SJWA 10/08/20

 

There are red tailed hawks and then there are red tailed hawks. So many different morphs and color combinations. 

This bird was on the ground as I left yesterday and was striking in his or her rich colors and contrast.

As usual, there were tons of kestrels around. Where you find dragonflies you find this small raptor and there were plenty of both.

I met the man who takes care of the Ramona Duck Club, Elmer, yesterday. He and his wife drove out to check on their property, nice couple.

He told me that a pair of swans has been hanging out in Mystic Lake of late. I never saw them.

But I did see a bunch of pretty yellow headed blackbirds on an island of reeds across the lake.

They are a lovely bird. Yesterday they were mixed in with the red winged blackbirds.

I was shooting with the 400mm so they were still a little out of my reach.

Here is a power line full of tree swallows. They are a neat little bird, iridescent in their aqua feathering.

The water district is filling the lakes up, there is measurably more water at the preserve than the last time I was there but still nowhere near full.

With the heat and water were mosquitos. I got nailed on my hike.

Felt great to stretch my legs, push myself a little bit, having been in a long covid slumber. 

I stuck the zoom lens on for the hike. It is a lot lighter and gave me some extra reach, although I lose a bit optically.

There were a lot of red tailed hawks around, this one was perched on a far ledge.

And a grebe popped up to survey the situation.

I ran into this lovely female harrier on the ground assessing the situation. 

They have been doing a lot of mowing so all the raptors were on gopher patrol. 

Didn't have the right speed settings so I sort of flubbed what could have been a nice shot. Oh well, there is always another day!

I mostly shot red tailed yesterday. Saw a Coopers and heard red shouldered but didn't get any shots.

I will get back into the swing of things. Just need to keep shooting, work the kinks out. Get my muscle memory back.

Hopefully.

I did see the white tailed kite overhead at one point, always a big thrill for me. 

Wish he had not been so far away.

Anyway I am like a broken record, I know. But without regular trips to the wild, I am pretty much worthless. Need to keep my battery charged.

That is pretty much all for yesterday. Of course I shot today too when I was on the coast. Will share some of those shots tomorrow.