A Few Birds from Our Recent Trip

by Earthwatcher, posted in Bird Photography, bird watching, birding, Birds, Earthwatcher, Effie Yeaw Nature Center, Fujifilm Cameras, Goose, nature, Nature Photography, Photography, Sacramento, Uncategorized, USA, Wildlife, Wildlife Photography
Photo of an adult and a juvenile Great Horned Owl at the opening of its hillside nesting cave. The hillside is a sedimentary mix of mud and ovoid river rocks. The background color isa sandy beige. The rocks are a mix of grays and browns. In the lower right corner is green foliage with yellow flowers – California Golden Poppies. There is some other green foliage dotting the hillside. The 2 owls are standing side by side at the entrance to their cave. The adult is the larger bird standing on the left, the juvenile is the small gray bird with gay beak standing on the right. Both birds are facing front with their head bent down, partially obscuring their eyes. The adult’s breast is mostly white, but orange in some areas, all with gray horizontal stripes. The top of the adult’s head is triangular patch with the point at the top of the beak. The patch is gray, outlined by a white stripe and further by a gray stripe. Its face is gray, outlined by a black stripe that makes it almost heart shaped. Its beak is gray.
Nimbus Fish Hatchery,
American River Parkway, Rancho Cordova, California, USA; APR 2023

Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution!

Photo of a Snowy Egret perched on a fallen tree in a pond. The fallen tree is two large main branches projecting from the water in the lower left of the picture. They project upward, across the picture toward the right at about a 30-degree angle. There are supporting branches on each of the main branches that project back into the water in the lower right quarter of the picture. The branches are dark gray, streaked with light gray on the top by the sunlight. The water is green in the lower third of the picture then changing to a greenish gray as it progresses to the opposite side of the pond. The bird is in the upper right quadrant of the picture. It is bright white with a black beak, black legs and yellow feet. Its eye is a small black dot where the beak meets the head. There is a small yellow patch on the end of the beak at the eye. There are many smaller branches in the water around the fallen tree. The river bank on the opposite site is out of focus river rocks capped with out of focus brush.
Snowy Egret;
Effie Yeaw Nature Center, Sacramento, California, USA; MAR 2023
Photo of a Snowy Egret perched on a fallen tree in a pond. The fallen tree appears as several medium gray to light gray, twisted, large branches. They appear to project from the lower right corner of the picture, curving upward; one into the middle, the other to left side. The bird is perched on one leg, on one of the branches, in the middle, vertically and one third of the way from the right side of the picture. The bird is white. It has a black beak and leg with a yellow foot. Its feathers are fluffed from the wind. Its eye is a tiny black dot at the base of the beak. There is a yellow patch on the base of the beak and around the eye. The background is the pond. The water is green in the lower third of the picture. It is mostly blue with greenish brown streaks in the rest of the picture.
Snowy Egret;
Effie Yeaw Nature Center, Sacramento, California, USA; MAR 2023
Photo of a Black Oystercatcher standing on a rock along the water’s edge. On the left side of the image is a triangular shaped, granular looking rock, sandy brown on type grading to dark gray. Across the bottom of the image, is a flat-topped rock which is light beige on the left and golden brown on the right. The water in the background is blue with some brown, shimmering rocks just below the water’s surface. The bird is standing upright atop the flat top rock, facing left. The bird has a black body, pink legs and a red beak. The bird is holding its prey, a black circular object, likely a shellfish, in its beak. Its eye is yellow with a red ring around it.
Black Oystercatcher;
Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, California, USA; APR 2023
Photo of a Black Oystercatcher on a rock along the water’s edge. Across the bottom of the image, is a flat-topped rock which is light beige on the left and golden brown on the right. The water in the background is blue with some brown, shimmering rocks just below the water’s surface. The bird is standing hunched over, atop the flat top rock, facing left. The bird has a black body, pink legs and a red beak. The bird is holding its prey, a cream-colored circular object, likely a shellfish, in its beak. The shell from its prey sets just below the beak on the rock. Its eye is yellow with a red ring around it.
Black Oystercatcher;
Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, California, USA; APR 2023
Photo of a Canada Goose on its nest which is on a hillside. The hill side is a dark, sandy beige color. The upper third is rock, the lower two thirds is dried mud. The dried mud is dotted with green foliage and yellow flowers. The bird has a black head, neck and bill. There is a small white patch on the right side of its head. Its breast and under parts are white. Its wing feathers are brown. The wing feathers are folded and extend to the length of its body making a “V” between the wings and underbody.
Canada Goose on Nest;
Nimbus Fish Hatchery, American River Parkway, Rancho Cordova, California, USA; APR 2023

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