1024
Port Orchard, Washington
December 4, 2011
Here are 3 photos I took on a windy day in Port Orchard. The birds were a bit far off for my lens. The first one is a Hooded Merganser.
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/500 sec
Red-breasted Merganser
Probably a Glaucous-winged Gull
1023
Santa Cruz, California
November 25, 2011
Here is another photo taken outside our cottage in Santa Cruz. Since the first photo is a frontal view, I’m including a lesser quality photo (due to the bird’s position) so you can see a side-view.
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/800 sec
1022
Santa Cruz, California
November 25, 2011
These photos were taken just outside our cottage in Santa Cruz. I put up a feeder near a Kiwi bush/tree, and it is a favorite place to check out the area before jumping on the feeder.
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1000 sec
1021
West Cliff Drive
Santa Cruz, California
November 22, 2011
This bird holds the reputation of being the worst parent in the bird world. They lay their eggs in the nests of other species and that’s the end of their parental obligation. The species that hatches the egg raises the cow bird until it fledges. Then the bird flies out into the big wide world and searches for others of their species. This is the male of this species, so he does even less, as a parent, than the female.
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 210mm, ISO 400, f/5.3, 1/500 sec
1020
West Cliff Drive
Santa Cruz, California
November 22, 2011
Take a look at the scientific name of this bird – Sturnus vulgaris. I don’t really know what those two words mean, but what comes to my mind is “stern” and “vulgar”. This is not a well-liked bird here in the United States. First, it is an invasive species – coming from Europem and not a bird indigenous to North America. It is an aggressive species that overwhelms many of our indigenous birds. They often fly in large flocks and cause damage to crops.
Today, I will focus in on the more positive traits of this bird. The European Starling has some beautiful coloring, as you can see in these photos. Secondly, the bird makes some amazingly beautiful sounds. They are very good mimics, and the sounds they produce are varied and interesting. Following, you will find my tribute to this villain of a bird.
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 240mm, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/1250 sec
1019
West Cliff Drive
Santa Cruz, California
November 22, 2011
Where there are people and cars, you are likely to find Brewer’s Blackbirds hunting for people scraps. This female found a piece of bread – no doubt an offering and not an accidental spill.
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec
1018
West Cliff Drive
Santa Cruz, California
November 22, 2011
After walking through the park side of the Lighthouse Point area, we crossed the street to see what was on the cliffs or on the beach. We saw this Snowy on the beach, and I took a quick photo. I didn’t think it would come out due to distance, but it actually cropped pretty well. The light was on the wrong side of the bird, but with white birds this can sometimes be a good thing.
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/800 sec
1017
Lighthouse Park
Santa Cruz, California
November 22, 2011
The crows down here are so much larger than our Northwestern Crows along Puget Sound in Washington State. I took this photo in an area of deep foliage, so I had to bump up the ISO to 1250. I could have never done this on my D80 without getting unacceptable noise.
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 1250, f/5.6, 1/160 sec
1016
Lighthouse Park
Santa Cruz, California
November 22, 2011
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 400, f/5.6, 1/800 sec
This bird was photographed in the fields of succulents that frequent the coastline of Central California.
1015
Lighthouse Park
Santa Cruz, California
November 22, 2011
On the boardwalk end of the walking-biking trail that goes along the cliff all the way to Natural Bridges State Park, is the most expansive parking and the entrance to a maze of trails that go through woods and fields. It is a good place to do some bird watching. And, when you get tired of of watching birds, you can walk back across West Cliff Drive and watch the surfers near the lighthouse. There were quite a few birds right behind the restrooms. I found these White-Crowned Sparrows here.
Nikon D7000, Tamron 70-300 VC zoom at 300mm, ISO 200, f/5.6, 1/800 sec
