Alameda / Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline

The Birds Have Returned

Well, it looks like summer is officially over.  The estuary is once again brimming with birds.  A large flock of scaups has taken up residence off shore.  There are hundreds of them out there.  The hawks and owls are back.  The shore birds are slowly increasing in number.  I've been making semi-regular visits on my way to and from work to track the progress.

Red-tailed Hawk -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland, CA

I'm pretty sure the red-tailed hawk I saw was the same one that was here last year.  It's not the prettiest bird by any stretch.

Burrowing Owl -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland, CA

Cooper's Hawk

I've seen a burrowing owl on several occasions over the last couple of weeks on different mounds.  Usually I see him/her on #2, but this morning it was on #3.  I took a few pictures before it disappeared quickly into its den.  I thought I had startled it, but then a young cooper's hawk buzzed the den within a couple of seconds of the owl's disappearance.  I guess you've got to be careful when you're only as big as a large potato.

The hawk settled down on a tree nearby.  I couldn't get a good picture before it flew off, though.  It kind of bums me out that a cooper's hawk would try to eat one of these little owls.  We've all got to make our way in life, I guess.

Burrowing Owl -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland, CA

Great & Snowy Egrets -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland, CA

Egrets are year round residents.  Brown and white pelicans aren't always present, but I'm not sure what their timetable is.  Just passing through?  They're fun to watch.

Brown Pelican -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland, CA

California Towhee -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland, CA

Brown Pelican -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland, CA

Brown Pelican -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, Oakland, CA

Lake Merritt

Here Comes the Rain Again

February 2, 2014

Yoshika was down in Los Angeles this weekend, so I had to stick close to home to take care of the dogs.  It was raining on Sunday, which was a good thing.  It's only the second rain of the winter.  It's looking like it's going to be a very dry year.

Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA

I went to Lake Merritt late in the day to take a few pictures.  Nothing too exciting, frankly.  The sky was overcast, but the sun was shining through a bright patch of open sky above the lake.  Well, it was until it fell behind a bunch of gray clouds.  There were a lot of birds on the water, and I finally caught a glimpse of the rare tufted duck on the lake.

Tufted Duck -- Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA

The tufted duck has been wintering at the lake the last few years.  That's what I've read online, anyway.  He blends in well with the dozens of scaups that inhabit the lake.  He blends in so well, in fact, that I didn't realize I'd seen him until I got home and looked at the pictures.  I zeroed in on him in a few pictures because he did seem to stand out a little from the rest of the ducks, but not enough for me to realize I was looking at a different type of bird altogether.

Black-crowned Night Heron -- Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA

The black-crowned night herons were hanging out. as usual.  These birds like to nest in the trees in Chinatown and leave awful messes on the cars that park underneath the trees.  I know this from experience.  It's amazing how close they'll let people approach them in the park, though.  All of the birds seem to be like that.  I've stood within two feet of a great egret near the nature center on a previous visit.  I guess they're used to people feeding them.

A cooper's hawk was checking out what was on the menu near the visitor center.  Again, I was able to get pretty close to the bird.  He eventually flew off.  I guess he wasn't too interested in having duck for dinner.

I think it was a cooper's hawk anyway.  I'm not completely convinced.  A couple walked up while i was taking pictures and took a few stabs at identifying it.  I could only tell them why it wasn't a harrier or a peregrine falcon or a kestrel, I couldn't tell them with any conviction what it actually was.

Black-crowned Night Heron -- Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA

Anyway, it was nice to have a little rain.  It wasn't nearly enough to put much of a dent in the current drought, and I'm not grumbling about the warm, sunny days we've been experiencing, but it was a nice reminder that we're still deep in winter.  Here's hoping we get a few big storms passing through in the upcoming weeks.  The state desperately needs it.

Ruddy Duck -- Lake Merritt, Oakland, CA

Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline

Odds & Ends

January, 2014

I've been stopping by Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline on my way to work off and on over the last couple of weeks.  Stockpiling photos.  Trying things out with the new camera.  I think I've got enough interesting shots to make a post.

Burrowing Owl -- Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

I finally found the burrowing owl out there.  He seems to hang out in the same spot most mornings.  From a distance he looks like a large potato that has been stuck on a stick.  Actually, he looks a lot like that in the pictures, too.

Black-necked Stilt -- Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

There's usually a small flock of stilts hanging around.  They're funny looking birds.

Turkey Vulture -- Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

Cooper's Hawk

There was a dead bird on the road this morning.  It attracted a few vultures.  I was able to get some nice shots.

A cooper's hawk was hanging around for a while.  I saw him/her a couple of times.  I'm more convinced now than I was earlier that it was a cooper's hawk and not a sharp-shinned hawk.  What a good looking bird.

One morning a scroungy looking red-tailed hawk was hanging out in the trees.  His feet were dirty and his feathers were untidy and in general he looked like the kind of bird that worked dark alleys at night.  A bad seed, if you will.I assume it was a male only because it's hard to imagine a lady hawk letting herself go like that.

Red-tailed Hawk -- Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

California Towhee -- Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

 Ring-billed Gull-- Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline

The Old and the New

January 6 & 7, 2014

Black-necked Stilt

I went to the estuary Sunday morning to take some pictures.  I had both cameras with me, but since I ended up mainly shooting birds and my zoom lens hadn't arrived yet I used my old camera a lot.  My new lens arrived on Monday so I went back to the estuary to try it out.  This new camera is definitely a game changer.

Again, I've got no real complaints about my old SX40.  I captured some images that I really like on Sunday, including the snowy egret and black-necked stilt photos here at the top of the page.  The funny picture of the white-crowned sparrow was also taken with my old camera.  Such a tough guy, that sparrow.

White-crowned Sparrow -- Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

The old SX40 couldn't have captured these Cooper's Hawk images, though.  It's good with stationary objects, but was never fast enough for moving targets.  There's also a delay of about a second between when the shutter button is pressed and when the picture is actually taken.  So, if it's not the shutter speed burning you it's the delay.

Cooper's Hawk -- Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

This shot of the hawk sitting on a fence?  The SX40 would have handled it fine.  I couldn't have gotten those shots of the bird landing, though.

Cooper's Hawk -- Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

I think that's a cooper's hawk, anyway.  I can't really tell the difference between a cooper's hawk and and a sharp-shinned hawk.

American Avocets -- Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

The 250mm zoom doesn't have the reach of the SX40's zoom.  The pictures are sharper, though, so even though I'm cropping more than before I think the pictures are still crisper than what I was getting with my old camera.  I can only imagine what this thing would do with a nicer lens.

Great Blue Heron -- Martin Luther King Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA