Barred Owl in the Everglades

We went to the Everglades! Because each trail was so unique and had such varied wildlife, we decided that each trail deserves its own post. Although it is June and very hot, there was no shortage of birds to be found today. So armed with full-body coverage to ward off the swarms of angry mosquitoes, flies, and many more insects I have never seen before, we spent the day in search of feathered friends.

One of the first stops we made was at a Mangrove canopy near the Anhinga trail. The sign advertised, Barred Owl! Well, we weren't too optimistic about seeing owls in the middle of the summer in the middle of the day. But its pretty hard to be disappointed exploring the Everglades. Even driving into the park, there were herons, Anhingas and blackbirds flying and snooping around in the agricultural fields right outside the park entrance.

So you say!

It had recently rained in Florida, and so there was quite a bit of green vegetation, including scattered flowers of various sorts.






 I will admit, we pretty much ready to give up on every single trail we went on today because of the swarms of hostile insects! Somehow, they bit us through our hiking boots, and socks. But even after a few minutes, we were rewarded by several cheerful cardinals, and several Red-Bellied woodpeckers swinging around on the airplants and calling to each-other in the mangrove trees.

Taking a break, so fluffy.

We had almost finished the entire trail and contemplating lunch when a brown shape swooped up in front of the trial and scared the whoozles out of us (I pretty much assume almost everything in the Everglades is an alligator, because, there are a lot of alligators). But then- we realized it was an OWL!! A barred owl! He didn't seem too perturbed to see us, and immediately swooped down and caught...something.

Hunting...looking...

 

Pounce!

Eating a...lizard? Bug? Snake? Something.

Almost sleepy.

 That was pretty neat. He kind of hung out for awhile, but got spooked by a screeching hawk chasing around some crows in the canopy. Sir owl stayed out of the commotion.

Scraaaaawww!

]

What?

What is going on up thar!?

No concern of mine.

Rodeo Lagoon

This morning we went to Rodeo lagoon, west of Sausalito in Marin country. It was easily accessible, so we were able to get there shortly after dawn.

Huge (10 or 15 foot) waves crashed down at Rodeo Beach, so we stayed quite a bit away.

Huge waves on the beach at dawn

 It was a great time visit the lagoon, since there seemed to be quite a number of migratory waterfowl taking up residence. One of the most charismatic birds we saw was the Hooded Merganser. The bird has beautiful, stark colors and impressive hairdos.

 The female birds also have a unique appearance.

The majority of the lagoon seemed to be swamped by giant piles of american coot. Interspersed, we were excited to find the Ring-Necked Duck. We weren't close enough to see the brown colors on his neck but the beak rings were very obvious.

We saw a few species of grebe, included one or two pied-billed grebes.

Eared Grebe

In addition to the waterfowl, we also found a number of songbirds while hiking the trails around the lagoon.

Song Sparrow

Wrentit

Fox Sparrow

On the side of the lagoon, a few California Towhee posed very photogenically. I love the rust coloration of their faces. Not too far away, a couple of Spotted Towhee foraged around near the road as well.

California Towhee

California Towhee

California Towhee

We chanced on a flock of california quail grazing in the dry grass by the side of the main road leading to the lagoon. This was probably the highlight of our morning, since we previously have only seen Gambel's quail.

qualios!

To round it all out, we saw a fair variety of herons too.

Snowy Egret

Great Egret

Green Heron

• Hooded Merganser
• Pied-billed Grebe
• Ring-billed Duck
• American Coot
• Mallard
• Eared Grebe
• Great Egret
• Snowy Egret
• Green Heron
• California Towhee
• Spotted Towhee
• Wrentit
• Song Sparrow
• White-crowned sparrow
• California Quail

Black-and-white warbler makes an appearance

We spent only a few hours walking through Golden Gate park, but found a very special bird in a short amount of time. This was a beautiful striped bird crawling along a branch by Stow lake, picking up ants. At first we thought it was a nut-hatch. These birds only make very special appearances in California, especially during the winter, so we were especially lucky!

yummy! ants.

showing off the stripes

sitting pretty on the moss

It was otherwise a beautiful, sunny December day in the park. We were also treated to blooming Magnolia flowers.

A turtle friend says hello.

Other birds we saw today included many red-tailed hawks, robins and the usual, along with some new sights for us. Winter has been such an exciting time birding in the Bay area because of all the migratory birds.

Red-Napped Sapsucker

Mew Gull

Don Edwards Regional Park

Industy and Salt Ponds

This weekend we went to the Don Edwards Regional Park in Fremont, CA. It was a relatively easy drive to the east bay south of Hayward. The town looks industrial, with many commercial warehouses. As soon as we got over to the bridge leading into the park, there were waterfowl and egrets flying overhead and densely packed in the salt lakes. Plus, it was a warm Saturday morning in November and a welcome change in the weather from the foggy city. 

The first part of the park was a quiet marsh, with fewer birds with the exception of a great blue heron and a few sparrows.

Great Blue Heron

This guy was stomping around in the mud by himself with a couple of mallard ducks- who were also noisily mucking around for snails and what-not. Anyway this is our first sighting of the American Avocet.

Tromp Tromp

The main trail leads down to an area of salt-ponds, which are apparently still functional. Its an interesting juxtaposition of an industrial backdrop with a myriad of waterfowl. This place had some serious bird density. There were very large flocks of sandpipers, ducks and egrets. The park has a nice long trail leading around the salt pond, although it is somewhat muddy.

At the main salt ponds, we also so these Black-necked Stilts. They have beautiful red legs and black coloration that makes them look like they are wearing a cape.

Black-necked Stilts

Also the stilts look super cute when they fly, because they bob their long red legs up and down behind them.

Black-necked Stilts in the air

I think that these are Black Legged Kittiwakes! I did not see their legs but apparently they get that cute little cheek polka dot during the winter.

kittee-wa-aaake, kitte-wa-aaake

There were hundreds of these Northern Shovelers. They have pretty wide beaks compared to other ducks

Sanderlings are pretty ubiquitous but always cute. You can't tell from this photo but they are super duper itsy bitsy little birds, who run around really fast.

Who is that pretty birdy?

Or is he a sandpiper? I get them mixed up.

 A second trail leads around a small hill, which has more grass dwelling birds. However, I did not see very many birds here except for a Black Phoebe (who was sitting pretty and preening). Flycatchers are my all-time favorite birds because on their look out for small insects to catch, they always manage to pose prettily on fence posts or trees.

le poof!

Birding at Golden Gate Park

 Even in the heart of San Francisco we can still find great birds living at Stow Lake. Stow Lake is a great place for walks, picnics, and my favorite place for running because of the dirt paths. But whenever we visit, we always see an abundance of birds drawn to the tourists who (for better or for worse) are constantly feeding them bread. I finally made it out to Stow Lake with my camera, a few weekends ago. The birds are used to people and easy to photograph.

Pied-billed Grebe

 A very photogenic American Coot. They have adorable chicken feet. There are an abundance of these guys at the lake and occasionally waddling onto shore. They make a variety of different croaking and squawking noises. Apparently, they also look really crazy as chicks, with spiky orange feathers, and were hatching in the park. I will have to look out for them in the spring-time!

 

 

There are lots of other water-fowl at the park, including many Mallard ducks. Because there are plenty of pine trees and scrub grasses, there are also many sparrows. One of my favorite birds in the park is the  photogenic and noisy Steller's Jay. Like crows and other corvids, they aren't especially shy but somehow I always find them when I don't have my camera. I had to follow this little guy around a bit to even get a photograph. They are as beautiful as they are raucous birds.