White-tail Kite Fly By

A white-tailed kite perches on a tree stump, surveying the landscape around it
A white-tailed kite perches on a tree stump, surveying the landscape around it

A little while ago I visited Arastradero Preserve in Palo Alto, CA in order to get some photos of some of the white-tail kites that live there. And I was certainly not disappointed. I climbed a large hill in order to get above some of the trees on which they perch while they are not hunting. I quickly saw one of the kites and slowly made my way toward its tree.

A white-tailed kite perches on a tree branch, surveying the landscape around it
A white-tailed kite perches on a tree branch, surveying the landscape around it

With my eye glued to the view finder, I had my lens tight in on this bird, capturing shots of it flying up and back to various branches on the tree. Suddenly a dark form darted by just above the kite. Luckily, my photography training was to shoot first and ask questions later, and I capture a single frame of what I later saw to be another kite flying at the first one.

A male white-tail kite flies past a female, which reacts to his close proximity
A male white-tail kite flies past a female, which reacts to his close proximity

I quickly realized what was going on, as the male came in for another pass, this time reaching his target, and landing on top of the female.

A male white-tail kite approaches a female from behind and mates with it
A male white-tail kite approaches a female from behind and mates with it

The male quickly mated with the female, and just as quickly flew away. And before you ask, yes I do have photos, but hey, this is a family friendly blog!

A male white-tail kite approaches a female from behind and mates with it
A male white-tail kite approaches a female from behind and mates with it

I’ve never seen this before or since, and I definitely know that I wouldn’t have been able to capture these shots if I hadn’t already had the female framed and in focus. Sometimes you just get lucky….

Pelican Palooza

Several american white pelicans swim together, alternately dipping their heads under water to pull up a bill full of fish
Several american white pelicans swim together, alternately dipping their heads under water to pull up a bill full of fish

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.
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.
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
A brown pelican circles through the air above a lake, looking for fish to dive for

When it saw a movement of fish in the lake below, it would stop its forward flight and sort of hover in air.

A brown pelican circles through the air above a lake, looking for fish to dive for
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
A brown pelican flies low and flat over the surface of the water after it takes off from the surface

After a dive, the pelican would drain its bill of water, and swallowing any fish it caught. Occasionally, I was rewarded with a vigorous head throw.

After diving for fish, a brow pelican dries its feathers with a vigorous head throw.
After diving for fish, a brow pelican dries its feathers with a vigorous head throw.

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.

Barn Owls At Sunset

A barn owl lands on a snag while hunting at dusk
A barn owl lands on a snag while hunting at dusk

A few days ago, my friend Jerry Dodrill and I headed out to the Sonoma coast for a little sunset photography. We had mixed targets – we had our landscape gear with us, hopeful for a stunning sunset, but also had our wildlife gear in case that opportunity presented itself. Unfortunately, the weather conditions never materialized for a good sunset – it was clear skies all the way across the Pacific to the western horizon.

However, Jerry knew of a spot that might give us some nesting cormorants along a sea cliff. With that potential in mind, we headed out.

We reached a spot where sheer cliffs dropped into the choppy ocean below. A few cormorants were nesting low on a cliff, and brown pelicans skimmed low and silent over the water in fighter jet formation. As we moved further along the cliff edge, a large flapping of wings caught my attention. “Raptor,” I called out pointing with one hand while the other started preparing my camera and lens for flight photography. As I tracked the object through my lens, I could see a large, flat white face peering at the ground. Barn owl. Soon, more objects took to the sky, and we counted at least five barn owls hunting in the late evening light.

The sun spotlights a barn owl as it hunts in the last few minutes of daylight
The sun spotlights a barn owl as it hunts in the last few minutes of daylight

With the sun setting behind us, it acted as a sort of spot light, turning the owls bright orange against a darker field, now fully in the sun’s shadow. This was indeed magical light, and it only lasted a few moments. Soon the sun set behind the western horizon, and while the owls became more active, it was becoming difficult to track them in the waning light.

A barn owl flies low over a field, hunting for rodents just after sunset
A barn owl flies low over a field, hunting for rodents just after sunset

We continued to shoot until it got too dark to produce any kind of salvageable results. As it was, I was impressed at the performance of the higher ISOs that I normally never use. With a little noise reduction in post processing, the images still retained quite a bit of detail.

As we packed up, I was once again reminded of one of the most important lessons of outdoor photography – get outside! Only if you don’t go out at all will you be guaranteed zero results.

Amorous Eareds

An eared grebe breeding pair swim close to one another
An eared grebe breeding pair swim close to one another

Recently when I lucked out by capturing four different grebe species in one day at Shoreline Lake in Mountain View, I witnessed something new for me – two eared grebes who had paired up for season were not only showcasing their courtship behavior, but were also mating. I was surprised to see this because usually the grebes head north for the summer before mating, and as a result I had never seen this behavior before.

Their courtship seemed to have several stages of intimacy. First, they swam close to each other across the lake as seen above. Suddenly, they would run side by side across the surface of the water (essentially flying very low over the water) and quickly make it to shore, only to turn around and swim slowly back to their starting location.

Part of the eared grebes courtship display is to fly low across the surface of the water together. Once they land nearby, they swim back to their starting location, and proceed to mimic each other. They repeat this cycle of mimicking and flying together until they (usually) mate.
Part of the eared grebes courtship display is to fly low across the surface of the water together. Once they land nearby, they swim back to their starting location, and proceed to mimic each other. They repeat this cycle of mimicking and flying together until they (usually) mate.

Occasionally, they would attract the attention of an unexpected guest in their over water flight.

Occasionally an additional eared grebe or two join a courting pair as they fly low across the surface of the water.
Occasionally an additional eared grebe or two join a courting pair as they fly low across the surface of the water.

Once they had performed this flight several times, they stayed out toward the middle of the water and proceeded to mimic each other, a behavior seen frequently in other grebe courtship displays.

A mating pair of eared grebes court one another by mimicking each other's movements. Here the rise out of the water belly to belly and synchronize their head movements.
A mating pair of eared grebes court one another by mimicking one another’s movements. Here the rise out of the water belly to belly and synchronize their head movements.

After satisfactorily copying one another, there was no putting off the inevitable. It was time to seal the deal.

A male eared grebe mounts a female from behind and flaps his wings rapidly. The mating lasts only a few seconds.
A male eared grebe mounts a female from behind and flaps his wings rapidly. The mating lasts only a few seconds.

As I said before, I was surprised to see actual mating behavior. I have not heard of eared grebes successfully nesting in the area, so I assume this couple soon headed north for a more traditional breeding season together.

Copyright 2017 Hank Christensen