Went to Pinnacles National Park on Friday and we were treated to soaring and resting California Condors. Amazing to watch these birds, not long ago nearly completely extinct, thriving here.
Birds
American Gold Finch digging for sunflower seeds the other day. #AmericanGoldFinch #Birds #Fujifilm
And now a female Bullock’s Oriole has shown up in our backyard. What luck. #BullocksOriole #Birds
Here’s yesterday’s Bullock’s Oriole looking right at the camera. #BullocksOriole #Birds
Bullock’s Oriole in our backyard Ceanothus. This is our first backyard Oriole! Wow. #BullocksOriole #Birds #Fujifilm
Spotted our first Marsh Wren today at the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge. That vertical tail is something else. #Birds #MarshWren #Fujifilm
Photographed our first Downy woodpecker today. #Birds #BirdWatching #DownyWoodpecker #Fujifilm
Northern Flickers have evaded my best efforts to photograph them. So this photo from today at a Northern California refuge will do for now. #Birds #NorthernFlicker
Last week I nearly missed this Great Blue Heron at the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge. #Birds #BirdWatching #GreatBlueHeron
Snow Geese from last weekend. #Birds #BirdWatching #SnowGeese
I spied a Spotted Towhee today by the Sacramento River. #Birds #BirdWatching #SpottedTowhee #Fujifilm
The Western Blue Birds have already discovered the new piles of grape vine trimmings that still have clusters of raisins. And one of the Mockingbirds got really intrigued about the newly pruned grapevines. #Birds #BirdWatching #BlueBirds #Mockingbird #Fujifilm
Finally pruned the bird feeding native California grapes (cultivated of course). Only had a few more weeks until they woke up! Always quite the puzzle pruning two intertwined grapes. #CaliforniaNativePlants
Western Blue Birds have been in the neighborhood for a while now. Today they finally found our desiccated grapes! #Birds #BirdWatching #WesternBlueBird #Fujifilm
Black-necked Stilt near the City of Burlingame Shorebird Sanctuary. What a pose! 
Great Egret on the San Francisco Bay Trail just south of The City Of Burlingame Shorebird Sanctuary. #birds #GreatEgret #Fujifilm
Indisputably confirmed Yellow Rumped Warbler at yesterday’s visit to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. They were everywhere but it’s rare to have one facing away for more than a split second 😍#birds #YellowRumpedWarbler #fujifilm
What luck today. Photographed a juvenile Bald Eagle (second year?) at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. #birds #BaldEagle #Fujifilm
My partner only looked at cat, bird, and wildfire posts on Twitter using Tweetbot. Its permanent chronical timeline was key. Now that Tweetbot appears to be banned, that’s it. No more Twitter. Fortunately Mastodon is maturing quickly.
Red Tail Hawk from yesterday’s bird watching at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. It’s not surprising that they’re not easy to spot. Even rarer is the one that won’t fly off if you get within 100 yards. #fujifilm #birds #RedTailedHawk
While bird watching yesterday, a M5.3 earthquake occurred south of Rio Dell. My RaspberryShake felt it but I sure didn’t https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc73827571/executive #RaspberryShake #earthquake
Spotted a Belted Kingfisher today! #kingfisher #birds
Yesterday: Red-winged Black Birds at the local wildlife refuge. Likely some Starlings in there too.
A ravenous Yellow Rumped Warbler visited our grapes again. Eat up, little bird!
This Yellow Rumped Warbler (Audubon’s) is yet another bird feasting on our raisins. Yesterday’s Ruby Crowned Kinglet might actually be an Orange-crowned Warbler. No bars on its wings! 🤷♂️
Ruby Crowned Kinglet (update on 12/17: more likely a Orange-crowned Warbler, as the Kinglet has bars on its wings, this one — the Warbler — does not). Such a lovely chirpy & frenetic bird.
Wednesday, December 14, 2022 →
I am super excited to now have the XF70-300mm telephoto lens. I’ll no longer feel crazy constrained taking pictures of birds and aircraft (mainly). Bonus that it is rather good at close range for macro.
Wednesday, December 14, 2022 →
Western Mockingbird foraging for raisins in our backyard.
Got a Kinglet in one place for a few moments!
Some kind of Kinglet, maybe a Ruby Crown Kinglet, in the grapes this time. Was moving fast as birds do.
