Surf Scoter - Again

As a follow up to the previous Surf Scoter post, here is a shot of one snacking, taken last Friday.

One of the things that makes Shoreline Lake unique (aside from its proximity to the Bay) is that it is a saltwater lake. Many of the birds are very approachable - it makes for a wonderful photographic stop.

Nature, Photography, and Birding on Google+

I'm a fan of Google+, and those interested in nature and photography (and nature photography!) should give it a look if you haven't already.

If you are familiar with Google+ already, check out these communities, which may be of interest. If you are new to Google+, skip to the next section and then come back to this one later.

Landscape Photography
National Geographic Exploration 
Nature Photography

There are plenty of other good ones - the above are just to get started.

And I just created a Birding North America community yesterday.  I have not invited anyone to join - so consider this blog post the first invitation to join the community.

For Those New to Google+

Google+ is usually referred to as a social network, and often compared to Facebook. In my opinion, these comparisons do not do it justice.

Google+ (or G+) was launched a little over a year ago by Google, and it nicely combines features of Twitter and Facebook, along with lots of unique features and capabilities.

Benefits of Google+

1. Greater control. You create 'circles' of friends and acquaintances, and only share to those specific circles. No more sharing family information with strangers. And now you can target your birding exploits only to those interested.
2. Communities. The community feature allows you to create a more advanced sharing experience than a traditional mail list.
3. Photo quality. G+ has been a leader in photo quality on social networks, providing larger images with minimal reprocessing. Professional photographers have flocked to G+.
4. Innovation. G+ keeps producing new features - volume sliders, hangouts (real time video conferencing), etc. Facebook has had to scramble to add inferior versions of these features.
5. No advertisements.
6. All of your posts get delivered. No need to 'pay to promote' like in FB to ensure everyone actually sees your posts.

Detriments of Google+

1. Total users. Other social networks still have many more users.
2. Learning curve. Many people look at G+ and don't see much activity and immediately leave. This is often for two reasons - one is what #1 above mentions - there are still fewer users of G+. The other is that the sharing model of G+ is different. From day 1, G+ has allowed targetted sharing, meaning your G+ friends may be sharing items, but just not 'publicly', or not directly with you. Further, the 'following' model is something many people don't expect since they are used to Facebook. Try following some interesting people.

Getting Started on Google+

Go to plus.google.com and login. If you have a gmail account, you can re-use those credentials.

Once logged in, set up some circles. My circles are called "close family", "extended family", "work contacts", "friends", "acquaintances", "birders", "photographers", "music", and "following". You can name them however you want - when creating circles, think about who and what you intend to share. Remember, you can put a person in more than one circle - for example, I have work contacts that are also friends.

Now, add people to your circles. Search for your friends and acquaintances. If you have trouble finding people you know, you can "follow" people you do not know. For example, you can follow news organizations (CNN, NPR, BBC, The Economist, etc), sports teams, and interesting people. I follow National Geographic, B and H Photo, The Nature Conservancy, and others. If you are in to photography, you can follow the likes of Thomas Hawk, Mike Spinak, Scott Kelby, Trey Ratcliff, and many others.

You can adjust the 'volume' of each circle, so circles that are less important will only show up if there is nothing else, or if there is a lot of engagement.

If you are using G+ on a mobile phone, you can adjust your notification settings. Personally, I don't want to get 'buzzed' every time a new post or response is sent, so I disable that. Similarly, you can set up G+ so that it emails you every time a new post/response is sent to you, or you may disable that feature.

Fiery Skipper

Ever wonder what those small 'orange moths' are that you see in the lawn and garden?  They are a type of butterfly called a skipper, and one of the most common is the one shown below, the Fiery Skipper. 

Skippers don't look like what most people think of as butterflies, but they can be fascinating and fun to photograph none-the-less.  The fiery skipper is very territorial and fast moving, feeding on the nectar of various flowers.  One key aspect of its habitat (like many skippers) is grass, which is why they are at home in many suburban yards.  They are, however, partial to bermuda grass.  And whether this is cause or effect, they are unlikely to stray into the colder climates of the USA.

The photo above was on our 'Chocolate Flowers', which do indeed smell like chocolate.  These are an excellent native flower of the western USA - highly recommended.

Snowy Egret Rookery

The Palo Alto Baylands happens to be about 10 minutes from where I work, so I occasionally drive up there on days I arrive at work extra-early.

