The Coyote with the pretty brown eyes

by Jim and Shirley White

We had been staked out for hours yesterday on the Beaver pond in a remote part of Sierra county. Trying to get more pictures of the baby Wood Duck chicks we have been following. Tired and on our way home, we were traveling east on the Jackson Meadows road and were only about 3 miles from highway 89 when we saw him. A skinny, half-starved coyote climbing up the steep bank from the upper Truckee river. After seeing many wild coyotes thru the years my first comment was he was starving. He walked out on the highway, head held low, a really dejected looking animal. The car ahead of us slowed to a stop and we pulled off and parked behind him. The creature walked slowly up  to the car when I saw something about his head that just did not look right. Ears too big, face not pointed, muzzle too long. I said "it must be a half-breed". I have seen them before, but never with a collar around their neck. It was a skinny, half-starved dog! The guy in the car ahead got a rope and I got down low and spoke softly, and he walked right up to me. I put my hand along side of his head, and he stopped, and pushed back against my hand. I saw some fresh blood on his right front foot, a wound he had just got coming up the steep cliff. The fellow in the car ahead wondered where the nearest house or cabin would be, and I said about 10 miles at least. Our dog was lost and had been lost for a long time.

 One other car stopped and offered a gold miners pan full of water. The driver in the car ahead said he had some kibble dog food in his trunk. Now who carries dog kibble in their trunk in the back country? The dog wolfed the food down, and drank his fill of water out of the gold pan. He walked up to the other driver's  car and looked up. You could see he really wanted in the car. The driver that offered the water left and said when he got cell service he would call the Sierra Co. Sheriff's office. I knew from other experiences like this, no one would come. Too far in the boonies, too many more important things to do. To leave the dog along the road, was to kill the dog. If he made it to the highway, he would be hit by a car for sure. Not a really pretty dog, no one would want him.

After talking at great length about what we should do,the guy in the car ahead said he would make room in the back of his car, he just could not let him die after what the dog must have been thru to survive. End of story. The guy who took him saw the desperate look in the dog's eyes, and said there was no other answer. He had to take him and give him a good home.

Although it is had to believe, there a some good people out there. It has been a long time since we have met one....but we did yesterday! We slept good last night.

 

f8 and Be There

by Jim and Shirley White

It is another very hot summer day in the foothills of Placer Co. Not a cloud in the sky. The waterfowl have all gone north, the deer,bear and other critters in hidden in the "bush". What is a Outdoor/Wildlife type photographer to do? I have no idea where to get some satisfying wildlife/outdoor photos today. Our first rule....get off your ass, pack up the photo gear, and get out there. It ain't going to happen in my refrigerated living-room!

 We have got to have a little pleasure first. Eggs and fixings at Katrina's at 0700. Where is there the most wildlife in this part of California? It is in the valley for sure. Where to go? I don't know. The refuges are barren, not much in the rice fields, a few Egrets and Ibises, but we don't need pictures of them. Hit the old familiar places and play it by ear I guess. We go to East Nicholas and I stop and think. During my Warden days where did I find the most pecker necks? The East Levee road just to the south-west. Up on the gravel levee road and the drain-ditch is full of Water Hyacinths. So full of plants waterfowl will not use it now. We turn east, cross the ditch and travel on a dirt farm road out into the thousands of acres of rice fields. The really green rice, without heads yet, is barren of wildlife. How about Coon Creek way to the north? I have not driven there in 40 years or more. One set of tire tracks in the road ahead tells me the rice rancher's water tender must travel this way. We cruise slowly along the creek road and thru a small opening I spy eyes watching me! I back up and there he is, a baby Black-Crowned Night Heron! He is standing in shallow water in a beautiful setting. I have never seen a BCNH baby out of it's nest before. This one is looking at me like I might be it's mother. Shirley and I fire our shutters at 6 frames per second while we have the chance. You can hunt the wildlife web sites and not find a shot like this one. A real prize for sure.

We move on and let the chick have it's peace. Nothing to fear from us for sure. I'm wondering where I am now out in the many rice field roads, when around the corner of the tule's up ahead appears this white pick-up. Time to play cool, like we belong here and it is just a real nice day. The driver smiles and has a slight frown that must be a question or two. I shove my 2 foot-long lens out the door and tell hem we are wildlife photographers, trying to make some bread today and having a tough time. He smiles and wonders out loud if we had seen all the white-herons on big tree along the creek? He called it a "roost". I said it must be a "rookery" and if he is going that way would he show us the way.

 One mile back along the creek at least 100 Large White Egrets were in the trees with babies stuffed in the nests everywhere. They are at least 100 yards away and Shirley and I are ready to climb to fence and get closer, when our new friend mentions all the black Angus bulls he saw along there the last time he was here. I show him what the babies look like on my LCD and he is amazed. 

When we figure out how to handle the bulls, we are going back. Just another case of f8 and be there!

Sierra Valley High

by Jim & Shirley White

Sierra Valley California can be a place of wonder. It has wildlife, rivers and ponds, farms and live stock. Add some clouds and it can be an outdoor photographers dream come true.

We have had some wonderful experiences in Sierra Valley. We go there in the middle of winter, spring and summer. We could tell stories. We prefer to just take pictures and remember. Just a few days ago this is what we saw.

A true California wonderland.

THE TIGERS ARE BACK!!

