Earlier this week, I went on a walk around Main Reservoir with my friend Monika from Tails Around the Ranch. We had a fabulous time, looking at the birds and talking about dogs.

As we walked, we saw some lovely white flowers on the side of the trail. I went back yesterday to get some shots of them.

They were sand lilies, charming early spring flowers.

One of the biggest challenges of photographing sand lilies is that they are so blindingly, unrelentingly white that there isn’t much contrast for your eye to snag on.

As the name implies, these little gems grow in sandy soil. The rocky ridge holding the reservoir is one of the only bits of sandstone in town, but it was enough to give these guys a home.

I walked back to my car, well satisfied with the photos I got, when I heard a scattering of high pitched calls. Thinking that they were the contact calls of Tufted Titmice, I went looking.

Nope. A flock of about ten cedar waxwings were in the trees surrounding the reservoir! I thought all these guys had headed up into the mountains months ago, shortly after my first sighting. I felt incredibly lucky to see them again.

I tried to get a shot of their sides, where the red beads of keratin that give them their name form a line mid wing. But I wasn’t that lucky.

Still, I’m not complaining. In fact, those kinds of surprises are what I love about getting out and about in wilder places.