What's the word, hummingbird!

I missed a lot of the events at my hummingbird nest this year because of work and how high up the nest was. Then, at the zoo a few weeks ago one of the keepers pointed out a nest right at eye level. Probably because this Anna's hummingbird (Calype anna) is a little more used to people all around her, she doesn't seem too bothered by people watching her chicks grow up. The last week of the chicks nest time I was camping out at Santa Cruz, but I was happy that I got to see this mom raise her young as much as I did!

Mom feeding her young chick. They were so small that they barely poked out of the nest.

Mom feeding the chick. The chicks stick out a bit more and are starting to grow in feathers.

Notice the chick on the right has its tongue out.

Mom fluffing out her feathers after feeding the chicks.

Spring in California!

Ahhh... Spring. It is so wonderful! It even smells good. (you'd be able to smell it in this post if Google's April fools prank wasn't really a prank!) I love coastal California, but I love it even more in the spring. There are large fields of beautiful wildflowers, the most 'California' of them all (at least to me) is the poppy. One thing I miss about living in Big Sur would be the poppy field overlooking Lopez Rock. Luckily, it isn't too hard to find poppies down here as well. This photo was taken this week along Jalama Road. 

California poppies (Eschscholzia californica)

One of my other favorite things about the spring in California (or anywhere in the country, for that matter) is that we get new baby hummingbirds. I was fortunate enough to have an Anna's hummingbird build her nest right in our magnolia tree in front of our house this year. Unfortunately, I was extremely busy with work throughout the month of March and missed a large part of the chick growth, including when they fledged. I did get to see mom feeding the babies a few times and got a few shots of mom and the babies on the nest. The first photo below is the mom before the chicks hatched (2/16/13) and the second photo is of the two chicks right before they fledged (3/20/13). The other two hummingbirds are of a male Anna's who was taking time to show off his color to me.

Female Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna) on her nest

Anna's hummingbird chicks (Calypte anna)

Male Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna)

Male Anna's hummingbird (Calypte anna)

There are so many more amazing things about spring in California, but today the final image I have is the annual monarch migration. Monarch butterflies travel a far distance to winter in California and Mexico. I live about .75 miles from an eucalyptus grove that homes approximately 12,000 monarchs every winter. In the photo below the monarch is feeding on a flower that I believe is California fuchsia (Epilobium) but flowers are not my specialty, so I'm open to other opinions.

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus)

Santa Barbara Channel sea otters

Today I am writing about my most common photography subject... Sea otters (Enhydra lutris). These are the, as my friend called them, 'SoCal beach blondes' of sea otters. They are so photogenic, how could I not stop and take a few photos?

 

To end the post, I will leave you with a member of the pinniped family enjoying lunch. This is a California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) eating a swell shark (Cephaloscyllium ventriosum).

Bolsa Chica

I made a short trip down south in December and stopped at Bolsa Chica in Huntington Beach. I then edited the photos on the same day as the last post (Jan 5) and uploaded them here and... never posted it for all of you! So here it is, a little late, but just as birdy as before.

Male bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)

Female bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) with a fish

Female bufflehead (Bucephala albeola)

Eared grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)

Forster's tern (Sterna forsteri)

Pied-billed grebe (Podilymbus podiceps)

Northern pintail (Anas acuta)

Northern pintail (Anas acuta)

Northern pintails (Anas acuta)

Surf scoter (Melanitta perspicillata)

Duck... Duck... Scoter! Surf scoters (Melanitta perspicillata) in the chase.

Greater scaup (Aythya marila)

Point Conception lighthouse

December 15th was a beautiful day to be out on the water. The following photos are of the lighthouse at Point Conception. Point Conception is often times a jumbling mess of waves and wind. Calm days like this are rare and because of that they are even more amazing.

A day in the Santa Barbara Channel

Today's photos are from the Santa Barbara Channel on December 14. It was an overcast day, but a really nice, calm day. The highlight of the day was seeing a California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) eat a pretty big lunch. There has been a little debate over what species this adult male sea lion is eating, but I am going to say it is a Pacific angel shark (Squatina californica). Angel sharks look a lot like rays, and when I first saw the shark I thought it was some sort of ray or skate. It wasn't until I looked at the photos on my computer that I determined that it was an angel shark. I am open to debate about the species, but remember I have a whole series of photos that show different features of the fish whereas I only posted the photos that I liked the best aesthetically.

California sea lion with a mouthful of Pacific angel shark

California sea lion with a Pacific angel shark

 The next photo is a male sea otter (Enhydra lutris) east of Point Conception.

The last photo for the day is my favorite (always save the best for last, right?). These are surf scoters (Melanitta perspicillata) flying with the Channel Islands (Santa Cruz Island, I believe) in the background. Surf scoters look like the clowns of the sea. I have a few close up shots from last weekend that I will be posting soon where you can really see their clown-like features. In this shot, the female is leading the way for the males. I'll let you make your own opinions about that!

Surf scoters taking flight

It's been a while!

Well it has been a long time since I added a new blog post. Lately, all my free time has gone to printing photos in hopes of high sale days at the art show. This has left very little time for shooting. I am hoping to get out this weekend because as you Californians know, it has been raining here which makes our landscapes quite striking!

Below I have a mish-mash of photos from all over Southern California.

First, there is a resting Red-tailed hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) in the early morning light near Lompoc, CA. This guy seemed so large that I first thought it was a golden eagle! It forced me to stop the car and get a better look. Even though it wasn't an eagle, I was still happy I stopped to admire that piercing look.

The second photo is from Bolsa Chica reserve in Huntington Beach, CA. I got there just before sunset, but still got a few shots in before it got too dark. I decided to try some bird panning in the low light. I think it paid off. This one was my favorite. It is a flock of snowy egrets (Egretta thula) flying close over the water.

The next two photos are at Mission Creek in Santa Barbara (right where I have my booth at the Sunday art show). The sunrise this morning was so beautiful. We stopped for a quick minute on our way to meet up for our wonderful day at Anacapa Island.

 

*Hope you enjoyed the photos, and that the next post isn't as lagged as this one!