A title inspired by a recent viewing of Jimmy Stewart and The Flight of the Phoenix . . . a photographic tribute inspired by one of my favorite birds: the Brown Pelican. California Brown Pelican Recovery The Brown Pelican is not quite a Phoenix, raising itself from metaphorical ashes. But it has mythological parallels in…
Learning From a Racing Pigeon
I think the pigeon people are trying to tell me something. Late last year, I took a rambunctious fledgling pigeon to a nearby hospital. In April, I drove two [very] baby pigeons to the same hospital. I’m always snapping pigeon photos even when other photographers sweep their lenses right over the pigeon landscape. So, it…
Not-So-Ordinary Black Birds
Until the esteemed Brewer’s Blackbird Sir Swoopsmade a name for himself by dive-bombing pedestrians, there’s a good chance he was just one of many birds in black, hopping along the sidewalks of San Francisco without much notice. On first glance, blackbirds and black-colored birds may seem visually ordinary. But closer inspection always renders a more…
Who Says You Never See Baby Pigeons?
Pigeons are meticulous, doting parents . . . which is why you probably won’t see many baby pigeons in the wild . . . if at all. Pigeons produce small broods (usually two babies) and tuck them in nests high on ledges — homes which resemble their ancestors’ cliff dwellings. The pigeon parents feed their…
A Quiet Nation of Shorebirds – San Francisco Bay Area
I try to stop by Arrowhead Marsh when I’m in the vicinity of Oakland Airport . . . which is quite a lot, considering I’m with a guy who, essentially, commutes to work by plane. It’s my consolation in solitude to stroll through the marshes with my camera after I bid farewell to Southwest or…
