October 24, 25, and 26 2020 Paramount Ranch

What a pleasure it's been to be out in the almost fall like weather! We visited Paramount Ranch three days in a row. On Saturday the 24th, we were fortunate to spot a pair of bobcats, probably the same youngsters Andrea saw and photographed so well a couple of months ago. We weren't so lucky in getting a good photo--saw them running away. So we returned to Paramount Ranch the two subsequent days in the hope of getting better photos. However we didn't see them. We're guessing that their movements may be random so the chances of finding them again are probably not as good as we thought.

That being said, there's something to be said for returning to the same location multiple times. Each time you become more familiar with the area and often notice things you didn't notice before. For inspiration, you might check out the book "The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature" by David Haskell, who explores the same patch of land for a year and reports his findings.

Returning to the same location is also an opportunity to photograph animals you've seen before but maybe in a different setting. For instance I got a pair of acorn woodpeckers perched low over the creek--a photo that is not your typical acorn woodpecker photo. And I finally saw the hairy woodpecker, a species I've seen and photographed elsewhere but not in the Santa Monica Mountains.

Finally, each time you return to a location you may find new species that you weren't expecting to see. For instance on Saturday I found a peg-legged compost fly--something I was not familiar with but interesting nonetheless.

The period between now and spring is often challenging for us nature lovers. It just means you must dig deeper to find inspiration.

Posted on October 27, 2020 10:05 PM by naturephotosuze