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| Ruby-crowned Kinglet, San Francisco Botanical Garden |
I hadn't been in the SF Botanical Garden in a while and hoped I'd witness something new and interesting after the rain let up. The first highlight of the morning was an encounter with a pair of Pacific wrens that I soon realized were foraging for nesting material. It got even better when I was able to follow them to their nest, where I hope they have a successful hatch that I'll get to see in the future.
The second highlight was a mating pair of red-shouldered hawks. The female was resting on a high eucalyptus branch, with a small group of birdwatchers gathered below, viewing and photographing the hawk, as I emerged from the redwood grove. I continued past the group and made a circuit of the Children's Garden, and the hawk was still on the same branch when I circled back.
In the same general area I got after a couple different birds that eluded me in a thicket of aloe plants before a more cooperative Allen's hummingbird perched nearby. As I was taking pictures of the hummer, another red-shouldered hawk flew around the area making a lot of noise, to which the one in the tree responded with calls of her own. She soon flew onto another branch that was practically right above me, and that's when the male hawk swooped in to mate with her. It was over very quickly, but I managed to fire off a few frames.
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| Pink Magnolia |
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| King Protea |
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| I had the shutter speed set too high for the low light in the redwood grove, but I was able salvage the shot by boosting the exposure 1.75 stops in Lightroom, then running Denoise on the ISO 3200 exposure. |
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Pacific Wren with Nesting Material
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| The camera's autofocus had a little trouble in the low light. |
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| Here's one of the wrens on a redwood branch just outside the nest. |
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| Aloe Tentacles |
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| Allen's Hummingbird on Yucca Stalk |
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| I walked around to the other side to get closer, but I had to give up the better lighting. |
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| A little junco popped up from the ground and landed close by. |
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| Mating Red-shouldered Hawks |
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| The male (on the left) hung around for maybe a minute before flying away, perhaps to go find a juicy meal to bring back to the female, who stayed put. |
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| I was going after a chestnut-backed chickadee who eluded me, when this ruby-crowned kinglet popped onto the scene. |
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| Hermit Thrush in the California Garden |
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| Apulca Pine |
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| Grooming Mallard |
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