Lost Lake - San Joaquin River; Fresno County

March 20, 2010.

While in the Fresno, California area... I spent some time birding along the San Joaquin River in the Lost Lake Recreation Area, just below Millerton Lake and Friant Dam. The river moves very slowly here, and there is plenty of easy access to the shore.

Wood Ducks (male & female)

Common Merganser (female)


Snowy Egret along San Joaquin River

In addition to the San Joaquin River wildlife, the area also offers excellent habitat for song birds and forest birds. I was able to photograph a TREE SWALLOWS near their nest in a dead tree... which provided a great opportunity to get this flight shot.

Tree Swallow taking off in flight

Black Phoebe

Sierra National Forest - Shaver Lake

March 19, 2010.

I spent the day birding in the higher elevations in the Sierra National Forest, northeast of Fresno, California, in the area of Shaver Lake. This area is around 5,400 feet elevation, and there was still plenty of snow on the ground. It was a perfect, clear skies day, with the temperature of 60 degrees F.

The density of the birds at this elevation is much less when compared to the valleys. There would be long stretches of park area where no bird was seen nor heard. However, the most common bird I did find was the MOUNTAIN CHICKADEE, with well over a dozen seen in this campground.
Also, surprisingly active was the RED-BREASTED NUTHATCH, with at least three different pairs working the branches, and also very vocal.
And finally, there were a few DARK-EYED JUNCOs dashing in the snow between bushes. All in all... it was a great trip into the beautiful Sierra National Forest!

Panoche Valley Birding - San Benito County

I really enjoyed the Santa Clara Valley Audubon's birding field trip to Panoche Valley, California on Saturday, January 9th. The morning drive was very foggy so I left early, and just south of Hollister on California Highway 25, the fog cleared and the early morning sky was ablaze in color!

Fiery Dawn along California Hwy 25 on way to Panoche Valley

This birding location is one of my favorite SCVAS field trips, and long-time leader Clay Kempf knew all the best places to find the birds. The highlight for me personally was to finally see MOUNTAIN PLOVERS in the Panoche Valley... after 5 years of trying!

We all saw a flock of 85 Mountain Plovers flying fast east of Panoche Road in the southern edge of Panoche Valley. The flock stayed far away from the road, at least 500 yards away. I had my 500mm telephoto lens with the 1.4x teleconverter... for 700mm equivalent... and I was able to get several photos of the flock in flight. (CLICK photo to view larger size)

85 Mountain Plovers on flight - Panoche Valley

Mountain Plovers in Panoche Valley

Other highlights of the trip were MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD, RUFOUS-CROWNED SPARROW, LARK SPARROW, SAVANNAH SPARROW, AMERICAN PIPIT, and many of the usual species.

Lark Sparrow

The big miss for me is still the CHUKAR... which I have never ever seen in Panoche Valley... after now 5 years of trying. I have been told it does exist...! Really???

A SLIDESHOW of many more photos from this Panoche Valley field trip is available on my Blog Page and my BirdingPix website. Enjoy!

Calero-Morgan Hill Christmas Bird Count - Almaden Quicksilver Sector

I enjoyed this year's Calero-Morgan Hill Christmas Bird Count (CBC) very much. The rains held off until late afternoon just after I finished!

ALMADEN-QUICKSILVER COUNTY PARK

For the 5th time, I worked the northern section of Almaden Quicksilver County Park, covering the entire Guadalupe Trail, including portions of New Almaden Trail, Mine Hill Trail, and Senador Mine Trail... for a total of 6.2 miles of up-and-down hiking. Nothing rare was seen nor heard, yet the usual expected species did show and made their presence felt. This park is filled with woodpeckers... and I observed 6 species, with the Acorn Woodpecker the most numerous by far (I counted 39 different individuals!)

ACORN WOODPECKER

The typical forest birds were all there in good numbers... some examples:

OAK TITMOUSE

RUBY-CROWNED KINGLET

WHITE-BREASTED NUTHATCH

HERMIT THRUSH

I was fortunate to capture new photos; view the Christmas Bird Count SLIDESHOW to see the pixs, including many not shown here in the blog. Enjoy!

San Jose Christmas Bird Count - Calaveras Sector

Another full-day participating in the San Jose Christmas Bird Count, with starting at early dawn up on Calaveras Road in the eastern foothills above San Jose. This was my 5th year on the Weller Road zone... (I missed last year due to my Antarctica trip in December 2008). The Weller Road zone has lots of open space and huge grasslands and ranches.

Highlights included 3 GOLDEN EAGLES and 16 RED-TAIL HAWKS... and several wild horses which suddenly arrived and surrounded my car while I was birding nearby! One horse kicked the running board under the passenger door, and that was enough for me to send them away.


The count went well and the weather cleared from the early morning fog into a glorious sunny day.

Backyard Birding - Northern Mockingbird

Enjoying the wonderful sunny and pleasant weather over this Thanksgiving weekend here in Morgan Hill... and I've been noticing this first-year NORTHERN MOCKINGBIRD occasionally in our backyard. This morning I snapped this photo as the bird was warming itself in the sunlight, posing in its favorite spot on top of the hedge near the fence. It's not very often we see this species here... so this was a nice bonus sighting.

