Towheeblog

Brought to you by inveterate photographer, patient pursuer, camera afficionado, Albert Ryckman.
First, from Elkhorn Slough, a superb birding venue and preserve in coastal Monterey County:

Here are some superb shots of Willet at work and in flight. The cormorant with the blue throat patch is a Brandt’s, not often seen near shore. The brown shorebird with long beak–godwit (also one shot in flight). Otter lunching, Eared Grebes in breeding plumage.

SACRAMENTO VALLEY NWR:

I have shamed Albert into admitting his admiration for White Pelicans. Now what have they got going for them? Second largest wingspan in North America, largest fish pouch on the continent, a unique beak-topping rudder for breeding season, size, social order as they fish like a fleet of trawlers, the choreography of several heads and beaks pumping in and out of the the water, perfectly synchronized. Beats any marching band I’ve ever seen. Also here: WF Ibis, stunning stilts, Snow and White-fronted geese, kestrel, red-tail, inevitable coot.

WANT MORE FINE IMAGES? Click here for a look at finalists in a bird photo contest. I would naturally prefer the Great Gray Owl about to plunge to earth for a meal heard snuffling along under the snow below.