Brants are small geese found only in coastal waters. The breed in the far north, and quite a few winter in San Quintin, Baja California.
I often see them flying at a distance when I am at the San Diego River Mouth, but I cannot remember ever seeing them close up in San Diego County.
Here is a flock flying near the San Diego River Mouth in April of this year.
A House Wren sings away, appropriately enough, on a house at the Bird and Butterfly Garden in Imperial Beach.
Photographed in March of this year.
A Pacific-slope Flycatcher, photographed at the Bird and Butterfly Garden in Imperial Beach in March of this year:
A Savannah Sparrow, photographed at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area in February of this year.
I have seen (or at least recognized) very few Merlins since becoming interested in birds.
Two of them, however, have been at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area.
Here is one photographed in February of this year. Thanks to another birder for alerting me to its presence.
In February I returned to the San Jacinto Wildlife Area and managed to get more shots of Northern Harriers.
Here I included the snow covered mountains (near Big Bear) for context:
Harriers fly back and forth over areas where prey might be found:
Every time I visit the San Jacinto Wildlife Area north of Hemet, California, I see Northern Harriers.
Rarely, however, do I get a decent photo! These birds always seem to fly past me when I am looking at another bird, and they rarely hold still.
This female was hovering above reeds looking for dinner, at quite a distance, but close enough for this shot.
One of my favorite lighting situations is a backlit bird against a dark background. It does not happen often, but I try to take advantage of it when it presents itself.
Photographed in January of this year.
The Budgerigar, or Budgie, is found throughout most of Australia and is a popular cage-bird.
This one was photographed in the Australian Adventure exhibit at the Living Desert in Palm Desert, California, in January of this year.
Did you know?
There was an introduced population of over 20,000 Budgerigars around Tampa, Florida, from the 1950s through 2014. They disappeared after European Starlings and House Sparrows (two other introduced species!) out-competed them for nesting sites.
I rarely take photos of captive birds.
I often visit the Living Desert Zoo in Palm Desert, California, mostly to see the wild birds that are attracted to its oasis-like setting in the desert.
On my latest visit in January of this year, I ventured into the Australian Adventures enclosure, which, in addition to wallabies and other mammals, has Laughing Kookaburras (native to eastern Australia). They really do make a sound that sounds like hysterical laughter!
This is why they call it a Spotted Sandpiper!
Birds in breeding plumage (from about April-August) have these wonderful spots.
I photographed this bird on Saturday in La Jolla.
Many or most will fly north during breeding season, but we continue to see a few in Southern California.
