Kick Ass Birding

Green Herons

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 18:15:31 -0700

Sibley says “The solitary, secretive Green Heron captures fish along wooded streams and ponds.” To that I would add skittish and not prone to having its picture taken.

This small and stocky Heron showed up around our marina a little over a week ago and I’ve been trying ever since to get a decent picture. There was an extremely large spawn of shad/sardines/sharks/whales, or whatever, and it has attracted the Herons and Egrets to the docks in numbers I have never seen before. Great and Snowy Egrets, Black Crowned Night Herons and now this lone Green Heron. Although small compared to the Great and Snowy Egrets its vivid coloring puts it on a par with them.

Old age, trickery and deceit finally paid off and I even got a shot of him preening. This guy was definitely a challenge, but I must say outsmarting him and getting this shot was well worth the effort. The Herons and Egrets are definitely my favorite subjects and now I put the Green Heron on the top of that list.

Check him out in the Herons and Egrets Album or for better viewing go to:

http://kickassbirding.smugmug.com/Birding/Birding-2010/12285171_re27N#919052163_swiXP

An Evening Walk

Mon, 21 Jun 2010 12:46:44 -0700

Hot Summer Day

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 13:13:55 -0700

Everyone here in the bay area has been wondering what weekend summer will fall on this year ... and now we know. Eighties over the weekend and all the birds were out preening and enjoying the sun.

Found these Great and Snowy Egrets along the estuary. They were so busy grooming that they paid little attention to me. It’s times like this that I wish I had a movie camera. I never get tired of watching these amazing birds.

No there is no bird in it but if you look close you can see that even the ants were looking for shade. Just threw the “Ant and I” in for a splash of color.

You can see all the full size pics at www.kickassbirding.smugmug.com Enjoy.

How Blessed We Are....

Wed, 26 May 2010 16:55:36 -0700

I walked a couple of blocks to the grocery store today. Took me two hours. Along the way there was this Great Egret that refused to fly. We watched each other for fifteen or twenty minutes before I moved on to discover the Black Crowned Night Heron perched in the trees above the path.

Sleeping in the trees above the lagoon during the day, soaking up what sun there is, he’ll be up all night fishing from the marina docks. They love sitting next to the dock lights that attract small fish. All in all not a bad life.

How blessed we are to be able to live so close to nature and all these exciting creatures. In one word....awesome. In two words.....Kick Ass.

New Lens

Mon, 24 May 2010 13:18:50 -0700

Guess Who got a new lens??? Nikkor 70-300 VR. Gives me 450mm reach in 35mm format. Time for a little “portrait” work. Time will tell but I think I’m going to like this one. Sure beats the stealth, old age and trickery I have been relying on to get an occasional “keeper” here and there.