I am a little late this year, but finally, here are my favorite images from the previous 12 months. This year I only had one major photography focused trip to the northern California coast, capturing the delicate rhododendrons amongst the fog of the coastal redwoods. I also had a truncated attempt at the John Muir Trail (got completely rained out after only three days) and a wonderful trip to Kauai to celebrate ten years with my beautiful wife.
Photos from all of these trips plus a wide variety of birds made my top 40 list this year. Please enjoy the gallery below. For best viewing (especially if viewing on a mobile device), please click on the following photo:
Click the photo above to see the top picks from 2013!
Or, just enjoy the gallery here on the page. To view larger photos in the embedded gallery below, be sure to click the icon in the lower right corner to enter full screen mode.
I stopped at one of my local spots to photograph birds and was rewarded with an abundance of not only one pelican species, but both species that are regularly seen in California – the American White Pelican and the Brown Pelican. Usually I don’t see both in one area, but here they were at Shoreline Park in Mountain View, each doing their own thing.
First, I saw a half dozen white pelicans swimming together, and fishing simply by dunking their heads underwater and scooping up great billfuls of water. In this way, they were able to catch small fish, but on a fairly regular basis.
A fish attempt to flee the confines of an american white pelican’s bill.
Most of the time, at least one pelican would remain above water while the rest would go for fish. They would rotate this way, dunking, scooping and eating. At some points however, I saw all pelicans in the group go under at the same time. I waited to see if I could get them lined up, and finally I saw a moment of symmetry in order to capture this photo.
Four american white pelicans line up, all of them fishing at the same time. There was a nice symmetry to this image, which was calling very strongly to be rendered as a black and white fine art photograph.
Next it was on to the brown pelicans, who were circling above Shoreline Lake, and going through much more effort to fish. A pelican would circle for a while, keeping a close view of the surface of the water.
A brown pelican circles through the air above a lake, looking for fish to dive for
At this point, it would plummet to the water surface in a dive, completely submerging its entire body underwater. The success rate of fishing this way seemed lower than the white pelicans, but perhaps when the diving did work, it rewarded them with bigger fish. It was fine by me, because their activity rewarded me with many flight shots and photographs of the birds on the surface of the water.
A brown pelican flies low and flat over the surface of the water after it takes off from the surface
After a couple of hours of shooting, I was pretty pelican’ed out and I packed up to leave. But it was great to see both species side by side on a single morning.
For my New Year’s post this year, I added an image of a black-necked stilt chick and its mother. I have finally processed additional photos from that day of the same chick and its siblings (there were three altogether).
A black-necked stilt chick wades through shallow water looking for food
I found this family at a popular birding spot near my home. While I had heard reports that nesting activity had occurred here in the past, I had never seen stilt chicks here myself. It was a joy to watch these little guys stumble around on shaky legs until they got tired, and had to take a break by sitting down on the shoreline.
A black-necked stilt chick takes a rest on the shoreline next to a still pond
Soon enough, they would recover and bounce back into action. One of the three was more adventurous than then others, venturing away from the shelter of the brush in search of food.
A black-necked stilt chick is reflected in still water as it looks for food along a narrow island
It was fun to watch them interact with each other. I could imagine talking to each other in their own little language, telling each other where the best food could be found.
Two black-necked stilt siblings stand close together in shallow water
When one chick would wander off too far, the mother would swoop in and corral it back to the others. Hopefully this family had good luck and all of these chicks made it through the nesting season. I look forward to scoping out this spot in the future for more nesting activity and a close up view of parents bringing these little ones into the world.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, I want to share the more cuddly moments of the mating ritual of the American Avocet, which remains one of the most interesting and unexpected behaviors of birds I have witnessed first hand. I have written about this ritual before, but recently I was able to acquire much better photographs to illustrate this strange little dance.
After the male chases the female around for a while, the female finally signals her acceptance of the male by flattening out her body parallel to the water and jutting out her neck. The male stands next to her and splashes water over her head, signaling his intent.
A female american avocet assumes the mating position while the male splashes water next to her
After the couple have their special “moment” together, then begins the truly unusual and surprisingly sweet interplay between the genders. The male keeps one wing wrapped around the female and crosses bills with her.
As the male american avocet dismounts after mating, he crosses bills with the female as part of a post-mating ritual. They walk in a circle with bills crossed and then walk in a straight line, side by side.
As soon as the male is back in the water, he leads the female in a 360 degree turn, the entire time keeping their bills crossed. Every time I have seen this, this part of the ritual is the same. I’m not sure if this is to somehow solidify the bond between the two birds, but it seems to be a necessity.
Two american avocets cross bills as they walk side-by-side in a circle, part of their post-mating ritual
Once the requisite turn is made, the two march off in a straight line together, side by side.
As the male american avocet dismounts after mating, he crosses bills with the female as part of a post-mating ritual. They walk in a circle with bills crossed and then walk in a straight line, side by side.
Soon after, each bird goes back to whatever they were doing before expressing their partnership. The couple remains together throughout the nesting season.
May you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day – hopefully you get to spend it with your sweetheart!
