Photo ABCs

Kestrel

A male Kestrel (males have silver-gray on their head and wings) hovers while looking for prey at Lake Hodges. Photographed last week.

Curve-billed Thrasher

A Curve-billed Thrasher spices up its diet with a packet of ketchup, at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona.

Gila Woodpecker

A male Gila Woodpecker, photographed recently at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona.

Western Grebe and chick

Many of the Western and Clark's Grebes at Lake Hodges are now nesting and many have chicks, which they are taking for cruises around the lake, like these grebes are doing. The youngsters enjoy rides on the back of the parents, occasionally getting off for swim lessons! I took this photograph yesterday. The red color in the water is a reflection of a clay-colored mountain in the distance.

White-crowned Sparrow

Along with autumn, White-crowned Sparrows have returned to Southern California. While there are some parts of California with year-round White-crowned Sparrows, where I live they migrate north for the summer and return in the winter. Recently I have been seeing lots of them. This was taken last week along Davis Road near the San Jacinto Wildlife Area near Hemet, California, in the late afternoon moments before the sun disappeared.

Wrentit

The Wrentit is a common bird in Southern California, but is more often heard than seen. Its staccato song is likened to a falling ball, gaining speed as it goes along. But it tends to hide within bushes, thus being difficult to photograph. Here is one in plain view at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, in Claremont, California.

Bushtit

This time a male Bushtit (note the darker eyes), also photographed at the Santa Ana Botanic Garden, Claremont, California.

Bushtit, female

A female Bushtit, photographed recently at the Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, in Claremont, California. (The female bushtit has pale or yellow eyes, the male has dark eyes).

House Finch, female

A female House Finch, photographed recently in Chino, California. This barbed wire fence was next to a golf course, thus the vivid green colors in the background.

Curve-billed Thrasher

A Curve-billed Thrasher, photographed recently at the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix, Arizona.