The Baylands have been interesting - the only place I've seen Clapper Rail, and the easiest spot to see Pheasants up close.  But aside from that, they have seemed to take a backseat to the closer Shoreline Lake and Charleston Slough, which consistently have yielded more birds and other animals.

Well, I decided to visit the Palo Alto Baylands again recently, and was surprised to see a large Snowy Egret and Black Crowned Night-Heron rookery (community nesting site).  Suddenly I have regained interest in the Baylands!

The Snowy Egret breeding plumage is amazing:

The "spikey hair" and long wispy feathers really stand out.  The birds lores are usually yellow, though in this case are pink/red, which is more common in breeding season.  Apparently stress and/or fighting can cause their lores to turn red other times of the year as well.  I noticed that this (and other) birds feet were more reddish than usual as well.

The Egrets perform an interesting courtship display, tipping their heads back and slowly moving it upwards towards the sky.

With so many competing birds so close, there were a few skirmishes, such as these two fighting for position in the tree:

The rookery spans multiple trees, with probably 30 Snowy Egrets currently there.  Before leaving I snapped a couple more shots:

And a silhouette:

Oh, I mentioned the Black Crowned Night-Heron rookery.  They, in fact, shared a lot of the same tree space as the Snowy Egrets.  I didn't spend much time photographing them, but did take a couple of shots:

Surf Scoter

When I moved to California, some birders I know said "my condolences" when I mentioned I'd lived in Arizona before.  Arizona's reputation for being a wildlife mecca is well known, and the locals here in the Bay Area look on with envy at the rare tropical species that the southeast Arizona sky islands bring in.

But I have to say that I've enjoyed the local wildlife here in NoCal quite a bit so far.  Just since Jan 1, I've already tallied about 140 bird species in my county alone - I haven't even made a coastal trip or a trip to higher than 1500' altitude.  There are so many habitats close by that I can spend much more time 'in the field'.

One of my local favorites so far has to be the Surf Scoter, a winter resident along the west coast.

Surf Scoter (male), Shoreline Lake, Mountain View, CA

The photographed Scoter above is a male seen on Shoreline Lake.  As I understand it, Shoreline is a reliable location for Surf Scoters in the winter, and this year there are at least 15-20 on a daily basis.

The multi-colored bill is striking and unique - Eiders and Puffins are perhaps the only other species that compete.  The bill - short, hard, and with a unique wave, is thought to have evolved to pull shellfish that have wedged themselves into rocks and other tight places.

Female Surf Scoters are much less flashy - generally a grey with a few white-ish accents, and a similar shaped bill with a touch of yellow on the end.

Surf Scoter (Female), Shoreline Lake, Mountain View, CA

Surf Scoters breed in northern Canada and the Arctic - so I expect that they will depart sometime after late March.

Great Blue Heron - Land Feeding

Recently I stumbled upon a Great Blue Heron.  OK, that's not uncommon - Great Blue Heron are common across much of the USA, and especially areas with lots of lakes, ponds, streams, and marshes.  But this Heron was having a leisurely stroll across a dry field.  That was odd.

Many bird species stick very close to their preferred habitat.  In fact, certain species can ONLY be seen in very specific habitat.  And herons are known for standing like a statue in shallow water, waiting for a tadpole, fish, or other aquatic meal to swim by, at which time their lightning-fast reflexes snatch it out of the water.

This heron was exhibiting some of the same stalking behavior in this field. And after a few minutes, it snapped at some sort of rodent on the ground. For some reason the Saturday Night Live skit involving the 'Land Shark' came to mind. :)

Apparently land feeding by Great Blue Heron is not totally uncommon. Places with lots of rodents and few predators provide a good option for an opportunistic heron. For what its worth, this heron was stalking the grounds of McClellan Ranch Park in Cupertino, CA.

A Snowy Egret Thanksgiving

Snowy Egrets are some of my favorite birds.  They are elegant, stunningly white, and easy to photograph.  And being a larger bird, easy to observe.

This Snowy Egret frequents the shoreline of Shoreline Lake in Mountain View, CA.  Recently on a morning walk I noticed that it was feeding on a fish.  I watched for about 5 minutes as it struggled to consume the largish fish, trying different angles and flipping the fish around in its beak.

Snowy Egret with fish head-first

Alas, I had to head to work so I was not able to see the outcome.  I know it was not good for the fish, but did the Egret succeed in swallowing the fish?

Snowy Egret trying a new angle

Snowy Egrets are common in shallow waters containing fish and shellfish in the southern 2/3 of the USA. In winter, their range pushes further south.

Is the fish looking at me?

This angle shows the size of the fish