Ashok and Bill visit Foster City

Double-crested Cormorant
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Ashok arrived early at our original destination, Coyote Point Marina. By the time I arrived, he had already scouted the area and concluded we should look elsewhere. Ashok suggested we try his favorite Foster City park near Marlin street.

I noticed early in the morning that I'd accumulated a big glob on my sensor, and without thinking I decided to just blow on it. Do NOT blow out sensor dirt yourself, use your Giottos Air Blower. Trust me.

After returning to the car for some clean, dry air, I got the sensor back in working order and found some great subjects to photograph on the pond, especially when Ashok's swans came out and put on a show. I added a few shots of bird feet to my "bird parts quiz" collection. A very enjoyable morning. (Photos on flickr)

Surf's up!

Surfer
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We wanted to show our Milwaukee-based houseguests the coast, so we started up at Horseshoe Lake at Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve, drove down to Pescadero (lunch at Duarte's, mmmm), and thence to Santa Cruz.

I was looking for landscapes and birds to photograph (and we did find some Marbled Godwits making footprints in the sand), but honestly, the most exciting subject at hand were the surfers at Cowell's in Santa Cruz. With a 300mm f/4 lens and plenty of light, it was pretty easy to freeze the action, as I did here. (Photos on flickr)

Juncos at Foothills Park

Dark-eyed Junco
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Ashok and I visited Foothills Park this morning in search of Wild Turkeys and passerines [Note: this lovely park is open to Palo Alto residents and their guests only, so be sure to bring a Palo Altoan with you]. We heard a few songbirds and saw a few ducks and grebes on the pond, but mostly things were quiet.

This Junco was far and away our most cooperative subject, and I was glad to add a few more Junco shots to my files.

Wings over Andrew Molera

Andrew Molera State Park
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We had a great day birding with Steve Shunk (see field notes) at Andrew Molera today. I travelled light, carrying just the 300mm f/4 and my 17-40mm for landscape shots like this one. Partly, I was scouting the Carmel area for a weekend in Carmel at the end of April. I'm looking forward to that. I did manage to grab my first photo of Hutton's Vireo, bringing my ABA (*) lifetime species photographed list to 291. I hope to make it to 300 later this year. (Photos on flickr)

(*) Note: American Birding Association publishes each year a summary of various bird-watching records, including most species seen in one day and most species seen in one year. Among these records is the lifetime number of different species photographed in North America. See ABA's Big Day website for more details.

A few more portraits

Goose
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

With this shaping up to be the rainiest March on record around here, you have to sneak in moments behind the camera whenever you can. In this case, Charleston Slough is one of my favorite morning portrait stops because (1) the birds are accustomed to people because so many folks show up to feed the ducks; and (2) it's right between my house and my office. (Four photos on flickr).

A nemesis in my own backyard

Cedar Waxwing
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

First, a Townsend's Warbler flew right in front of Mary as she got out of the car. Then, we heard the sound of my nemesis bird high overhead. I said, "I bet those waxwings won't come down into this Holly tree and eat the berries."

Even though we see waxwings pretty often, whenever I've tried to photograph them they've been high up in a backlit overcast sky (like this one). This time, the berries must have drawn them down near eye level. (Four photos on flickr)

Once again into the snow!

Western Scrub Jay
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We expected to find snow on the hills this morning, and weren't disappointed. Walking the trails of Monte Bello Open Space Preserve, we even got some quality time with some traditionally elusive passerines like the Wrentit -- perhaps they were a bit startled by the snow, and forgot to skulk. (Twelve photos at flickr).

Cloudy morning at Charleston Slough

Anna's Hummingbird
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

Decided to take a chance on iffy weather, and had some really nice, quiet moments with the Golden-crowned Sparrows and this Anna's Hummingbird. Eventually the sun came out, but honestly the light of the overcast sky was much more flattering. Did more experiments with the extension tube on the 500mm lens. I do love when I can create a out-of-focus background like this one (seven photos on flickr).

Ashok and Bill visit Coyote Hills Regional Park

Bushtit
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

We made a trip out to Coyote Hills this morning. We found the gate locked when we first arrived, but after only a few minutes someone arrived to unlock it. We had a very enjoyable walk around our usual loop. Probably our most cooperative subject was a White-tailed Kite we saw on the way out (Three photos on flickr).

Portraits at the Duck Pond

Goose
Originally uploaded by Bill Walker.

I stopped on the way to work today at the Palo Alto Duck Pond. My goal was to experiment with adding an extension tube to my 500mm telephoto lens. This allowed the lens to focus more closely than would otherwise be possible, making it the perfect tool for making detailed portraits of the birds at the pond. I need more practice with this combination, but I'm happy with these results (Seven photos on flickr).