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I see Northern Harriers often, but rarely get decent photos of them, since they rarely stay still. I usually see them flying back and forth in the distance, but rarely do their flight paths seem to approach me and my camera.
I was lucky that this beautiful male Northern Harrier flew close to me and the friends I was birding with last weekend at the Bird and Butterfly Garden in San Diego’s Tijuana River Valley. It was close to us for only a few seconds, but long enough for this photo.
The March/April 2021 Bird Watcher's Digest includes this photo I took at Blue Jay Campground near Lake Elsinore, California.
It's certainly not an artistic photo, but it filled a need to illustrate an interesting article comparing the American Crow (the smaller bird on the right) to the Common Raven.
I was lucky to photograph both species flying next to each other high above the campground in May of 2018.
In the article the photo is cropped and reversed to fit their editorial needs. I was pleased to contribute to the magazine!
A Lesser Goldfinch, photographed at El Monte Park in Lakeside, California in October of last year.
A Snowy Egret poses in the pond just south of the Sorrento Valley Park And Ride.
This photo was taken in early January of this year, a few weeks before yesterday's photo. As in yesterday's post, I scouted out the pond for possible bird life, and found none. This lovely Snowy Egret flew in to the pond just as I was about to leave.
There is a small pond just south of the Sorrento Valley Park And Ride. This pond is adjacent to the Los Peñasquitos Lagoon.
Checking it out for possible bird life last month, there was none to be seen. Just about to leave, suddenly a Hooded Merganser floated into view, coming down the small stream formed in the freeway underpass.
I was thrilled to see this bird, as it is the first I have seen in San Diego County.
A Common Gallinule, silhouetted against the colors of the reflected sky after sunset.
Photographed a few weeks ago at Lake Murray, in La Mesa, California.
In April, 2020, I was scheduled to take a trip to Spain, where I would have spent quite a few days birding. Needless to say, that trip did not happen!
I decided to review some pictures from my previous trip to Spain in September, 2016, and found a number of interesting ones.
In the parts of Spain I visited the birds were incredibly skittish, rarely allowing an approach close enough for a decent photo.
For that reason, many bird photographers visit blinds (or hides, in the British terminology), to photograph birds in Spain. In fact, it's quite a business, the fee for visiting these blinds is usually quite steep!
All of the following shots were taken from blinds on a property near Ronda, in southern Spain.
Short-toed Treecreeper:
European Pied Flycatcher. I think this is a juvenile:
Eurasian Nuthatch:
Great Spotted Woodpecker:
Great Spotted Woodpecker:
European Robin:
Red Fox:
A Lesser Scaup silhouetted against reflections of colorful clouds after sunset.
Photographed a few weeks ago at Lake Murray, in La Mesa, California.
A Red-tailed Hawk, leaving its perch at Fiesta Island:
What caused it to leave?
An American Kestrel wanted its perch, and chased it away!
Photographed in January of this year.
The huge dog run at San Diego's Fiesta Island has a large grassy area which can host a large number of birds, which will happily search for insects in between being flushed by any overly energetic canine.
Here is a Western Meadowlark, photographed in January of this year.
