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Elegant Mousecatcher

11/29/2014

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While strolling around the Doran Beach Bird Walk path, I saw this Great Blue Heron poised over the ice plant - until it struck quickly and pulled out a small mouse!
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Great Blue Heron with a mouse
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Great Blue Heron, moving away with its mouse
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Lark Sparrow, Helen Putnam Regional Park, Petaluma
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Black Phoebe, at Hole in the Head, Bodega
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Eared Grebe, near Dillon Beach
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Female Kestrel on telephone cable, Bodega Harbor
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I think this is a juvenile Cooper's Hawk, also on the phone cable, Bodega Harbor
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Great Egret, near Dillon Beach
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Mature Cooper's hawk in the tall poplar tree on the Cherry Ridge property
Small flock of Canadian Geese at a pond in one of the Windsor parks
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Male Malard, preening, at the Windsor pond
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Great Feet!!!
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Female mallard duck, at a pond in Windsor
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Another Black Phoebe, at the pond in Windsor
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All manner of waterfowl

11/26/2014

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The Ellis Creek Water Recycling Facility in Petaluma has created a wetlands environment as part of its water treatment...this includes a series of small ponds, where birds are encouraged.
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Mute swan at the city of Petaluma's Ellis Creek Facility
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A pair of Gadwalls
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Male Gadwall
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Female Common Goldeneye
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A red-shouldered hawk flew over

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Some black-necked stilts flew from one pond to the next
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Male Bufflehead
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Female Bufflehead
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A pair of Canvasback couples, male and female
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Canvasback ducks
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Goldfinch worked winter's dried grasses over for seeds
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Song sparrows perched in the reeds
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A few canadian geese were in the ponds
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Lots of coots
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And also mallards
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A flock of White Pelicans passed overhead
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Pelican Ballet at Bodega Harbor

11/22/2014

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The Brown Pelicans were diving for fish, over and over again, on a beautiful, clear afternoon following two days of rainy weather....
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Brown Pelican rising from the water to start a dive
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Brown Pelican in flight, getting ready to dive, Bodega Harbor
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This is a ten-pointer - webbed toes pointed, wings tucked, beak at ninety degrees
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Entering the water
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After the dive
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This pelican had a Heermann's gull as its constant companion
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Also in the harbor today, a group of surf scooters
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This I believe is a Pacific Loon
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Snowy egret, along the shore, Bodega Bay Harbor
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Down from the egret, a Great Blue Heron
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Sparrow on the shore rocks
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Hooded Mergansers (a kind of duck)

11/18/2014

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OK, these might be the trippiest birds I have seen yet...I think they are not very common, either...seen in the pond at Shiloh Regional Park, Windsor.
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Male Hooded Merganser, Shiloh Ranch Regional Park
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Male Hooded Merganser with two females
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Female Hooded Merganser
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Small flock of hooded mergansers
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Male Hooded Merganser
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Turtle sunning itself on a partially cloudy day, same pond
Elsewhere on the property...golden-crowned sparrows join in the berry feast (below):
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Golden-crowned sparrow with mashed berry
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Little Anna's hummer glimmering like a jewel, back yard
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Bushtit, back yard
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Sanderlings? At Bodega Harbor

11/15/2014

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Large flock of small shorebirds descended on the shore along Bodega Bay Harbor
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Sanderlings, Bodega Bay Harbor
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They were a mix of light and dark plumage - light plumage non-breeding adults
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Darker sanderlings are breeding adults
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A little ways off was a large group of Marbled Godwits, with the occasional Willet (gray bird in front) among them - Bodega Bay Harbor
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Yellow-rumped warbler at Hole in the Head, Bodega
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Yellow-rumped warblers still very much in evidence around Bodega Head
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Fierce looking Anna's hummingbird at Hole in the Head, Bodega
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Female Buffleheads (a sea bird) in the harbor
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Female Bufflehead, Bodega Harbor
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Male and female Buffleheads
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Male Bufflehead, Bodega Harbor
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Female Kestrel along the road, Bodega Harvor
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Female Kestrel along the road circling the harbor, hovering at one point
over the field in search of prey.


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Female Kestrel, trying to do some hunting along the road
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Back home, a California Towhee seen in a neighbor's yard
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Black-necked stilts in flight at the Laguna pond

11/13/2014

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The small flock of black-necked stilts took a lap around the pond at my approach with the camera...


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Black-necked stilt in flight, the Laguna pond
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Cedar waxwing in the vineyards adjacent to the park
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Cedar waxwings were present in the parks many oak trees
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Lesser goldfinch among the grass seeds, the Laguna
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Kinglet in the park
PictureSay's Phoebe on fence pole, back yard
 





Meanwhile, in the back yard - a Say's Phoebe


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Say's Phoebe - flew to the cable line in the back yard
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Female Downy woodpecker, in oak tree near front porch
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Pygmy nuthatch, among a small group that dropped by near dusk for a visit to the suet feeders
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Male Western Bluebird, on cable line overlooking back orchard
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Kestrel with a bug!

