Judith Sparhawk

I went birding today at Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, a type of desert oasis in Morongo Valley, CA. I saw and heard many MANY of these birds. This is the male Phainopepla, glossy black with a red eye and a crest. The female is similar, but charcoal gray. Both sexes have the red eye and white wing patches that show in flight. Their favorite food is mistletoe berries. They mostly live in desert type environments in parts of California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico. 2/16/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Lots & Lots of Tulips - Judith Sparhawk

In addition to the Valentine's Day bouquets in Costco, they also had these wonderful tulips. They really made me think of Spring, and I remembered that Janet couldn't even get flowers in Manitoba. So, these tulips are for Janet, with hopes for a beautiful spring to come! Soon! ;-) 2/15/21 www.sprhawkphotography.com

Happy Valentine's Day! - Judith Sparhawk

After surveying the Costco liquor department for interesting wine labels, I went by the flower display. Since it was the Friday before Valentine's Day, there were many vases with bouquets like this--red and white as far as the eye could see (almost!) I'm sharing it today with a wish for everyone to have a great day! 2/14/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Lakers 2020 - Judith Sparhawk

I went to a different Costco this afternoon, so of course I had to check out the liquor department, and sure enough, I found some different wine labels. One that surprised me was this limited edition honoring the Los Angeles Lakers, 2020 World Champions of the NBA. I'm not a big basketball fan, but when the Lakers win, there's always a lot hub-bub surrounding it. So, for a fancy bottle of wine like this, just hand over $45.99! No, I didn't buy any! 2/13/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Mr. Merganser - Judith Sparhawk

Yesterday I posted the wild-haired Mrs. Merganser--well this is her Mister! This male Common Merganser was photographed at Yucaipa Regional Park, Yucaipa, CA. 2/12/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Bad Hair Day - Judith Sparhawk

This female Common Merganser was photographed at Yucaipa Regional Park, Yucaipa, CA. Her hair style is just the way it is supposed to be--always a bit wild and wooly! 2/11/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Cactus in the Snow - Judith Sparhawk

When hiking in the mountain forest in Foret Falls, CA, I was surprised to find this cactus plant. It looked kind of out of place among the pines and cedars! 2/10/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Mother Nature's Still Life - Judith Sparhawk

When walking in the snow in Forest Falls, I ran into this sight, and couldn't resist taking a shot. It really truly was just like this--I didn't arrange it. I figure Mother Nature knows best. 2/9/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Walk in the Snow - Judith Sparhawk

A couple of days ago I went up to Forest Falls, a small community in our nearby mountains. I had thought to go to the recreation area there, but it was closed...not sure if it's because of Covid or snow. I found a place to park beside the road and hiked out a bit--there weren't any trails there, and it was rather hard slogging, especially since I was only wearing walking shoes, not boots (I left my snow boots in Edmonton!) I took a few snow shots along the way. This was one of them. At least I had my own snow experience, since everyone else seems to be having snow! 2/8/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Alpenglow at Moonrise - Judith Sparhawk

The sunset in the west gave a pink glow on the clouds and the snowy mountain peaks, with the full moon rising. The signature palm trees of Southern California stand guard. 2/7/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

More Eggs - Judith Sparhawk

Another version from the Sunday Brunch shoot the other day. I had a project to make a black and white image with selective coloring, so this was what I ended up creating. 2/6/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Front & Back - Judith Sparhawk

This Red-shouldered Hawk was photographed at Yucaipa Regional Park the other day. There were two of these birds flying from one tree to another. I was able to shoot this one, both front and back. The back view shows the color patch on the shoulder, from which it got its name. I know the pics are too busy, with all the branches and twigs, but the pine trees seemed to be their preferred perches, with all their messy twigs. 2/5/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Pelican Pirates - Judith Sparhawk

OK, here's the story on this one. I was getting ready to leave the lake area at Yucaipa Regional Park a couple of days ago, and I saw this male Common Merganser come up from a dive with a really big fish. (I'm not sure what he thought he would do with it!). Suddenly these two pelicans swooped down and the one on the left grabbed the fish from the merganser. He plopped it into his pouch--in this shot you can see the tail of it, and then the rest of it is weighing down his pouch. He tried to swallow the fish, which was so large, other shots of him showed the outline of the fish, which took up about 3/4 of the length of his bill! He struggled to swallow it, and as I watched for at least 10 minutes, I'm not sure he ever got it down. He swam away from the other birds as he worked on the fish, and the drama was over, except for his gyrations, raising and lowering his bill as he swam away. Very interesting to see this behavior, and to capture even a little of the story. 2/4/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com

Bath Time - Judith Sparhawk

I went back to Yucaipa Regional Park today, and had a ball photographing birds. Last time I complained that the pelicans were just loafing around on the pier--this time I got lots of action--flying, swimming, bathing, preening, and even pirating food from other birds. At some point I may share some of those--today it is bathtime. Several of these big birds were performing a bathing ritual, over and over, that resulted in lots of flapping and splashing. This is an example of all the splish-splashing going on! 2/3/21 www.sparhawkphotography.com