Actually, just an OK Great Egret (Ardea alba). Still, it looked mah-vel-us in flight.

From a short but lovely hike today in Briones Regional Park. There were 4 Kites hunting in a very small area.

Red-tailed hawks were in abundance during a visit to the San Luis Wildlife refuge. It seemed as if they were around every corner. Most looked to be juveniles perhaps in their first year.

During our visit to the San Luis Refuges, we noticed an abundance of raptors. I read that there is an explosion of voles and mice because of the cool summer that allowed grasses to linger longer. More voles and mice means predators can support larger families. This appears to be a juvenile red-tailed hawk.

Last evening while a good friend and I were in the John Muir National Historic Site for a glimpse of the full moon rising over Mt. Diablo, we met up with a Park Ranger who was going to lead a moonlight walk in the hills adjacent to the homesite. He mentioned to us that there was a particularly large Live Oak tree called “Wanda’s Oak” or “TenTrees” near Mt. Wanda (named for one of Miur’s daughters). It’s an impressive specimen to be sure with it’s first lateral branch 11′ in diameter. While photographing it we saw a hawk (likely a immature Cooper’s Hawk [Accipiter cooperii] )land nearby and it appeared to have caught a vole. To our astonishment, when it was finished it flew nearer intent on a second vole which it missed. The third time was a charm and brought him into the open where we could get a look. Then as we were setting up on Mt. Wanda, a white tailed Kite started to hunt nearby. The full moon was nice but being in the presence of these two magnificent birds was a treat.

I took a short, hot hike in a new-to-me part of Mt. Diablo State Park called Macedo Ranch. It was near mid-day, a terrible time to take photographs, but I wanted to see if some changes I had made to my camera would allow me to use autofocus on birds in flight. I didn’t get much practice at that but I did see some pretty little birds. A raptor was hovering over a hill and my best guess is that it was an America Kestral though it seemed larger that the kestrals I’ve seen before. It’s possible that it was a Prairie Falcon too. Barn Swallows were in abundance near the ranch buildings and one lighted atop a horse rail. Last was a male Finch pouring out his song on top of a light fixture.

I was on a gorgeous bike ride Saturday from Sunol to the Calaveras Reservoir and back when I passed a man with a spotting scope. I took a look in the direction it was pointed and saw what appeared to be a Bald Eagle atop a power line. I stopped and circled back to ask. He said not only was it a Bald Eagle but had a nest with two nearly fledged eaglets. With only a 3.2Mp camera phone, I knew I had to return that evening. This is a crop of an image made with the 500mm f4 + 2x converter.

We stayed for about an hour and a half anticipating the return of the eagle’s mate. There was a brief flurry of wing flapping and calling that seemed to herald such a return, but both we and the eaglets were disappointed. Still, a most wonderful moment.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II + EF500mm f/4L IS USM, 1/400 @ f/11
A White Crowned Sparrow (Zonotricha leucophrys) seen during a morning walk at The Sea Ranch.

JCK_100317_0298 uploaded by admin.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II+EF70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM – f/2.8@1/500

Hummingbirds are really a challenge. I’m going to try to be up to it.

Canon EOS 5D Mark II + EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM, 1/60@f/8