Birds

Return of the Waxwings

November 19, 2009 Perching Birds

It starts with a whistle, but a whistle so faint it’s a whisper across the leaves. And then the sound of raindrops, but it’s not rain. It’s the patter of falling berries, pyracantha and holly, dropping into the blanket of debris below the trees.

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Pigeon Masters of Culinary Adaptation

November 13, 2009 Doves & Pigeons

Refined carbs aren’t any better for pigeons than they are for us. But urban birds, used to groveling for handouts, will take what they can get. This mottled pigeon person stumbled upon a bounty in Mission Bay. We could hear a gang of gulls on the approach so the pigeon was in his own Amazing [...]

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Sunday in the Park With Pelicans

October 18, 2009 Pelicans

Always my favorite SF Bay residents . . . photographed from Tiburon this afternoon. Related posts on pelicans: Miss Them Already: California Pelicans | Pelicanorama | The Flight of the Pelican | Mixed Use, Pelican Style | Up on the Roof

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Black and White

October 15, 2009 Bay Area

I almost expected Man-Thing to come crawling out of the mud this morning. The humidity evoked spirits of the bayou: moss, mosquitos, mint juleps. The only time California resembles a swamp is in the wake of a tropical storm, the same wake which pummeled us with record rains a few days ago. We did about [...]

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Just Flying: Some Pictures

October 12, 2009 Animal Behavior

We cancelled our cable service . . . again. I’m not sure what our longest stretch of cable t.v. access has been, but, it always comes to this eventually: we look at the 100+ dollars we’re pissing away each month and surrender our cable box the next day. Here’s our cable substitute this time — [...]

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Reclaimed: Las Gallinas Wildlife Ponds

October 9, 2009 Bay Area

Reclamation is among my favorite themes — especially as it pertains to nature. I root for the vines overtaking fire hydrants and windblown seeds germinating new habitat in former refuse sites…

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The Flight of the Pelican

August 31, 2009 Pelicans

A title inspired by a recent viewing of Jimmy Stewart and The Flight of the Phoenix . . . a photographic tribute inspired by one of my favorite birds: the Brown Pelican. California Brown Pelican Recovery The Brown Pelican is not quite a Phoenix, raising itself from metaphorical ashes. But it has mythological parallels in [...]

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Learning From a Racing Pigeon

August 28, 2009 Doves & Pigeons

I think the pigeon people are trying to tell me something. Late last year, I took a rambunctious fledgling pigeon to a nearby hospital. In April, I drove two [very] baby pigeons to the same hospital. I’m always snapping pigeon photos even when other photographers sweep their lenses right over the pigeon landscape. So, it [...]

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Bay Area Bird Photos

July 8, 2009 Birds

I’m in the process of uploading some of my favorite Bay Area bird images . . . with more to come as favorites and opportunities arise with my beloved Olympus. Not all links are functioning yet. It’s a work-in-progress: Bird Photo Galleries.

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Where the Birds Walk

June 28, 2009 Birds

Etched in the pavement of a San Francisco sidewalk . . . Bird Graffiti – ©ingridtaylar On Alameda’s Crown Beach . . .

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Not-So-Ordinary Black Birds

June 15, 2009 Animal Behavior

Until the esteemed Brewer’s Blackbird Sir Swoops made a name for himself by dive-bombing pedestrians, there’s a good chance he was just one of many birds in black, hopping along the sidewalks of San Francisco without much notice. On first glance, blackbirds and black-colored birds may seem visually ordinary. But closer inspection always renders a [...]

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Who Says You Never See Baby Pigeons?

April 3, 2009 Birds

Pigeons are meticulous, doting parents . . . which is why you probably won’t see many baby pigeons in the wild . . . if at all. Pigeons produce small broods (usually two babies) and tuck them in nests high on ledges — homes which resemble their ancestors’ cliff dwellings. The pigeon parents feed their [...]

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A Quiet Nation of Shorebirds – San Francisco Bay Area

December 7, 2008 Shorebirds

I try to stop by Arrowhead Marsh when I’m in the vicinity of Oakland Airport . . . which is quite a lot, considering I’m with a guy who, essentially, commutes to work by plane. It’s my consolation in solitude to stroll through the marshes with my camera after I bid farewell to Southwest or [...]

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Bird and Windmill Collisions at Altamont

December 3, 2008 Raptors

One of the tragic patients we get at the wildlife hospital where I volunteer is raptors such as hawks, who’ve suffered an encounter with a windmill. Unlike Quixote’s imaginary foes, the windmills through Altamont Pass present a viable lethal threat to wildlife of the area. In fact, Altamont Pass has the highest bird kill rate [...]

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The Stillness of Night Herons

December 2, 2008 Birds

** Photo usage and restrictions Heron Photos ©ingrid You could argue that these birds are — well — sitting herons. They’re easy to photograph, as are many herons and egrets, owing to their stoic poses and their ability to stalk breakfast without moving a feather. Even the most moody auto focus can lock on a [...]

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Seagull Ballet

November 30, 2008 Gulls & Terns

Fast Food Gulls Often maligned for their boisterous behavior and messiness, I maintain gulls are no more messy than humans. But, of course, that’s my usual stance when it comes to the ongoing battles between humans and critters in increasingly vanishing open space. We share space, often crowded space, and I suppose seagulls stand to [...]

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