Good Sunday morning, fellow Kossacks. I'm subbing this morning for our distinguished host, lineatus, who is off helping a friend with a kestrel project and will return next week. In the meantime, you're stuck with me.
If you're a birder, one of the best things about living in the San Francisco Bay Area is the ready abundance of waterfowl. I thought I'd post images of some of our local denizens and invite you to do the same if you're in an area rich in waterfowl habitat. And if you're nowhere near shorebirds, why not share with us what you've got in your own area?
How about we start off with a couple of egrets? Specifically, the Snowy Egret and the Great Egret. A friend recently asked me how you can tell them apart. I think this picture provides the answer to that, aside from mentioning the color of their bills and their feet. The Great Egret is . . . well, great, as in huge in comparison.
The Snowy has that black bill, the Great has the yellow bill. Here's a close up to show it a bit better:
The Snowy and Great Egrets, Black-necked Stilts, American Avocets and a variety of other shorebirds are abundant here and forage in the tidal salt flats looking for the tiny invertebrates that make up most of their diet. Willets and Long-billed Curlews, along with Marbled Godwits, enjoy these fine dining options as well. Here are a few of these lovely shorebirds as they go about finding breakfast, lunch or dinner, as the case may be.
Black-necked Stilt strafing for breakfast
American Avocet trying to score a snack
Willet with a tasty morsel
Long-billed Curlew with something I wouldn't eat
And how about this fellow? I think he's pretty dapper looking. This is a Greater Yellowlegs. These guys are fairly common in my area. And you know what? They're quite common in your area, too. Look at a range map for this bird and you'll see it summers in every area of the U.S. Just go look at a marsh or mudflat in your locale, even if it's just a wastewater pond, and you're likely to find a Greater Yellowlegs.
Marbled Godwit searches along the shore for something yummy
. . . and appears to find something way down in the sand
Now, I'm including this photo of an American Avocet with some Marbled Godwits just because I love this image and want to share it with you. It's almost like they're posing. "Okay, on three, places everyone! Look adorable and tilt you head so the sun captures each of you perfectly! Nice, thank you!"
So all of these rather elegant looking shorebirds, mostly long and slender, aren't the only waterfowl hanging out in these tidal marshes and inlets. We also have sandpipers and plovers and other rather more plump little cuties . . . so how about a look at some of them?
This little guy (or gal, can't tell which) is a Black-bellied Plover. I know, not much of a black belly, but it will turn that way once breeding season begins.
That's one of the cool things about many birds - their plummage changes as they move into breeding mode. For example here's an American Avocet in the winter, a study in black-and-white . . .
and here's that same avocet in breeding plummage. Dressing up with a little color never hurts when you're trying to find a mate.
Most people have heard of sandpipers, but not everyone knows that there are a whole lot of different kinds of them. The ones I see most often around these parts are the Least Sandpipers. I presume they're called that because they're really, really tiny. These two little birds here are only six inches long, compared to, say, an American Robin, which is a honkin' 10 inches long. The little sandpipers as a group are often called "peeps" because of the short, high-pitched sounds they make. "Peep, cheep, peep."
Here's another nice plump little shorebird that plies the Northern California waterways, a Black Turnstone. I don't see these guys very often, but they're lovely to look at.
Most of these shorebirds methodically work their way across the shallow water in which they're foraging, their heads bobbing up and down like needles in a sewing machine. Others, like the egrets and herons, stand seemingly dead still or move so slowly that they seem to be in slow motion. They stare at a spot and then strike so fast it will make your head spin.
Here's a Green Heron in wait-and-snatch mode. It will stand there motionless for long periods of time and then snatch its prey from the water in the blink of an eye.
And here's a Great Blue Heron that used the same technique and scored this crab or crawdad or whatever it is.
This is the Great Blue Heron up close and personal. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want that bill stabbing on chomping at me.
This selection of photos represents only some of the shorebirds readily available for viewing throughout the waterways of Northern California. A couple of these shots were taken at Shollenberger Park in Petaluma, but the rest were taken at the Las Gallinas Wastewater Treatment Plant or Loch Lomond Marina in San Rafael, as well the the tidal saltwater marsh in Corte Madera near The Village shopping center. If you're in these areas, do stop by and take a look. You won't be disappointed.
Here's one last image I'd like to share, probably my favorite taken in the past year. Two American Avocets in perfect harmony foraging at daybreak. I just managed to catch that moment where they moved as if mirror images of one another. I call this "Duet" and I think you can see why. Please enjoy.
If you have shorebirds in your area, or any other bird images you'd like to share or discuss, I hope you'll feel free to do so in the comment thread. Lineatus will resume regular duties next week, but I hope you've enjoyed this foray into the world of shorebirds. I'll do my best to answer questions if you have any, and good birding to you.