The Crested Caracara is a raptor in the falcon family that lives in the Southwest and feeds mostly on carrion. They live year-round in South Texas so I had an opportunity to photograph them from a blind on the Santa Clara Ranch near Rio Grande City on Tuesday. There was lots of activity near the blind and we saw Crested Caracara, Harris’s Hawks and Black Vultures.
The Northern Mockingbird is the state bird of Texas. I have often thought it would be fun to photograph the state bird of every state in that state. I don’t think that will ever happen but here’s a start with the Official Texas State Bird photographed in the state of Texas on the Santa Clara Ranch near Rio Grande City in South Texas.
A couple of Marbled Godwits enjoy feasting on the Coquina strewn around them at Silver Strand State Beach.
While in San Diego a couple of weeks ago, we stopped at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery near sunset. The seemingly endless rows of simple granite headstones made a profound statement and we were reminded of the sacrifices our brave servicemen and women make in serving our country.
At La Jolla Cove, I got lots of practice photographing Pacific Brown Pelicans as they flew in and landed to bask in the sun.
This Pacific Brown Pelican comes in for a landing in La Jolla.
The birds in my yard love the fountain. The Bushtits usually arrive noisily en masse but on this day, only one female came to bathe. She bathed for a minute or so then disappeared. A few minutes later she reappeared still dripping wet to bathe again. She was one very wet bird.
I spent the day Saturday with Moose and Sharon Peterson at the Eagles Nest Airport in Ione, CA. It was my first opportunity to try my hand at aviation photography. The tiny private airport hosted a gathering of antique aircraft to its new grass landing strip. I believe the definition of antique airplanes is those built before 1945 but this group was all pre 1940’s. The glorious sunset was a perfect ending to a fun day and a wonderful experience.
Silver Strand State Beach was strewn with countless empty Coquina shells while we were there. That’s what attracted and kept the shore birds there. Coquinas are tiny clam like mollusks that come in lots of colors. When they’re spread over the beach, it looks like the beach is covered with tiny butterflies. This Marbled Godwit reaches into a Coquina shell with its long slightly curved beak to extract the tiny morsel. Nikon D500, Nikkor 500mm PF lens.
