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California Gull Bathing (Photo of the week)

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.
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Geese on the run

With wings spread, several canada geese run across flat dirt in order to get speed for takeoff

Recently I was out by the bay photographing when I heard a commotion off to my left. I turned to see several canada geese running toward me at full speed, wings spread out to the side. I had seen geese take off into the air from both land and water, but never before had I seen them sprinting along the ground for such a distance. I even had time to regain my composure, turn my lens and capture several images before they reached the end of their runway and flew off into the air.

I’m not sure what caused this behavior – maybe they were spooked by something or fighting with each other. But for a split second, it seemed as if they’d go on running forever, running me over in the process, and head off into the sunset.

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American White Pelican Takeoff (Photo of the week)

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 forth
Swimming through a slough, a white pelican preens its back feathers by rubbing its bill against them
A white pelican perches on an underwater stump in the midle of a slough, Byxbee Park, Palo Alto, CA
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Catch Of The Day (Photo of the week)

A great egret pulls a fish out of a wetland slough for dinner

Watching birds in action can be much more interesting than just watching them look back at you. Mornings and evenings are the best times to catch birds moving about, most often looking for food.

This great egret had found a spot along the edge of a slough with plenty of fish. He seemed to be preoccupied with eating, allowing me to slowly sneak closer. I was surprised with the frequency at which he plucked fish out of the water – about one every 20 to 30 seconds.

He would stare at the surface of the water, his body leaning forward, and his neck coiled back ready to strike. At the opportune moment, his head would dunk into the water, almost every time coming up with a fish. Throwing his head up and back, he could fling the fish back into his throat, swallowing the fish whole. As he was swallowing, his neck and head feathers bristled, making his head appear almost twice its normal size.

Great egrets are one of my favorite species to watch eating because they tend to fish from the same spot, instead of moving around to look for food.