The Pond

[John H]

My friend Gary has a pond in his neighborhood. It is not a big pond, and it does not have any catchable fish, but it does have some pretty good birds. Even better than that, the birds are kind of used to people being around and the pond is small enough that the birds can't swim to the far side to get away from photographers. There is also a bench to sit on and in the evening the light is good, and the sun is behind you. All in all, I would say getting bird photos there is easy money.

What is not easy money right now though is catching bass at Lake Berryessa. The bite seems to have taken a big step backward for me. Hopefully the bass will get their act together this coming week and start pulling the bobber down a little more regularly. You know the bass bite is not good when all you come home with is a picture of a crappie.


The crappie. A pretty good fish.


A pair of wood ducks. Not the best wood duck shot but the best one I have.


A pair of gallinules. Prehistoric looking. Related to the coot.


Everybody is paired up right now. Beautiful colors and evening light.


A green heron with a small fish he had just caught. He had a mate on the other side of the pond.


The oak titmouse. They are feisty little guys. Nice background on this picture. Background is a big part of the bird photo. You want it blurred, no distracting sticks and with a little pattern and some nice color, so the bird stands out.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks John, this brings back lots of good memories for me.


I started fly fishing for bass and panfish over 60 years ago with high school friends.

Leo Gutterres of Stockton, CA is the 'god father' of farm pond fly fishing and taught many of us his deadly system.

Leo also made some of the best poppers for LMB. There are thousands of farm ponds all over California's low elevation.




Many years ago, the Wood Duck population was very low in the Sacramento Valley.

About 50 years ago, local duck hunters started building and putting Wood duck boxes on trees in sloughs.

Today, the Wood duck population is in good shape.



Here is a good video that will show you how to get involved in the Wood Duck Box program.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=niOairFU8N4

[Vaughn Willett]

Beautiful. Great work, John.

Vaughn

[k.hanley]

John...Always a pleasure to see your work. I think I asked this before (but can't remember), what lens have you been using for the birds this past year?

Bill...Some of my best times were fishing ponds with Leo G. and Al Smatsky around Calaveras County. Excellent times actually.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

We have had it pretty good.

Leo is alive and well in Stockton, CA, down to 180# now, and in his late 80s.

We talk on the phone.

[John H]

Ken - I have been using a Nikon 500pf which is kind of a lightweight 500 mm lens. I just got a 600 mm lens. It is big and heavy and so far a hassle and a lot of work to haul around. We’ll see how it goes with the new lens. All those bird pics were on the new lens and might not have worked on my old lens.

[k.hanley]

Thanks for the info John. Your investment is sure paying off!

My hands have become too unstable to use a big lens without the support of a tripod (or a sand bag on a rock etc.).

[StevenB]

That's some talent right there. Beautiful Pictures, John.