11/10/2014

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Kestrels also eat bugs - found this out today, after getting this photo - insects are a regular part of their diet, and they can catch them in the air!
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The male Kestrel on the property, with a large bug
The robins have descended on one of the berry bushes in the back yard, they can strip these large shrubs clean of berries - once they start - within a few days!
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American Robin with a berry, back yard
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Across the road, this male Nuttall's woodpecker
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Male Nuttall's woodpecker
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Nothern Flicker in front yard - very active in the mornings, but difficult to get close to.
Below:  The property's red-breasted sapsucker, a kind of woodpecker - in back yard.  Usually only see them in the Fall and winter, drilling and getting sap from the Acacia trees.  This one here surprised me and landed on the berry bush trunk, while I was getting photos of the robins.
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Red-breasted sapsucker
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Young Acorn woodpecker, front yard
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Acorn woodpecker on favorite utility pole near the house
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Acorn woodpecker trying to figure out if it wants to be photographed or not...
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Some back yard birdsĀ 

11/8/2014

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Oak titmouse, chattering, back yard trees
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Pine siskin, near the thistle feeders
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Dark-eyed junco
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Scout quail, protecting safety of a larger flock, back orchard near the back yard
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Anna's hummer, keeping a watch over one of the feeders
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Brown Creeper, in large oak tree
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Anna's hummer grooming, back yard
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Hermit Thrush, a glimpse through the backyard trees
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Hermit thrush - in pursuit of berries
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Golden-crowned sparrow
PictureA group of flying buffleheads passed quickly

A walk today along the Russian River.
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Large group of coots with a couple of Canadian Geese as escorts
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American coots on the Russian River, feeding
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A canoe and a sailboat startled the cormorants, and they took off flying
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Hutton's Vireo in the shrubbery
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Hutton's Vireo
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Red-tailed hawk circled lazily overhead, but with an alert eye
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A group of bushtits chattered through some shrubs
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Chestnut-backed chickadees busily examined tree branches for bugs and seeds
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Black- necked Stilt(s) at the Laguna

11/6/2014

1 Comment

 
My first ever look at these shorebirds, like a Japanese ink drawing...
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Black-necked Stilts at the Laguna pond
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Black-necked Stilts feeding at a pond in the Laguna de Santa Rosa watershed
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Say's Phoebe on a sprinkler head, at the Laguna
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Yellow-rumped warblers at the Laguna
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Cedar waxwings throughout the park
Cedar waxwings and yellow-rumped warblers still common throughout the park (above); when I pointed my camera at this red-tailed hawk, he or she became rather vocal, and then lept into the air from its perch (below):
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Red-tailed hawk, the Laguna
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Great Blue Heron at the Laguna
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Great Blue Heron in flight
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Great Blue Heron
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Northern Harrier
Northern Harrier hawk - also known as a marsh hawk - at the Laguna
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Northern Harrier at the Laguna
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Northern Harrier
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Northern Harrier in flight
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Also spied a Kestrel at the park as I was leaving
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Surprised this Great Egret on my way out of the park
1 Comment

Return to California birds...

11/2/2014

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Interesting the number of birds both States had in common...
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Red-tailed hawk, seen on the road to Bodega Bay - common to both California and Georgia
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Great Egret in flight, near Doran Beach - this egret and the Great Blue Heron both seen frequently at the many ponds and lakes of Georgia
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Northern Mockingbird, back orchard - also common in Georgia and Alabama
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White-throated sparrow - this one in the Laguna - also seen in Georgia
PictureYellow-rumped warbler, this one in the Laguna, seen in both states.


The yellow-rumped warbler almost seems ubiquitous to both states right now...

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Northern Shoveler, seen in a pond in the Laguna, also common in both states
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Northern Shoveler ducks, at a pond in the Laguna
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There were American coots also at the pond in the Laguna, a bird I personally did not see in Georgia, but may be common there
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Chestnut-backed chickadee, Cherryridge back yard - a type of Chickadee not seen in Georgia
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Spotted Towhee in back orchard, eastern version of this bird is different
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Male Western Bluebird, on utility cable in lower orchard - the eastern bluebird looks very similar
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Female Western Bluebird, on post, lower orchard
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Acorn Woodpecker, lower orchard - especially a California bird.
PictureAmerican Kestrel, lower orchard






                                                                                    

   We did see a kestrel during my visit to Georgia, while driving
through a mixture of woodland and open pasture...
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Lesser Goldfinches feeding on dry grasses in the Laguna - only a western bird
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    Author

    Walking through
    California coastal parks and redwoods, and sometimes beyond, with a Nikon DSLR & telephoto lens (completely amateur)



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