In an interview in the New Yorker a month or so ago, Tina Fey talked about the process of putting together an episode of Saturday Night Live and quoted Lorne Michaels: We don't go on the air because we're ready, we go on the air because it's 11:30.
It's 6:00 am Sunday, and here we are.
Sometimes it's just kinda hard for a lineatus to pull itself together.
(don't let the high voltage sign worry you - just having a good shake after preening.)
After about a month and a half of crappy, rainy, cold weekends, we were suddenly blessed with ... spring. It's like a switch was thrown and all the sudden, the sun was shining, the flowers were blooming and the birds were chirping. Oh boy, were the birds chirping.
And they were putting on a show. We drove past Bolinas Lagoon, and made a quick stop at Audubon Canyon Ranch to pass on a message. We ran into a volunteer we know, who told us that the egrets had just begun arriving at the rookery there on Tuesday. We saw snowies and Great Egrets all around the lagoon as we continued our drive, including this one. It had the most magnificent nuptial plumes I think I've ever seen. It looked like the My Little Pony of wading birds... amazing.
We continued our wanderings around West Marin, where absolutely no one would cooperate for a photo. You'll just have to trust me that the birds were beautiful.
We headed back to San Francisco, and my friend asked if I'd be up for a stop at Lake Merced so she could check in on a Red-shouldered Hawk nest she's monitoring. Looking in on a lineatus? You bet. Off we went, and quickly found the nest with a bird sitting in it. It was in one of the many stands of eucalyptus that surround the lake.
Oh, right... that nest.
With some time to spare before the light went away, we headed over to the wooden bridge, near Sunset Circle. From the bridge, we saw more birds getting geared up for finding a mate. This Ruddy Duck just needs a tiny bit more blue on his bill and he's good to go...
... and this Marsh Wren is so eager to belt out his song and have it heard far and wide, that he actually came out and made himself semi-visible. Crazy!
Just as we were about to leave the bridge, a raven flew in with some food and sat down on the railing to eat it.
They really are impressive birds. In some of the photos, this one made me think of a silver-back gorilla. (maybe the heavy brow or the head shape?)
He's really working to scrape up every little morsel. We finally decided that it was probably Chow Fun... No doubt dumpster diving nearby.
With his crop stuffed full, he's ready to take off...
Hmmmm. Maybe it was possible for this lineatus to pull it all together after all.
(This bird is part of the pair from the nest we were checking.)
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A friend of mine passed on this email to me and it was an interesting exercise. They don't ask for any personal information other than self-assessing your birding skill level.
Hi Birders!
My name is Ori Amir, I'm a grad student at the University of Southern California. We are currently doing a study on how bird experts and amateurs distinguish between different birds. This is my lab website:
geon.usc.edu
In order to study this question, we composed a survey which I'd be very appreciative if some of you can take:
https:/usc. qualtrics. com...
I will be happy to post the results of the survey to the forum when we have them.
Many Thanks!
Ori