Backyard Birding - Red-breasted Sapsucker

For only the third time in over ten years, a Red-breasted Sapsucker has taken over one of our backyard trees. While on the patio, the unmistakable sounds of a woodpecker tapping was heard... and I was lucky enough to get a few photos before it flew off. As you can see from all the holes, this bird has been visiting this tree for a while. We have lots of Nutall's Woodpeckers and Acorn Woodpeckers, but the Red-breasted Sapsucker is very unusual for our backyard here in Morgan Hill.

Monterey, California in November

A great way to spend a weekend in Northern California is to visit Monterey... especially on a perfect autumn day to enjoy the sunshine, flowers, and Pacific Ocean waves.

Barbi & I went to the Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary in Pacific Grove with the Morgan Hill Photography Group (MHPC)... and the gathering of overwintering butterflies is underway!

Then to the coastline to watch the impressive Pacific Ocean waves pounding the rocks while enjoying the perfect weather and lunch, with some birding and scenic photography added in!

November Rose Garden

With the arrival of the month of November, the morning air is cool and crisp... and yet the rose garden is still very much alive with color and beauty.

This beautiful colorful ROSE captured my eye more than the White-Crowned Sparrows in the backyard... so it's onto Dave's Birding Blog!

Ogier Ponds; Morgan Hill

October 11, 2009

Birding with the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society in Morgan Hill at Ogier Ponds... it was cold and windy, and we had to work for all the birds this Sunday morning.

Las Vegas Area Birding Trip

October 2, 2009

For the second time this year, I spent 5 days in and around the Las Vegas Area for birding and photography.

Also spent a bit of time at the 2009 Photoshop World conference at Mandalay Bay. The weather was much nicer this time compared to the peak of summer!

Highlights include LEAST BITTERN, PHAINOPEPLA, VERDIN, TOWNSEND'S SOLITAIRE, and a GREEN HERON struggling to swallow a fish!

Morgan Hill Photography Club Cookout

September 12, 2009

Barbi & I enjoyed the afternoon with members of the local Morgan Hill Photography Club at Community Park.

The weather was perfect for a summer cookout, the Gazebo provided wonderful shade and picnic tables, and we all shared thoughts about cameras, photo shoot locations, LightRoom and Photoshop... and stories of adventures and memorable photos from the past. A fun afternoon!

Morro Bay Birding Trip

September 6, 2009

We spent the week along the central California coast and Morro Bay and Los Osos... attending the Light Photographic Workshop on Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Lightroom.

It was a great week... learned a lot... and the BROWN PELICANS were awesome diving into Morro Bay!

4th Annual Wild Bird Center Photo Exhibition

August 23, 2009

For the third time in four years, Barbi & I enjoyed our Sunday afternoon at the Bay Area Photographers 4th Annual Photo Exhibition sponsored by the Los Gatos Wild Bird Center. It was great to meet and talk with many of the local photographers as they displayed their bird, wildlife, or scenic photographs, and their stories of epic adventure.

Thanks again to Freddy & John Howell for putting on this popular event... another great success!

Boston Area Birding Trip

July 22, 2009

This summer we traveled to the East Coast for a birding & photography trip to Boston, Massachusetts.

Highlight locations visited: Revere Beach, Marblehead Neck Wildlife Sanctuary, Belle Isle Marsh, Herring Cove Beach (Cape Cod), Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.

4th of July - Morgan Hill Fireworks Show!

July 4, 2009

Barbi & I decided this year that we would try to photograph FIREWORKS on this 4th of July. We had never done this before, so we studied what settings to use on our cameras... and it worked!

The weather was perfect and everyone enjoyed a terrific show on this wonderful Saturday evening in California.

Las Vegas Area Birding Trip

June 20, 2009

Traveled into the 100-degree Nevada summer heat for a few days of birding and photography in the Las Vegas area.

Highlight areas included Calico Basin & Red Rock Canyon (west of Las Vegas), as well as excellent birding at the Henderson Bird Viewing Preserve and Wetlands Park.

Point Lobos State Reserve Photography

May 17, 2009

Got away from the 100-degree California heat wave and spent the day along the Pacific coast at the beautiful Point Lobos State Reserve.

The weather was perfect for relaxing and some different photographic styles using the variable neutral-density filter to capture time-exposures of the crashing waves.

Garrapata State Park Photography

May 9, 2009

A wonderful yet windy day at Garrapata State Park, located along California Hwy 1 on the Pacific coast south of Monterey, California.

The sunny skies brought dramatic views of the deep blue Pacific water crashing into the rocky shoreline. The cliffs provided excellent viewpoints for photographing the birds!

SCVAS "Big Day" - Santa Clara County

April 19, 2009

An ultimate "18-hour" birding marathon today lead by Bob Power and "Team Bobolinks" !

I started my day at 3am... as we traveled all over Santa Clara County Parks searching and listening for birds for the annual Birdathon Fundraiser for the Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society. Our Big Day total = 148 species!

Wow! I'm featured in Mercury News Travel

February 22, 2009

Today the San Jose Mercury News daily newspaper featured my trip to Antarctica in the "Wish You Were Here" Travel section! It's always fun to share the excitement of birding and photography... and it was a nice bonus to have my BirdingPix.com website included as part of the photo feature.

If you saw my photo, send me an email, and I'll reply.