Chocolate Bird

At the Berkeley Marina, after a long rain, a special bird arrived. Redtail plumage is wonderfully variable and it is always a treat to see a dark Redtail passing through during migration season.

Resident birds tend to be more glue-footed and less flighty, but migrants are understandably more wary.

I was a long way off, perhaps twice the distance most Redtails are comfortable with, and this RT was clearly more interested in a field devoid of humans. Lesson learned. Don't assume all birds react in the same way. Pay attention to each individual and act accordingly.

I was glad to look back as I was leaving and see the bird had returned to hunting the area. What a glorious hawk.

Blurry Owls

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/54655732 w=590&h=332]I saw my first Snowy Owls last weekend on Thomle Road north of Seattle. They were on private land and epically far away so my views were limited to nausea-inducing-heat-shimmer-laced glimpses through my spotting scope (as in the VIDEO above)

The Owl on the right.

A slightly closer lumpier view.

The Owl on the left.

Distant PEFA

A Peregrine Falcon north of Seattle settles in for the duration on a distant tree, only becoming active at the stirrings of distant shorebirds.

Five Dollar Owl

Long-eared Owl photographed at Mercey Hot Springs. Five dollars is the admission fee to see the wild owls that call this isolated resort home.

Año Nuevo Elephant Seals

It was a little early to be making the trek out past the dunes to see the Elephant Seals. The larger males won't be arriving for another few weeks but we were in the neighborhood so we stopped by anyway.

They were present in high numbers, mostly females and young males play fighting in the surf.

This one survived a Great White Shark bite to the neck and was badly wounded. The thickness of its blubber likely saved its life.

The Sea Lions that had overrun this house in the past had relocated to nearby rocks and the spooky structure lay deserted once again.