Category: Northern California

Although we went to Doran Beach on Bodega Bay to walk the beach and get away from Santa Rosa’s high temperatures, not to bird, the first thing I noted on the wetlands opposite the beach was a beautiful Snowy Egret which had obviously become so accustomed to human visitors that it took no notice of them, even when they were holding a 400mm lens.

Beach or no beach, I couldn’t resist briefly photographing him as he stalked the wetlands.

I was a little surprised that instead of edging away from me that he kept moving closer

and closer.

As often happens while birding, while observing a particular bird other birds will suddenly appear, almost as if the mere act of standing still, becoming part of the environment, reveals everything that has always been there. Suddenly a small flight of terns swooped behind the Egret, which, in turn, startled a flock of Plovers into flight.

Several of the plovers, in turn, landed next to another flock of birds.

Of course, it was only after I zoomed in on the image that I realized that it was a flock of Marbled Godwits, birds I’d sought out on the Washington Coast but had no luck finding. Unfortunately, there didn’t seem to be any way to get close enough to them to get a decent shot.

Just because I realized long ago that I am never going to be able to capture the way I feel looking out into the ocean doesn’t mean that I’m going to stop trying to capture that feeling. Certainly our latest trip to Bodega Head was no exception, especially with brilliant sunshine.

Here’s the view looking South,

Northwest,

and North, up the coastline.

Reminder to myself for the future: don’t bother trying to shoot HDR where waves are involved — way too much blur to deal with.

Luckily, when landscape photography proves too difficult, I can always fall back on wildlife photography.

I may have become slightly spoiled by past birding at Lake Ralphine and Spring Lake because I wasn’t impressed by how few birds I saw on this visit, though it is the first time I’ver ever seen a Cedar Waxwing there.

I did see a single Night Heron,

which seemed determined to hide from the huge number of people who were out walking Labor Day.

In fact, it wasn’t until my second walk, mid-week, that I saw anything vaguely interesting. This might have been the first time I’ve ever gotten a shot of a White Breasted Nuthatch.

I really wasn’t sure what the heck this brown and white pile was, particularly since it seemed to be guarded by a Snowy Egret. If you click to enlarge the photo you can barely make out the immature Swans.

I’d never seen them with brown feathers before, much less without a parent nearby.

For some reason, though, all the adults were at the other end of the lake gliding elegantly by.

The real thrill of this visit, though, came when I heard what sounded like a jet right behind me and looked around to see the small flock of Swans launching themselves.

Not sure what caused them to take off, but it was a thrill hearing those powerful wings overtake me. They were so loud that I almost ducked instead of turning around and snapping several shots.