Photo collage of wild turkeys in Berkeley. The photos were taken in the Berkeley hills and in Tilden Park.
Tussle on Mountain Lake
This was a first for me . . . witnessing a down and dirty fight between American Coots intent on keeping each other off coveted turf. Neither bird was hurt. Well, maybe emotionally. The loser scrambled across the water to escape the victor. American Coots can drown in territorial battles, although it’s not common. They…
Return of the Waxwings
It starts with a whistle, but a whistle so faint it’s a whisper across the leaves. And then the sound of raindrops, but it’s not rain. It’s the patter of falling berries, pyracantha and holly, dropping into the blanket of debris below the trees.
Pigeon Masters of Culinary Adaptation
Refined carbs aren’t any better for pigeons than they are for us. But urban birds, used to groveling for handouts, will take what they can get. This mottled pigeon person stumbled upon a bounty in Mission Bay. We could hear a gang of gulls on the approach so the pigeon was in his own Amazing…
Cormorants at Work
First, a disclaimer. These are not tack-sharp photos. The IS (image stabilization) inside my Olympus is pretty darned good. And with the right shutter speeds, I can brace the camera to produce crisp images without a tripod or monopod — which is super, because I’m often taking pictures in the context of a hike where carrying a…
Shorebird Nation Rises Again
Ever since I picked up a telephoto lens and aimed it at my first non-human earthling, my seasons have morphed into migration schedules. Winter = Ducks. Spring= Babies. Fall (best time of all) = Shorebirds. I used to be an urban-girl-night-person — before I knew what I was. Autumn was: early darkness, early cocktails. Schlepping…
Sunday in the Park With Pelicans
Always my favorite SF Bay residents . . . photographed from Tiburon this afternoon. Related posts on pelicans: Miss Them Already: California Pelicans | Pelicanorama | The Flight of the Pelican | Mixed Use, Pelican Style | Up on the Roof
Ducky Surveillance
I snapped some shots this morning of a ducks flying overhead. Poor ducks will reverse course sometimes if they see something pointed at them … like a camera lens. If you make a trip to heavily hunted turf like Gray Lodge or the areas around Cosumnes Preserve, you’ll see what skittish really looks like. The…
Seeing the Sora
You’ll hear Soras more often than you’ll see them. But once in a while you’ll be lucky enough to experience both — when the characteristic Sora call precedes a visual of the Sora wading through the shallows. Soras are in the rail family, not rare, even if they are elusive. They share a lineage with…
Secret Digs of the Great Horned Owl
Photos of a Great Horned Owl perched in Strawberry Canyon in Berkeley.