Photo ABCs

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!

Here I share photos of birds, travel, sports and people (mostly birds).

My fifth solo show of bird photography now hangs at the Mission Trails Regional Park Visitor Center Gallery in Santee, California, through December 2, 2022. Thanks to all who came to the opening reception.

The MTRP Visitor Center is located at 1 Father Junipero Serra Trail, San Diego, CA 92119, phone: 619-668-3281.

Stay tuned for pictures of professional women's tennis and new Day of the Dead photos.

Do come back, a new post appears almost daily. 

Bushtit, Lesser Goldfinch

Bushtit (one of my favorite birds!):

Lesser Goldfinch (the soft blur in the photo comes from shooting through a small opening in a bush):

Photographed a few weeks ago in La Jolla, California.

House Wren, Lincoln's Sparrow

I took a walk in one of my favorite birding spots in Chino, California, just before sunset, two weeks ago.

I nearly always see a House Wren in one particular area. Sure enough, one appeared:

Two minutes later I photographed this Lincoln's Sparrow. I had never seen (or at least noticed) a Lincoln's Sparrow in this location before. For some reason, seeing a Lincoln's Sparrow always seems like a treat to me.

Allen's Hummingbird

An Allen's Hummingbird, photographed in La Jolla in early November of this year.

 

Great Egret

A Great Egret shakes off water after fishing at the San Elijo Lagoon.

Off to find a better spot!

Photographed in August of this year.

Allen's Hummingbird

An Allen's Hummingbird, photographed in Del Mar, California, in August of this year:

Dairy Mart Pond

I visited Dairy Mart Pond, a popular birding spot in the Tijuana River Valley, in late August of this year.

It was not particularly birdy, but in the brief time there I photographed these birds:

Double-crested Cormorant:

Caspian Tern:

I have returned many times to a pond south of Chula Vista where hundreds of Red-necked Phalaropes turned up last year. This year they have not appeared there. There was one, however, fairly close at Dairy Mart Pond.

Imperial Beach Birds

More birds from a walk at Imperial Beach in September of this year:

Willet:

Brown Pelican:

Long-billed Curlew:

Snowy Plover

Aren't my leg bracelets cute?

A Snowy Plover, in the dim light after sunset.

Photographed in Imperial Beach in September of this year.

Birding Near Mexico City II

More photos from the morning of November 2, in the hills southwest of Mexico City near the town of Milpa Alta.

The Hooded Yellowthroat looks nearly identical to the Common Yellowthroat, but my guide Anuar assured me that this bird's calls matched those of the Hooded Yellowthroat. The Hooded Yellowthroat, as well, is found in the dry highlands of central Mexico, and this bird was not near water, where the Common Yellowthroat is typically found. The Hooded Yellowthroat was one of the birds I most wanted to see!

Did you know that there are six separate yellowthroat species in Mexico?

Perhaps someday I will see all of them!

A Painted Lady butterfly:

Greater Pewee:

Least Flycatcher:

The Crescent-chested Warbler is found only in Mexico and three Central American countries.

I was thrilled to see another life-bird!

A Canyon Towhee rests upon a Nopal cactus:

Thanks again to Anuar López for two memorable mornings of birding!

Birding Near Mexico City

On the morning of November 2 my birding guide Anuar López took me to a protected natural area near the town Milpa Alta, in the hills southwest of Mexico City.

I was particularly hoping to see a few species I had never seen before, that I had noticed on a poster of Mexico City area birds.

Arriving to the nature preserve, the first birds we saw were my favorites, Bushtits!

Bushtits in Mexico are colored a bit differently than Bushtits in California, and these Bushtits were rather skittish compared to ours, as well. I was thrilled to see them.

The Grass Wren and the Sedge Wren were once considered the same species, but were split in 2021.

The Grass Wren is found in Central Mexico south to the southern tip of South America, whereas the Sedge Wren is found mostly in the eastern United States. This was one of the birds I had been hoping to see.

A Pine Siskin:

I believe this flower is the Verbena Amarilla, or Bidens ferulifolia:

More to follow!