Red-breasted Sapsucker

 

Red-breasted Sapsucker, South Lake

The sapsucker stopped me in my tracks when it landed on a tree right next to the bike path at South Lake. I played it cool, though. Got off my bike casual-like, guided the kickstand down with my foot so it wouldn't make any noise, and unzipped the trunk bag to get my camera out. I had my back to the bird/tree the whole time. Playing it cool, like I said. Then slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch....

And of course by the time I turned to look, the bird was gone. It probably flew away as soon as I stopped.

But I figured it might still be around, and sure enough I soon spotted it high in another nearby tree.

Red-breasted Sapsucker (with bonus Townsend's Warbler)

This little ruby-crowned kinglet has something going on with the feathers at the base of its beak. I suppose it's just wear and tear, as I've seen that on other birds as well.

There are two greater white-fronted geese hanging out with the much larger (and more numerous) Canada geese at Metson Lake.

I wonder if these are the same two individuals I saw last year swimming with the Canadians in Blue Heron Lake. I didn't even recognize the same species when I saw them recently with thousands of snow geese at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge. Something about seeing them in the wild vs. in the park, or maybe because they looked bigger compared to snow geese (instead of Canadians).

The swell was still pretty big at Ocean Beach yesterday, with a continuing offshore wind.

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Around the Pond

 

Common Yellowthroat, Elk Glen Lake

The yellowthroat's distinctive chip calls pulled me in. I'd been content to walk past Elk Glen Lake and head out of the park toward home, but the calls were too close to ignore. I've been hearing a yellowthroat there for a few weeks, but the bird itself has always been inaccessible. Even having it close by didn't make it easy to photograph. The yellowthroat doesn't hold a pose very long, and it often moves quickly among obscuring leaves and branches as it forages along the water's edge.

If Panasonic could eliminate the viewfinder blackout period that follows a shutter-release with the FZ-80D, I'd buy a new one right away. There's nothing like watching your bird dance across the branches and duck out of sight while waiting for the blackout period to end. 

I was interested to see two of these guys (Volvopluteus gloiocephalus) with such different cap colors along the Sunset Parkway. One is fresh, the other old.

I wondered if this female Anna's hummingbird was gathering cobwebs for her nest, or insects for her belly. But I didn't see any cobwebs, and I certainly didn't see any insects that are bite-sized for a hummingbird with my paltry human eyeballs.

A Nuttall's woodpecker swooped onto the scene as I was waiting next to the pond for the yellowthroat to make another appearance. It never did, but the wait was worth it anyway.

A few yellow-rumped warblers were feeding and horsing around along the pond's edge, often stopping to rest in the cattails.

A couple of red-winged blackbirds were singing from the cattails. I suspect several more will join them as the season progresses.

Townsend's Warbler Dropping Down to Bathe in the Pond

I stopped to watch a great blue heron hunting at the Balboa Natural Area since I don't recall the last time I saw one there. I figured it was after gophers, but it struck and nabbed something much smaller, and which I suspect to be another Jerusalem cricket.

I told myself I would stay and watch the heron until it either nabbed a gopher or wandered into the patch of Oxalis flowers....

Coming out of the park after Elk Glen Lake I spotted this unusual scene at Irving  St. and 19th Ave. There is a gas-powered motor on the bike frame, attached to a trailer labeled @MushroomsAdventures.

After leaving the heron in Balboa Park I rode up the hill just past Cliff House and saw a photographer shooting with an awesome 8x10 view camera. He only had one film holder, meaning he'd only get to make two photos. I love that there are still people out there shooting large format. It's one of those things any serious photographer contemplates -- after all, who couldn't love such a huge negative or transparency -- but few take it up.

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Cranes & Geese

Sandhill Crane, Woodbridge Ecological Reserve

I left the house at 4:30 a.m., planning to greet the sunrise with the cranes. I didn't make up my mind which refuge to visit until I was well on my way to the Central Valley. The choices were Staten Island, Cosumnes River Preserve, or Woodbridge -- each of which had its own advantages. I second-guessed my choice of Woodbridge when I arrived to find very few cranes.

A farmer who'd rented out hunting blinds near the cranes stopped to chat, worried that I would scare away the birds with my camera. He thought the crane numbers were so unusually low because rice, rather than corn, had been the last field crop. Indeed, I'd hoped to once again watch the cranes play with old corn stalks during their beautiful dances.

The farmer didn't know where the masses of cranes were, but he did tell me that Staten Island was a bust. I later drove up to Cosumnes River and found it a bust there as well. My next stop was Colusa National Wildlife Refuge north of Sacramento, which was very foggy and where the Auto Tour Route was closed due to flooding. A traveler there told me that nearby Gray Lodge NWR was also closed. 

I kept heading north as far as Sacramento NWR which turned out to be excellent (geese galore! bald eagles!), then drove home via the beautiful Hwy. 16 along Cache Creek through the Capay Valley to I-505.

Peaceful Dawn with Waning Quarter Moon

I couldn't resist the great blue heron's mirrorlike reflection in the canal...

...and I was surprised when he almost instantly made a stab at something underwater (which he missed).

Sunrise in the Valley

Lunar Fly-by

Sunrise in the Fog

Tundra Swans

The cranes were mainly resting, probably looking forward to being warmed up by the rising sun.

I was watching this group of cranes with a local photographer when a car drove down the levee road behind the birds, frightening them into the air. I have to wonder if the idea that getting out of the car scares away the birds is a myth.

In any event, the local photographer and I had both been standing on the road outside our cars for quite a while without disturbing the cranes.

The morning light finally burned off the fog and created some nice light on the brightly plumed sandhill cranes resting on the valley's rich, dark soil.

Stretching the Wings

Small Group of Cranes Relaxing in a Field

Coming in for a landing, this crane was sporting a brightly colored leg band.

Landing Zone

Looking for Num-Nums

Gliding to a Landing

As the morning progressed, a few more cranes flew into view from the north, but most kept on heading south of the reserve.

It was a beautiful morning to watch the cranes.

A couple of red-winged blackbirds sang their hearts out along the side of the road.

I spotted this large flock of snow geese along the side of the road near the Colusa NWR. Thankfully there was a small pull-out that allowed me to pull over and check them out.

(Cropped section of previous image.)

Wild Turkeys in the Fog at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge

The Scavengers, Colusa NWR

Turkey Vulture

A couple of good-looking birds.

A small herd of deer was hanging out close to where I saw the turkeys.

A northern pintail stretches out his wings.

Tighter Crop

Trail in the Fog at Colusa NWR

There were no geese visible inside the refuge, but this big group was working a field right across the street.

A few white-fronted geese hung out on the edge of the group of snow geese.

A pair of snow geese dropping in to join the crowd.

You could just make out Lassen Peak from the Sacramento NWR.

The snow geese obligingly rose up en masse a couple of times due to reasons I couldn't determine.

Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge

The diving eagle leaped off his tenuous branch to land on a thicker branch nearby.

The remaining eagle commenced to call out its staccato screeching call.

Another bald eagle was hanging out by itself a little farther along the auto tour route. I'd never been able to see one up close like this before.

Snow Geese, Snow Mountain

Snow Mountain was living up to its name. That's a northern shoveler (a common visitor to Blue Heron Lake) paddling below the line of snow geese.

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