Rainbow and Lenses

We have had a lot of rain lately.  Californians learn to welcome all rain but I have been hearing a bit of grumbling lately.  I was glad to see this rainbow a few days ago, it didn't signal an end to the rain, though. If you notice some distortion on the image it is due to rain falling on the lens.

It is unusual to see a rainbow come all the way down to the ground.  No pot of gold, though.

A raindrop on the pluot tree acted as a lens.

Another lens is this new toy of mine, a Lensball.  Thank you Alan for introducing me to this neat toy.

Find more views of the sky at Skywatch Friday.

Winter Visitors

One nice thing about living in Lincoln California is the proximity to both urban conveniences and rural habitats.  Jules and I recently took an 18 mile loop in search of the birds that winter in the rice fields west of town.  We were almost too late, last week I heard a flock of sandhill cranes as they flew over my house on their way from Lodi to their northern breeding grounds.

Our first encounter was not waterfowl  but a hawk, hard to tell from the angle but I think it is a red shouldered hawk.

He didn't want to pose so we moved on.

We found a rice field with tundra swans and white fronted geese.  Many rice farmers keep their fields flooded in the winter providing habitat for the wintering birds.

I love looking at the swans but I had also hoped to see a flock of snow geese but all I saw was this lone goose swimming with the swans.

So we said goodby to the birds of the rice fields.  Spring migration is starting and I don't know if we will get out there again this year.

This is a view of my world, you can find more views of our wonderful world at Our World Tuesday.

See more birds at Wild Bird Wednesday.

Super Moon

I found a new (new to me)  photography app called Photopills.  Strange name but it is a great help for planning shots of the sun, moon or milky way.  I tried it out with the recent Super Moon.

It definitely helped me to plan my shot of the moon, the hawk was all luck.  I look forward to using it in the future.  Unfortunately there is only one full moon a month and there is too much light here to shoot the milky way or star trails.

Find more shots of the sky at Skywatch, Friday.