First, an establishing shot -- the view out across the valley. Yeah, I live in Paradise.
As I neared the bottom of the hill I saw these, not that they were hard to find. These guys are really noisy, and so were the resident crows who were cawing alarm at their presence. The fall migration is in full swing and a small flock of Canada geese had decided to stop for a rest.
I was trying to sneak closer to get some closeup shots of individual geese when I heard a great roaring sound from above. A few seconds later one of my neighbors came tearing down the hill on his ATV. Naturally the geese took flight, heading out across the valley toward the rising sun. If they had gone the other direction I could have gotten a better picture, but as it was this was the best I could manage. I had to ramp up the contrast just to make them stand out against the trees.
Later, as I headed home a second, smaller flight came over, but once again they were between me and the sun so the shot is a little washed out.
After that I really took my time returning home, trudging slowly along, scanning the skies, hoping for another overflight, but it was not to be. Maybe tomorrow..., up on Hawk Mountain my luck will be better.
