A ring-necked pheasant stands tall among dried grass
Last week, I went to Byxbee Park (part of Palo Alto Baylands) looking for some of the wintering water foul. I saw plenty, but also came across three ring-necked pheasants, all in different areas of the park. I had seen them several times here before, but never three in one day! Usually they hang to the thick bushes, but occasionally they come out into the open to forage. The beautiful colors make this a stunning bird to watch.
I have quite a few full body shots, but I liked the portrait the best. I’ve included a couple other shots below.
A ring-necked pheasant stalks close to the groundA ring-necked pheasant walks through short grasses, with a wary eye for predators
The photo of a ring-billed gull below will appear in the upcoming October issue of Bay Nature, a quarterly magazine dedicated to the intelligent and joyful exploration of the natural places, plants, and wildlife of the San Francisco Bay Area. The photo will appear in an article about the region’s various gull species, and how they are impacted by a changing habitat.
Ring-billed Gull portrait in soft evening light at sunset
A dowitcher wades through shallow water, looking for food just before sunset, Baylands, Palo Alto, California
I photographed this dowitcher just as the last light of the day was hitting the marsh. He was busy with dinner, but paused long enough for me to create a portrait. I like this shot because it shows some of the bird’s habitat along with the entire body. Although crisp bird portraits with blurred backgrounds of solid color look great, sometimes we strive to isolate the subject from its habitat just a little too much.
A young american avocet chick wades in shallow water looking for food
I was fortunate this spring to get out and capture a few different species of new hatch-lings. It was wonderful to watch these brand new birds explore around their nests. The image above is an american avocet chick, while the image below is a black-necked stilt chick. While these chicks look very similar within the first few weeks of their lives, they soon begin to develop characteristics of the very different looking adult species.
A black-necked stilt chick is reflected in shallow water, Baylands, Palo Alto, California
While the avocet and stilt chicks tend to stay very close to water, canada goose chicks spend most of their time on land, feeding off of grass. The gosling below was one of five siblings, all feeding amongst short grass, very close to their parents. If anyone approaches too closely, the geese will corral their chicks and surround them, hissing a warning at the offender (which is why I always stayed a good distance away).
A Canada Gossling grazes in the short grass. He stops periodically to peer about.
The last species I covered this spring is the ever-present mallard duckling. I followed a family with four chicks for a few days, watching the mother keep her chicks hidden in the tall grass next to a pond, while the father warded off any other water foul that ventured too close. Here is the mother with one of her chicks, just after preening.
A mallard hen preens with her chick in the grass next to a slough
The flash gallery below features more images of these very cute newborns. Please enjoy them, share it with friends, or click through to the spring babies gallery on my photo site. I hope you enjoy watching as much as I enjoyed capturing them.
