Western Grebes, mating behavior, Lake Hodges, San Diego California

The Western and Clark’s Grebes on our side of Lake Hodges when we visited were not putting on their dancing on water display…but that does not mean they were finished with mating behavior. I saw several pairs of Western Grebes doing this display, some with their heads even lower in the water, but always with the wings above their backs. The bits of white fuzz in the air are most likely cottonwood seed. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode. 1/500th @ ISO 125 @ f4. +1EV for the backlighting. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Brown Pelican, La Jolla Cove, La Jolla California

The Point and Shoot Superzoom cameras I favor for their easy of use and portability continue to improve year to year, model to model…slowly eroding the limitations of the class…and making more and more challenging images not only possible, but easy. The Sony RX10iv that I am using now has hybrid auto focus, just like the DSLRs the pros use, and that has made birds in flight, again, not only possible but easy. It used to be that when I visited the cliffs at La Jolla or Point Loma north and south of the Mission Bay Park/Sea World area where the San Diego Birding Festival is held every year, I would be happy to come back with one really good shot of a Brown Pelican in flight out of hundreds of attempts. On this trip, with the Sony RX10iv, I came back with more than 50 pelicans-in-flight shots I would not hesitate to share, out of an equal number of attempts. Score one for technology! This bird was coming in over the surf at La Jolla Cove when I caught it. I like the troubled water behind it, as opposed to the an expanse of open water or sky…which is the more usual shot. The closeness to the water also gives more of a sense of scale. Sony RX10iv at 420mm. Program mode with “action” modifications. 1/1600th @ f7.1 @ ISO 100. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Our backyard, Kennebunk Maine.

We got our promised snow, and 5 more hours in the storm to go. 🙂 This is the view out our back door, over the deck. We have limbs down in the ornamental cherry in the front yard, but they missed to the cars. I will be suiting up momentarily to go out to deal with this. 40 degrees predicted for tomorrow, so it won’t last long. Sony RX10iv in-camera HDR at 24mm. Processed in Polarr.

Harbor Seals, The Children’s Pool, La Jolla California

As I mentioned in previous posts, I was privileged to be at Children’s Pool Beach in La Jolla Cove in Southern California on a day when the Harbor Seals were on the outside of the sea wall giving birth. There were at least 5 mother’s with newborns and a dozen mothers up on shelves in the sun just waiting. The interactions between mothers and newborns are always interesting and almost too cute. There is a lot of face time as they memorize each other’s unique breath signature, which is how they will identify each other for bonding and feeding over the coming weeks and months. Mother’s will not nurse any but their own pups, and will aggressively “drive off” any pups that approach without the right breath. Sony RX10iv at ~580mm. Program mode. 1/500th and 1/250th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Polarr and assembled in FrameMagic.

Brant’s Cormorant, La Jolla Cove, La Jolla California

Every year, the Brant’s Cormorants build nests about 6 feet below the sidewalk at La Jolla Cove, on a little ledge on the cliff face. The ledge is almost too close for comfortable photography, and is overhung by brush and shaded along most of its length, but still it is too tempting to pass up. This Brant’s is displaying on the nest…I am not exactly sure who it was trying to impress. Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode. 1/250th @ ISO 250 @ f4. Processed in Polarr.

Osprey, La Jolla Cove, La Jolla California

Robert Wilson and I had already had a good morning at Lake Hodges with the Grebes, but we decided to go back to San Diego via La Jolla Cove…not a direct route I know, but we were more interested in photo ops and efficiency. We found a parking space on the hill between the Cave Store and Scripps Park and had no more than gotten set up on the Pelicans and Cormorants on the cliff below when an Osprey came in off the sea right over our heads and landed on a light pole. It sat there for longer than I did, and I photographed it from about every angle. It insisted on sitting with its back to the sun. Magnificent bird! Sony RX10iv at 495mm. Program mode. 1/1000th @ ISO 100 @ f4.5. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Brown Pelican in breeding plumage, La Jolla Cove, La Jolla, California

The Brown Pelicans are in breeding plumage at La Jolla Cove (La Jolla, California) in late February when I visit for the San Diego Birding Festival. I was with Robert Wilson on the day I photographed this specimen. He is from Florida and he commented that he never sees Brown Pelicans with this much color. That inspired a bit of research this morning and, indeed, the Eastern and Western sub-species of Brown Pelican do have quite different breeding plumage, with the western birds being considerably brighter and more colorful than the eastern. I have never seen, that I remember, a breeding plumage eastern Brown…or maybe I just assumed that the birds I saw were not in full breeding plumage since they were so much duller than the ones I see in San Diego every February. Sony RX10iv at 495mm. Program mode. 1/1000th @ f7.1 @ ISO 100. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos.

Western Grebes, Lake Hodges, San Diego CA

On the Monday after the San Diego Birding Festival, Robert Wilson and I made the drive up I15 to Lake Hodges to see the large numbers of Western and Clark’s Grebes that are there right now. I assume they nest there, but if they do, we did not see any nests…we were maybe in the wrong area of the shore. We did see lots of Grebes…way more Western than Clarks…and none close to shore. Robert was hoping to see the Grebes doing their mating dance on the surface of the water…something I had never seen either. Dance might not be the right word. Having at last seen it at Lake Hodges, it is more like water skiing without a boat, or pairs figure skating without ice, or some as yet unnamed Olympic event for Grebe couples. You hear the noise first, even from a third of a mile across the lake where I was standing…splashing water and slapping grebe feet…and if you can get orientated you see the birds up and running across the water, straight ahead at a pretty unbelievable pace, leaving a long wake like a white line behind. It is over in less than 20 seconds. As I say, the birds pictured here were at least a third of a mile away, so far away that I could not see that it was two birds in tandem with my naked eye…that was hard to see until I cropped way in on the 600mm photographs. I still can not tell if these are Western or Clark’s Grebes for certain…though they look more like Western…they were simply too far away. The shots are not what I hoped for. Too much air between me and the birds for really sharp photos…but the experience was one I would not have wanted to miss, and the photos at least reinforce the memory. I have seen the Grebes’ mating dance, and it was indeed wonderful! Sony RX10iv at 600mm. Program mode. 1/640th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Polarr and heavily cropped. Assembled in FrameMagic.

Sea Lions, La Jolla Cove, La Jolla California

Harbor Seals are not the only mammalian attraction at La Jolla Cove, in La Jolla California. The north end of the Cove is home to a large colony of Sea Lions, who spend most of their day sunning on the rocks and soil cliffs. They too have pups this time of year. This year they have taken over the point of rock between the Bridge Club and the sea, which has always been open to the public. There is a little gate in the protecting wall and a flight of stairs down to the ledge, and 50 to 100 tourists can be counted on to be down there any sunny day, way too close to the Sea Lions. So far, the Sea Lions seem fine with it, but that could change in an instant, any day now. I went down on the ledge myself for these shots, but kept a reasonable (and I hope, responsible and respectful) distance from the napping Sea Lions. Sony RX10iv at 97mm and 600mm. Program mode. 1/800th @ ISO 100 @ f4 and 1/1000th @ ISO 125 @ f4.5. Processed in Polarr and assembled in FrameMagic.

Harbor Seals, La Jolla Cove, La Jolla California

When I got to the Children’s Pool Beach in La Jolla, California, there were, as I mentioned in a previous post, disappointingly few Harbor Seals on the beach. That was because they were on the outside of the protecting sea wall, busy giving birth. This baby seal was born only seconds before this shot. He (or she) is literally coming up for air for the first time. Sony RX10iv at 75mm. Program mode. 1/100th @ ISO 100 @ f3.5. Processed in Polarr.