Showing posts with label birdwatching. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birdwatching. Show all posts

Monday, May 10, 2010

Singing blackbird

Hitting the high notes

Last week I posted some shots of this red-winged blackbird posing among the yellow blooms, but my real hope when I started shooting him was to get some nice shots of him in mid-song in this terrific setting. They have such a wonderful unique call, and I always enjoy it in early spring when we start hearing them again in the local parks.

Singing blackbird

Friday, May 7, 2010

Mute Swan an Ellis Creek WRF

Mute Swan

There were a handful of swans swimming through the freshwater ponds at Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility in Petaluma, CA. This particular swan was quite agitated that a Canada Goose was also swimming around its pond, and continually swam after the goose until it decided to leave.

Mute Swan

Later on I understood its unhappiness with the other bird around, since when I walked around the backside of the pond that was overgrown with rush, I saw another swan sitting on what I guessed to be her nest.

Mute Swan

Even though this is an introduced species in America, they are still quite fun to see, as they truly are a beautiful species.

Mute Swan

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Quick Post -- Blackbird at Ellis Creek WRF

Red-winged blackbird

This blackbird will likely make a few more appearances on my blog in the near future. He was really quite a showoff, and the sinuous branches with yellow flowers made for a great setting.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Brants in the Rain

Brant's are a lovely saltwater goose that I've seen a handful of times along the coast, but never been able to get some nice images of. However, during a February trip to Pillar Point Harbor near Half Moon Bay I was able to spend some time with a small group of these delightful birds.

Brant

It was a dreary morning, and as it rained on me during most of my trip down the coast, I was questioning my decision to have ventured out. But as usually happens, the times you think about turning around are often great. There was a light rain while I wandered the shoreline watching the shorebirds and some buffleheads that I posted previously. I didn't even bother with this group the first time I passed by, since the previous times I've seen them at Point Reyes National Seashore, they took off as soon as they saw me (long before I even thought of trying to approach them).

Brants at Pillar Point

However, this small group was really laid back that morning, and I was able to approach them easily while they searched along the rocky shore for a meal and collected raindrops on their feathers.

Salad bar

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Blackbirds at Ano Nuevo

Brewer's blackbird ready for takeoff

I'm going back through all of my unposted shots from a January trip to see the elephant seals at Ano Nuevo State Reserve in hopes of putting together a post about the pups, and remembered that I took a few frames of these curious blackbirds as we waited for our tour to start. These birds seem to hang around the picnic areas there, and were happy to land on posts only a few yards away.

Red-winged blackbird

I really like the pose in this shot (it looks sort of like he's mid-dance), although I wish the head was turned just a bit more so it was brighter.

Blackbird shuffle