Sweet Spots Around Bishop, CA

Just north of Bishop there is a lovely location called Pleasant Valley. The Owens River winds its way through the grasses and reeds, providing a popular location for fishing. I was taken by the beauty and peacefulness.

One of the really great things about this part of the Eastern Sierras is the smell of sage. After walking through some I carried the smell on my clothes the rest of the day. And it is actually quite beautiful if take a close look at it. I comes in a variety of colors from red to yellow and shades of blue.

To the east and north of Bishop you can often find ponds. I say "often" because all of them are not always there. During the drought this particular pond was dry. I was so happy to see it full this year as it is one of my favorite to visit. There are other ponds east of town that were full even during the drought years so it you want to see some ponds, they are there to be found.

On the last morning of my stay, on the way out of town, I stopped at the ponds for a last visit. After shooting most of sunrise I was packing up to leave when a group of coots entered the scene. A welcomed intrusion.

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Family Life Of Red Foxes

The family life of a red fox is a joy to observe. The kits are very much like puppies, jumping on and chasing each other almost the entire day. Of particular interest is how the Vixens teach the kits to eventually become self sufficient around their food supply. There are two vixen in this family unit, the mother and grandmother, and I can not tell them apart. The kits you see here are still suckling from their mother. But by this time in their young lives she is well on the way introducing them to game. In the beginning she will stash the game, encouraging the kits to forage for it. The next step in the process you can see here, where she brings game directly to the kits. Here she is dropping a rabbit for them. At this stage in the teaching she has killed the rabbit. The next stage will be for her to bring them live game. The little black one grabs the rabbit and makes a run for it getting away from his siblings. A...

Red Foxes

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Art Display At The Center For Spiritual Living, Santa Rosa

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Notes To My Mother

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