THE TIGERS ARE BACK

by Jim and Shirley White

Last year was dry. There were no Tiger Lilies in our Secret Meadow. Well there were actually three, all droopy, dried up and sick looking. This year it is really dry. Really very dry. But not in our Secret Meadow. There are hundreds of our Tigers, all bloomed out and of a beautiful orange-yellow with black spots everywhere. The bees and butterflies are there too. And the meadow is all squishy to walk on. We feel terrible to walk out into this Garden of the Gods. It is impossible not to trample something. We try to be careful, but to no avail. Something must get injured for us to photograph our loved ones. The meadow is circled with the beautiful Death Camas flowering plants. They are white and shaped like a Roman Candle. And deadly if you eat them. Lewis and Clark ate them and survived. I would not try them ever. But we thought our meadow would not be a bad place to die.

We of course are not ready yet for that. Our heart's raced fast when we saw our meadow this year. How can our meadow be so wet, moist and beautiful, in this dry, crisp and brown year. Ah! it is green and beautiful now for a while. But we fear it will dry out this year. But the beautiful Tiger Lilies of our Sierra Nevada mountains will only go to sleep and wait. For the rains and snow will come and new life will happen again  in our little Secret Meadow. We can't wait to go again!

MOUNTAINS AND FLOWERS

BY JIM AND SHIRLEY WHITE

We were not going to tell you about this. You know about our mountains but you don't know about the flowers this year. You know it is a year of drought, hot, dry, miserably dry. But somehow our joy of seeing so many flowers, so soon this year, is not so great if we don't tell you about it. I wanted to wait until the bloom was over, you would have never known. Shirley thought we should share. Maybe I will feel better once you know. I don't know.

Snow plants are everywhere. More than we have ever seen. I should have not even stopped to take this picture. They are so common this year. But yet I did.

Indian Pinks? It is too early I think. Are they crazy? It is too early, but there they were! I must take their picture too. I don't need any Indian Pinks mad at me.

Yellow Monkey flowers are everywhere on every canyon wall. What can one do? Drive right by? After all, we came to see the lakes and mountains too.

Hell Hole lake is a little low. But what the heck! It is wet and cold, and fishermen are catching lots of fish. Should we be sad? Remember? It is a drought year too.

Now French Meadows lake, it is really low this year. There will be no canoeing up the Middle Fork to photograph Osprey catching fish for us this year. I wonder if the old Forest Service cabin Shirley and I and our three kids used to stay in when it was snowing hard during deer season will show itself in the lowering lake? Sad thoughts of happy bygone days I guess.

Dogwood were in bloom from French Meadows up to Chipmunk Ridge like they always are in July. But hay! This is still May! Maybe a summer thunder storm will brighten up our sky. The Dogwood will need some rain in July this year for sure. 

This was Mt.Mildred last Sat.and I used to ski down that ridge coming down Chipmunk Ridge every June first ! Coming over from Alpine Meadows to French Meadows each late May to early June was always a blast.Guess Shirley and I will just have to hike up to the summit and see what it looks like in the summer for a change. Now that you know about our flowers and our secret Mt. Mildred ski trip, please....don't tell anybody. You see....even on the Memorial holiday, there was no one looking at the flowers and the mountains were all ours. 

Our Loneliest Friend

By Jim and Shirley White

We have had a visitor to our home the past few weeks. It is a Canada goose, one of the species of wild Canada Geese that have made this part of the Sierra foothills their yearlong home. He has flown into our small backyard livestock pasture to rest and feed on our abundant green grass. A few weeks ago we had a pair of geese that would come and feed for a while and then leave. They never spent the night here. The goose that is here now, has spent two days and nights here 24 hours each day, this past week. He leaves for an hour or two to go where we do not know? I saw him land about 6:30 A.M. this Sun. morning so he went somewhere either last night or real early this morning. We are on a sort of a flyway here with geese flying over headed out to the Country Club golf course, or perhaps another pasture in between. They call to our goose as they pass over but he just looks up and says nothing. About 10 days ago we had a pair land to visit him, cackling loudly as they landed but he lowered his head and charged them and ran them off. He seems very content to feed by himself, preens by the hour, or just stares at the pairs of Mocking birds that are nesting just below our pasture. I had to mow the pasture last week and hated to bother him but he just stood and watched as I rode the mower back and forth for at least an hour. He moved from place to place to get out of the way of the mower but acted like he could care less about me.

I think our goose likes us because when Shirley and I sit on our deck overlooking the pasture and the goose, he often looks up at us. Shirley talks to him all the time. She wants to name him but I don’t believe in giving wildlife human names. After all, they are not human and deserve better than that. The bird biologist have named the Canada Goose, “Branta Canadensis” but who in the world calls them that. I just call him “Our Loneliest Friend”.

IT'S WINTER AGAIN

by Jim & Shirley White

A friend was going to call but he did not. You see he knew it had snowed almost 2 feet in the Sierra and so the next day he knew very well where we would be. It used to be on skis heading up high. Now of course it is with the cameras, trying to capture that love we have for the Sierra when covered with snow. It was a Saturday and would have been crowded along I 80 in Placer Co. But it was not since the ski areas were closed, most of the ski-summer cabins around Donner Pass and Tahoe were empty since the season was wrong for most. Not for Shirley and I! When it snows we are gone that's for sure.

To us, when it snows, we almost feel young again. We look at those high ridges and pick our route.
You see we know every tree and rock along that route, and in our mind we are there, Our memories of those high ridges are there forever. Ski Heil!