Barn Swallow
July 2012 – Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, WA
This Barn Swallow waited patiently while some human interlopers walked under its nest… brimming with little chicks.
Barn Swallow
Category Archives: **** – Good
Pied-billed Grebe
Pied-billed Grebe
July 2012 – Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, Washington
Not the most exciting image, but with much better light this time!
Pied-billed Grebe
June 2012 – Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, Washington
This Pied-billed Grebe had some fledgling chicks floating nearby…
Pied-billed Grebe
May 2012 – Lower Klamath Lake, California
I only saw this bird for an instant before he blended back into the reeds. It’s interesting how some birds get along being extremely flashy and colorful… and others just aren’t. Anyway, I hope to get a better photo of one of these at some point.
Cedar Waxwing
Cedar Waxwing
June 2012 – Jackson Bottom, Hillsboro, Oregon
I only had a few moments with this Cedar Waxwing before he flew off in search of more bugs… This time of year, the waxwings are mostly in small groups, eating insects. Later in the year, they’ll form larger flocks and gorge on ripened berries.
Great Egret
Great Egret
June 2012 – Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, WA
Amazing how skittish these birds are. I was quite some distance from this Great Egret, but he didn’t like the sight of me and took off before too long.
Great Egret
May 2012 – Tule Lake, California
Here are a couple images of Great Egrets from the shores of Tule Lake. This first one was hunting along the shore… I was able to sneak up on him a little bit by ducking behind some reeds. These are very skittish birds, and will take flight at the slightest hint of disturbance.
Great Egret
This second image was further along the “nature road” on the southwest shoreline of Tule Lake. I was able to use my car as a blind, but it only worked so-so… the Great Egret flew back and forth, not wanting to let the giant blue Subaru get too close.
Cinnamon Teal
Cinnamon Teal
June 2012 – Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge, WA
This pair of Cinnamon Teal were sticking close together… hanging out on the lake as dusk settled in. There’s a pretty decent “wildlife drive” around the southwest part of Tule Lake – basically a gravel road on top of a dike. This allows you to use your car as an impromptu (and imperfect) blind. The birds do get spooked from the car, but not as badly as if you were walking along.
Cinnamon Teal
May 2012 – Tule Lake, California
This pair of Cinnamon Teal were sticking close together… hanging out on the lake as dusk settled in. There’s a pretty decent “wildlife drive” around the southwest part of Tule Lake – basically a gravel road on top of a dike. This allows you to use your car as an impromptu (and imperfect) blind. The birds do get spooked from the car, but not as badly as if you were walking along.
Cinnamon Teal
Another pair of Cinnamon Teal in a different location on Tule Lake… and a different day. Note the orange feet!
Tree Swallow
Tree Swallow
June 2012 – Jackson Bottom, Hillsboro, Oregon
There are a lot of swallow boxes at Jackson Bottom, and consequently, a lot of Tree Swallow tenants.
Tree Swallow
June 2012 – Sauvie Island, Oregon
Appropriately, this Tree Swallow was in a tree. Sure, there were many of them flying around too, but every try to get a photo of a swallow in flight? Good luck!
Tree Swallow
May 2004 – Jackson Bottom, Hillsboro, OR
Jackson Bottom is a wetland south of Hillsboro, OR. The wetlands cover a fairly large area, but trails/paths only cover a portion of it. It’s a decent local place to see birds.
American Goldfinch
American Goldfinch
June 2012 – Sauvie Island, Oregon
I had set up in a portable blind, waiting for a Yellowthroat to land on this branch. He never did, but this female American Goldfinch passed through. I suppose I can’t complain too much… I was happy with this photo, but reminded myself that I really set up on the wrong side of this branch… though, there really wasn’t a good location on the other side. Another problem was an almost invisible spider web that’s just in front of the bird’s head (you can see it on this photo). Nearly all my photos were focused on the spider web instead of the bird, but this one came out OK. I was impressed that my camera’s autofocus could pick-up a spider web, but I’m not sure when that’d be useful.
California Quail
California Quail
May 2012 – Port Orford Heads, Oregon
This female California Quail didn’t linger long on the mossy branch. This was right next to the old sea rescue station at Port Orford Head on the Oregon coast.
Cliff Swallow
Cliff Swallow
May 2012 – Tule Lake, California
Technically, this colony of Cliff Swallows were about a mile from present-day Tule Lake, at a place called Petroglyph Point, which is associated with the nearby Lava Beds National Monument. Long ago, Tule Lake was much larger, and this cliff was on an island in the lake. The native people came out here to carve their glyphs on the rocks. But, when the white man came, he drained the lake down to a third its former size to make more farmland… and this cliff is just another random cliff in the landscape. And instead of millions of birds, we are left with thousands. So goes progress.
Mallard
Mallard
May 2012 – Eugene, Oregon
By far our most common and visible duck… I wonder if they were more rare, would they be more beautiful? The males are kind of neat with their shiny green heads. As for this pair, I have to wonder… are they a couple? or just good buddies?
Mallard
This is why we have so many Mallards… they’re prolific breeders, and good parents.
Mallard
I couldn’t resist adding the action shot…