Although I think birds are best shown while in flight, most of my shots tend to show them floating in water or sitting on a branch because that’s how you usually see them and, equally important, because the light here in the Pacific Northwest often doesn’t allow good action shots. If you push the ISO up high enough to freeze the bird in flight, the grain is awful, not to mention the problem of getting the correct exposure of the bird when you’re shooting against the sky. Nevertheless, when it gets as sunny as it has been around here the last two weeks I crank up the shutter speed and try to get as many action shots as I can.

A highlight of a recent trip to Theler Wetlands was watching a pair of Red-Tailed Hawks that appeared to be courting, spiraling up, then diving past each other.

Unfortunately, they did this with the sun directly behind them, making it impossible to capture their spectacular dives in any detail.

Luckily, this pair of Canada Geese were more accommodating,

flying directly in front of us with the sun coming over my shoulder, as did this flock of male and female Common Mergansers

that came roaring up the river.

The next day I was at the Nisqually National Wildlife Refuge by the pond taking pictures of a female Hooded Merganser in shaded pond when she bolted.

Because I was panning with her, parts of the picture are clear while other parts are blurred. It’s amazing to me that the drops of water are quite sharp while the wing tips are blurred. Of course, most of the picture is actually clearer than I saw it with my own eyes. Personally, I think the blurriness is an asset, emphasizing the bird’s speed.

Later in the day, I caught this shot of an Osprey hovering above McAllister Creek.

It’s not quite as thrilling as a shot of an osprey catching a fish, but I love seeing birds hover like this.

Although we only discovered the Night Heron Rookery at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge last year, we were looking forward to seeing it again this year. As we drove up, though, we thought they had left. As we completed the drive, they surprised almost as much as they did last year. From a distance, all you can see is patches of white amidst the branches, only later spotting the herons sitting on branches outside the main rookery.

Even with a 1000mm lens it’s difficult to isolate a single heron

they’re packed so tightly together, layer after layer of them.

Unfortunately, I don’t know enough about their nesting habits to know if this is where they will raise chicks, but I didn’t see any signs of nests even when zooming in on several of the shots I’d taken.

The only closeup I was able to get was taken of a lone heron at Spring Lake in Santa Rosa.

I wish I had a chance to observe these birds over a longer period of time, but I’ve never seen one in Western Washington so it’s unlikely I’ll ever get the opportunity to do so. On the other hand, if I saw them regularly I would probably be less interested in them than I now am.

I don’t get a chance to see the amazing White-Faced Ibis very often so it’s not surprising that I see it in a different light every time I observe it. For instance, it looks rather formidable through the camera lens, tall and elegant.

But as Leslie pointed out, “These seem too small to be Ibis.” And when you see one next to a pair of Mallards

it doesn’t look as tall or elegant.

Even more amazingly, it’s hard to believe that the picture above is the same bird shown here,

with its dull brown colors suddenly translated into iridescent feathers.

Almost as hard as believing that this is the same bird seen in a different light.

Could this bird

actually be this bird from the same angle

but in a different light?

I’m afraid if I lived in California my hard drive would be as full of egret pictures as it is full of Great Blue Herons now, perhaps fuller since there are two kinds of egrets and only one Great Blue Heron. For better or worse, I saw more egrets in a single pond

than I’ll see in Western Washington all year, where we feel lucky to get an occasional Greater Egret. Of course, California actually has a third egret, the Cattle Egret but I don’t think I could distinguish it from the Snowy Egret.

My favorite egret is the Snowy Egret,

perhaps because I see it less often, perhaps because it’s plumage seems more photographic than that of the Great Egret,

which is certainly more imposing.

It’s no wonder that the beautiful Snowy Egret was nearly driven to extinction by hunters providing feathers for ladies’ hats.

It’s as striking standing still, feathers blowing in the breeze, as it is stalking the wetlands.

Not sure any of these are as good of photographs as I’ve gotten in previous visits, but I couldn’t resist taking another shot every time I saw one.

Earlier this month I posted a rather blurry shot of a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet I saw at Theler, which may have been my best shot ever of this elusive little bird up to that time even though I’ve seen many of them over the years.

So, I was quite pleasantly surprised when a male Kinglet took up residence in my backyard recently and seemed curious, if not just plain curiously bold. Instead of flying away when I walked out into the backyard, this little guy flew directly at me, and then retreated to either the Butterfly Bush or the fence.

I suspect this is the best shot I will ever get of a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet,

though kinglets actually appear yellow than this in bright sunlight.

Oftentimes birds seemed startled by the loud shutter noise my Canon EOS 1D, but this guy actually seemed attracted to the sound,

at times seemingly staring at the camera downright quizzically.

He seems to have moved on after three or four days in the yard, but while he was here he was the highlight of my day.