Month: March 2012

Since I had gotten a late start on my walk around Ralphine Lake/Spring Lake and had already spent considerable time taking pictures of the mergansers, I decided I had better get walking if I wanted to get back before dinner. But as often happens, as I was leaving I glanced up and noticed a pair of cormorants sitting in the tree and couldn’t couldn’t resist getting one more good shot before I left.

Before I could get a shot of the cormorant a Green Heron suddenly landed right in front of me.

Needless to say, I couldn’t resist shooting it first. This may be the best shot I have ever taken of a Green Heron in breeding plumage, though apparently even this isn’t full breeding colors.

The green heron flew off nearly as quickly as it had appeared and I refocused of the Cormorant before I headed for Spring Lake.

I must admit I’m so used to seeing these sitting on pier posts on Puget Sound or on the ocean that I’m nearly as surprised to see them sitting in a tree as I am seeing a great blue Heron sitting in a tree.

One of my three “firsts” on this trip to California was this Red-Shouldered Hawk I saw on a snag between the two lakes.

At first I just assumed it was a Red-Tailed Hawk and wasn’t too concerned about getting a shot but as it flew off

I knew instantly it was not a hawk that I recognized.

I was so distracted by the sight of this hawk that I didn’t pay much attention to the turn-off and when I returned after circling Spring Lake without taking a single picture I walked right by the turn-off and walked another half mile or so before I realized I was lost. I actually had to ask another walker if I was on the right path back to Howarth Lake and barely made it back before dark.

One of my favorite places in Santa Rosa despite the crowds of people in Howarth City Park/ Spring Lake. I’ve been walking there for over 15 years now and I think I enjoy it more now than I did when I started walking since I’ve taken up birdwatching.

Although you can generally count on a few birds being there every time you walk, in recent years I have been pleasantly surprised by seeing birds I’ve never seen there before.

I was hoping to see snowy egrets there as I had in the recent past. Instead, I found a small flock of, and mergansers, a bird I never remember seeing there before, certainly not as close as I did this time.

This is surely the closest I’ve ever gotten to a common merganser

as I’ve never seen the kind of fine detail in the feathers shown here.

They were so indifferent to my presence that I could even watch them trolling for fish

and was amazed how fast they snorkeled along.

This female seemed a little shy, keeping her distance

and even taking flight when I focused on her too long.

Strangely, while the ducks nearby generally ignored me, the mergansers further out in the lake took off when I pointed my lens at them,

and while I wouldn’t intentionally scare them I was happy to get this good of shots of them in flight, my favorite way to portray birds.

It seemed like an auspicious start to my walk.