Those who visit here very often won’t be surprised to hear that the highlight of my recent visit to Santa Rosa was my walks through this Sonoma County Park, NOT my wife’s class reunion.
The first time we walked there I was accompanied by Leslie, Jeff, and Debbie. Though I dragged my feet more than others preferred, we didn’t take the time needed to really get the best possible bird shots. Remarkably, I did manage to get a few good shots, particularly this shot of a Red-Shouldered Hawk, that flew into a tree right in front of us, the first I’ve ever seen.
My favorite shot of the day, though, was this one of a mature Green Heron, a bird I’ve stalked many times locally, but have never managed to get this good of shot of before.
The dominant bird in the park, though, was the Acorn Woodpecker and, while I got several shots of them, I never got a shot I liked that first day.
I also had left my wide angle lens home, so I couldn’t really take any scenic shots, a mistake I remedied the next day when I came back alone to take pictures. With no one anxious to get in a hardy walk, I had time to set up and take some scenic shots.
More importantly, I had the time to wait for the Acorn Woodpeckers to forget I was there and move in close enough that I could get a good shot.
In the process of taking pictures, I managed to get in a much tougher hike than the day before, nearly exhausting myself in the 80º weather.