Double-Crested Cormorant (Photos)

Posted by Beedie on June 1, 2012
Posted in: Birds, Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 2 comments

Along the lines of a post on the Neotropic Cormorant by my friend and birding photographer H.J. Ruiz, I’m posting photos of the Double-Crested Cormorant.

I was walking around the bay 2 weeks ago with my partner, The Jedi Master, and our dog Blaze, when across an empty field I looked out into the bay and saw a tall black bird that appeared from a distance to be a duck. I thought to myself that it was too large to be a duck so I broke off from the pack, camera in hand, and slithered up behind an upside down canoe which was on the edge of the water but still a distance from the black ‘unknown’ bird.

Of course I started snapping photos quickly just before he caught wind of me and flew off.  I then rushed home and put the photos on the computer and began to look up this odd bird on my birding chart. I discovered that I had come across a Double-Crested Cormorant. I’ve never seen one of these birds on the back bay before so I was very excited! And of course, I gave myself another ‘happy face’ sticker on my birding chart for another Great Beedie discovery. :O)

He’s a beautiful bird. Enjoy!

Double-Crested Cormorant

Double-Crested Cormorant

Double-Crested Cormorant

Double-Crested Cormorant

Baby Red-Shouldered Hawk – Feeding Time Photos

Posted by Beedie on May 31, 2012
Posted in: Birds, Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , . 9 comments

I was fortunate to catch mom (or dad) Red-Shouldered Hawk at feeding time. Some sweet white-feathered bird gave up his or her life to feed these babies.  The way of Nature. A tree nearby was full of about 50+ crows who were throwing an ‘extreme’ fit in unison. I imagine they witnessed the killing and were cackling in an upset protest. The Red-Shouldered Hawk babies appear non too disturbed – just hungry.

Baby Red Shouldered Hawk - Feeding Time

Baby Red Shouldered Hawk – Feeding Time

Baby Red Shouldered Hawk - Feeding Time

Baby Red Shouldered Hawk – Feeding Time

Baby Red Shouldered Hawk - Feeding Time

Baby Red Shouldered Hawk – Feeding Time

Baby Red Shouldered Hawk - Feeding Time

Baby Red Shouldered Hawk – Feeding Time

The Bushtit Family (Photos)

Posted by Beedie on May 31, 2012
Posted in: Birds, Photography. Tagged: , , , , , . 8 comments

I had to crawl under some thick shrub trees, cover up and be very still for a while to get photos of the Bushtit. These 3-4 inch shrub birds love to flitter very quickly from bush to bush in a pack of 6-8. Some of the hardest photos to shoot are these smallest of birds. I decided I’d have to join them in order to photograph them. They are so darn cute! Enjoy.

The Bushtit Family

The Bushtit Family

Bushtits

Bushtits

Bushtit Family

Bushtit Family

Bushtit

Bushtit

Western Bluebird (Photos)

Posted by Beedie on May 29, 2012
Posted in: Birds, Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , . 8 comments

I went hiking east into the local mountains and away from my usual coastal hang outs. I spotted bluebirds I don’t usually see. This is a Western Bluebird. These birds are highly social, and usually feed in flocks during the non-breeding season. They hunt for terrestrial insects by dropping to the ground from a low perch. Western Bluebirds also frequently feed on berries in trees. They rely on trees both for nesting cavities and hunting perches, and also perch on fences and utility lines which made them an easy catch for a budding photographer like me ;0).

The Western Bluebird is not to be confused with my previous post on the blue jay (Western Scrub) – a member of the ‘crow’ family.

On another note – if you are into birding, insects, flowers, etc – I found some very cool apps for my android phone and tablet developed by Green Mountain Digital for the Audubon Society.  You can get them on the Audubon app website.

Western Bluebird

Western Bluebird

Western Bluebird taking flight

Western Bluebird taking flight

California Quail – State Bird of California

Posted by Beedie on May 27, 2012
Posted in: Birds, Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 8 comments

I love these ground dwelling birds. The California Quail is our state bird. Beautiful! Click to enlarge and enjoy even further.

California Quail (male)

California Quail (male)

California Quail Male and Female

California Quail Male and Female

California Quail Dust Bathing

California Quail Dust Bathing

Small Birds on the Bay (Photos)

Posted by Beedie on May 26, 2012
Posted in: Birds, Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , . 2 comments

A few of our smaller birds on the bay – the skittish ones. It can be difficult capturing a good shot but I enjoy the challenge of trying to photograph these smaller birds without disturbing them while in their habitat. There are so many and I want to know the name of each one! :O) Thank you to H.J. Ruiz for helping me to identify many of these birds.

As usual, click to enlarge the image and enjoy even further! And have a safe and enjoyable Memorial Day Weekend my friends!

