Flapping its wings repeatedly, a california gull dries its feathers after submerging its body in water.
This shot was taking a couple of weeks ago while shooting some of the bay area’s more common inhabitants. I was watching various gulls and mallards, mostly acting boring and just standing around. But this California Gull decided to jump into the water and put on a show. He would submerge his entire body under water, then pop up and flap his wings back and forth to dry his feathers and prepare for preening. After preening for about 30 seconds, he’d dive back in and start all over again. This repeated for about ten minutes. The photo below is another shot of this lively bird.
Not until the wings are fully extended can one appreciate the surface area required to keep these birds aloft.
A white pelican spreads its wings as it takes off from the water
A couple of weeks ago I visited Byxbee Park in Palo Alto, just before sunset. I wanted to explore a slough I had never been down before, and was lucky to see eight American White Pelicans, all swimming together and fishing. The first photo and the next were shot as part of the same sequence of one of them taking off from the water.
You can clearly see a flat horn protruding from the top of the bill. This indicates that this pelican is breeding. After breeding season, the horn will shed off, leaving the bill as it was before.
A white pelican spreads its wings as it takes off from the water
Usually I try to frame birds with most of the photo empty in front of the bird. This creates a more pleasing composition as it seems to add more room to the photograph. It allows the viewer to visualize the bird moving through the photo. With the above photo however, I knew at takeoff, the pelican would leave behind splashes as it took off into the air. I wanted to capture these in the photo, so I panned slightly slower than the bird was moving so that in this case, most of the empty space was behind the bird.
Below are several other pelicans from the same group. As I was watching one fish, he lifted his bill into a magnificent head throw.
Perched on an underwater stump, an american white pelican throws its head into the air, twisting it back and forthSwimming through a slough, a white pelican preens its back feathers by rubbing its bill against themA white pelican perches on an underwater stump in the midle of a slough, Byxbee Park, Palo Alto, CA
A white-faced ibis stops searching for food briefly as it soaks in the last rays of daylight
A few weeks ago I was at Baylands in Palo Alto, photographing at sunset. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of a white-faced ibis, which I had seen several weeks before, but only briefly. This bird is a rarity in the area, and seldom emerges from the pickleweed, choosing to hide in the wetland vegetation. However, a pair have been spotted in the Palo Alto and Mountain View area more regularly since January of this year, and up to three have been seen intermittently over the last few years. Whether this is a migratory aberration, or more likely a few year-round rogues, it is exciting to see one up close.
A white-faced ibis preens in shallow water
This specimen does not follow the normal head plumage that give the white-faced ibis its name, but is an alternate of the same species. Its iridescent bronze-brown feathers glow in the sunlight. I was very lucky on this day to see the ibis out in the open, fishing along a slough just as the sun was setting behind me.
I almost missed it however – as I was packing up my gear for the day, I saw another photographer with a large lens speed-walking toward a slough with open views. I hoped that the thing that had caused this rare burst of speed was the very bird I was looking for. I decided the effort was worth the chance, and unpacked my gear to follow him. I was happily rewarded when I saw the ibis poking through the mud, in gorgeous evening light. I had about five minutes with the bird before it was spooked by passerby’s and flew off for the day.
A white-faced ibis searches in the shallow water for food, its plumage glowing in the setting sun
