I took my boat down to the Delta yeterday....

[Mike McKenzie]

to do a little fishin' with KD. "Little" being the operative word, the only fish caught was this one by Kevin. A striper it ain't!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/Crappie1.jpg

Since I had my Camera and lenses along we decided to go "bird huntin" so Kevin "guided" while I "clicked"....Here's a few pictures for your perusal. No Snowy Owls though! Snowy Egrets instead..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/Egret8.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/Egret6.jpg

Great Egret
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/WH1A.jpg

Great Egret and a Black-crowned Night Heron
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/Herons1.jpg

Snowy Egrets and their Grand Daddy
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/EgretsHeron.jpg

Tundra Swan....
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/Swan3.jpg

Great Blue Heron tryin' to get goin'
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/GBH1-1.jpg

Goin'
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/GBH2-1.jpg

I thought these guys looked pretty neat in this tree...Almost an extension of it!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/GBH3.jpg

American Bittern
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/Bittern3.jpg

Bittern leavin' the country..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/Bittern6.jpg

The ever elusive, Belted Kingfisher (male)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/BKF6.jpg

Also elusive, a female Belted Kingfisher. Tryin' to get close enough to these birds to get a really good shot, is like tryin' to catch fog in a jar!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/BKF11.jpg

A couple of Black-crowned Night Herons on a Fly by
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/BCNH4.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/BCNH5.jpg

A Northern Harrier crusin' by
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/WTK3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v212/stripermike/WTK1.jpg

I guess that's enough for now.
Mike

[jbird]

Great stuff Mike! Thats my kinda day. If the rods dont produce, whip out the glass! :-) That is a dandy slab tho.

I have never even seen a black crowned night heron. My buddy Curtis has been driving down to the preserve in Colusa pretty frequently for photography. He said theres a night heron rookery there!

I have only seen one bittern since Ive been doing the photography thing and he let me very close! He was doing his bittern pose and thought I couldnt see him.

Great diversity in your post! Im jealouus!

PS The raptor is a northern harrier. About a year ago, I persued a pair of white tails in so. oregon for a couple weeks. they are pretty unmistakeable when you see em. Actually look a bit like mini snowy owls.

http://www.birds-of-north-america.net/Northern_Harrier.html


https://www.google.com/search?q=white+tailed+kite&hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&rlz=1I7ADRA_enUS443&prmd=imvns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=nnk2T7_nNMTf0QHg5JHhAg&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CA8Q_AUoAQ&biw=1366&bih=596

[Kneedeep]

Really enjoyed seeing these. Thanks for posting them up!

[Phil Synhorst]

Great pics Mike, thanks for posting 'em.

That's a respectable Crappie that KD managed to stick.

[Larry S]

Mike and jbird,
you two always amaze us. It's like the old 40's radio show, "Can You Top This?"
Yeah, I said 40's!
Story in today's San Diego Union-Tribune about the sighting of a "common redpoll"
last Saturday in nearby Julian. Farthest south it's ever been seen and only the 12th
ever seen in the state since 1899. The female has been hanging near Julian's The
Birdwatcher Shop since that first sighting. Picture in print edition much better; maybe a file photo?
http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2012/feb/11/tp-bird-seen-in-county-is-a-first/
Best to you boys,
Larry S

[Mike McKenzie]

Great stuff Mike! Thats my kinda day. If the rods dont produce, whip out the glass! :-) That is a dandy slab tho.

I have never even seen a black crowned night heron. My buddy Curtis has been driving down to the preserve in Colusa pretty frequently for photography. He said theres a night heron rookery there!

I have only seen one bittern since Ive been doing the photography thing and he let me very close! He was doing his bittern pose and thought I couldnt see him.

Great diversity in your post! Im jealouus!

PS The raptor is a northern harrier. About a year ago, I persued a pair of white tails in so. oregon for a couple weeks. they are pretty unmistakeable when you see em. Actually look a bit like mini snowy owls.

Jbird,

You're right about the Harrier and I know better..I have to beg a "senior moment" I guess! We've got White-tailed Kites all around the periphery of the Delta. When ever I want to see one, all I have to do is leave my camera at home!
The Night Herons are really common around here but they're kinda hard to get close to!
Thanks for the wake up call!
Mike

[coolrivertx]

What camera and lenses are you using these days? Thanks, Brett

[Adam Grace]

Nice bird shots guys!!!

[Mike McKenzie]

What camera and lenses are you using these days? Thanks, Brett

Brett,
I'm usin' a Canon T2i and most of the shots were with an EF 70-200MM 2.8 L IS II lens except the Kingfishers. For them I used EF 100-400MM 4.5-5.6 L IS...Ya' can't get close to those birds!

Mike

[k.hanley]

"When ever I want to see one, all I have to do is leave my camera at home!"

Mikey that is soooooo true!!!!

Well done partner.

Cheers, Kenny

[Ed Wahl]

Mike you've got some good stuff there.
I've got a soft spot for American Bitterns. Once while prowling a striper spot from shore I got very close to a 'booming' Bittern. Never did pick it out of the all the cattails, but that sound was one of the coolest things I've ever heard in the wild.
I found this with a quick google. http://www.arkive.org/american-bittern/botaurus-lentiginosus/video-00.html

It's much better when it's the only sound on a foggy early morning striper raid.

Ed

[STEELIES/26c3]

wow, quite the day birdin...

Love the photos!

N. Harriers or marsh hawks as we called 'em... used to be common... and now seem scarce.

I guess while Resnick and Westlands is draining all the marshes, there's fewer places for 'em to hang out.

Same with many to most of the riparian and wetland species in your post.

Black crowned night heron rookeries used to abound in the willows along the water's edge when I was a kid... nowadays... I'm surprised when I see a solo bird.

Thanks for the great pictures~
Mark