Male (left) Female (Right) House Finches

Male (left) Female (Right) House Finches

Western Scrub Jay

Western Scrub Jay

Oregon Junco (male)

Oregon Junco (male). This lil guy was jumping around at my feet and then scurried off. He was too fast for me to get a clear shot. LOL

Red Shouldered Hawk – The Family

Posted by Beedie on May 24, 2012
Posted in: Birds, Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , . 6 comments

The Red Shouldered Hawk I photographed in an earlier post seems to have established our 3rd street as her home. I’ve  seen her several times since my original photo and yesterday I got another photo of a slightly smaller Red Shouldered Hawk – I think he is the male as I read the females can be much larger than their counterparts. I thought ‘they must be making this their permanent home’ hmmmmm.

The Jedi Master  informed me that there was a biologist in the area studying raptors and looking for nests. He only found one nest and it was just down the street from our house. A Red Shouldered Hawk’s nest! I went out in search and found it – it was 40 feet high up in a Eucalyptus tree. On a second visit I found out why the 2 Hawks have made this their home – they have a new family!! I was fortunate enough to catch a peek at a newborn catching a peek at me :O). Needless to say I started snapping photos like crazy (no tripod – no time)!

red-shouldered hawk female

Red Shouldered Hawk – Female?

Red Shouldered Hawk - (smaller) male?

Red Shouldered Hawk – (smaller) male?

Baby Red Shoulder Hawks peeking

Baby Red Shoulder Hawks peeking out. Can you find the two baby hawks in this photo taking a peek?

Baby Red Shoulder Hawk - What's Goin' On

Baby Red Shoulder Hawk – What’s Goin’ On Down There?

Baby Red Shoulder Hawk - Chillin'

Baby Red Shoulder Hawk – Just Chillin’

Baby Red Shoulder Hawk - Hey, what are you pointing at me?

Baby Red Shoulder Hawk – Hey, what are you pointing at me?

Baby Red Shoulder Hawk

Baby Red Shoulder Hawk – Just wait till my Mother and Father get back and catch you pointing that thing at me!

Sludging Through the Mud with a Long-billed Curlew

Posted by Beedie on May 23, 2012
Posted in: Birds, Nature, Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 7 comments

First to share my goal:  below is a birding chart depicting 200 birds (front and back) located in San Luis County. My goal is to find and photograph (as clearly as possible) each one – no time limit. When I do – I give myself a ‘happy face’ sticker on the bird located on the chart. See below:

Birding Chart and Happy Faces

Birding Chart and Happy Faces (click to enlarge)

Next – Some Logistics: The Morro Bay Estuary (see photo of map below) encompasses quite a large area. The area I walk every day is marked with red arrows below. For today’s photo I stepped over the boundaries and into the bay. The tide receded which presented the trekker with rich, dark sludgy soil to walk through. I needed to do this to get up as close as possible to my subject.

Morro Bay Estuary Map

Morro Bay Estuary Map (click to enlarge)

Today’s Subject: The Long-billed Curlew, with the tide out, was enjoying a major feast while allowing me to get up close. She wasn’t about to let me interfere with her grubbin’ :O)

Long-billed Curlew (close up)

Long-billed Curlew (close up) (click to enlarge)

Long-billed Curlew sludging through the mud

Long-billed Curlew sludging through the mud (click to enlarge)

Long-billed Curlew Grubbin'

Long-billed Curlew Grubbin’ (click to enlarge)

Long-billed Curlew Grubbin' - Hmmm Hmmm Good!

Long-billed Curlew Grubbin’ – Hmmm Hmmm Good! (click to enlarge)

Solar Eclipse – West Coast

Posted by Beedie on May 22, 2012
Posted in: Photography, Sunsets. Tagged: , , , , , , , , . 6 comments

Los Osos, where I live, was not within the correct latitude to witness the famous solar eclipse ‘ring’ you see so many posting on the internet. However, the solar eclipse here did produce  an array of amazing sun effects – starlike – it was utterly mesmerizing. There was a guy down at the pier handing out ‘welding’ goggles for everyone to use. I sat on a bank  near my house to get these shots. My camera was propped up on my knee (as I didn’t have the tripod with me), while I looked through the LCD screen, thus the horizon’s may look a bit tilted.  After a couple of shots I thought it best to put on a filter (CPL) as the brightness of the sun was the most overwhelming I’d ever witnessed and I didn’t want to damage my lens!

Solar Eclipse West Coast

Solar Eclipse West Coast (click to enlarge)

 

Solar Eclipse West Coast

Solar Eclipse West Coast (click to enlarge)

Solar Eclipse West Coast

Solar Eclipse West Coast (click to enlarge)

Solar Eclipse West Coast

Solar Eclipse West Coast (click to enlarge)

A Man and his Rod

Posted by Beedie on May 21, 2012
Posted in: Black and White, Photography. Tagged: , , , , , , , . 4 comments

On a beautiful, sunset walk at Montana De Oro State Park we watched as these two men were peacefully perched out on the rocks ocean fishing. As always, click to enlarge and enjoy further!

man fishing in ocean

man fishing