As I was driving home from breakfast with a girlfriend at Roy's in Pebble Beach (yes, that's how I roll), I had to slow down as I turned into the street that leads to ours to allow a great blue heron to saunter across the road.
I love those big wading birds. But really, I love any big bird. Whether they're scurrying on a beach, perching on a telephone line, on the wing, or, yes, strolling across the street.
I know there are lots of yummy rodents (gophers, voles, ground squirrels) in the big dirt lot that this bird seemed to be heading toward, and I've seen GBH's there on occasion, patiently hunting. I also see them at our local frog pond. And there are various heron nesting spots roundabout as well, which are fun to visit in the springtime. Talk about cacophony!
That got me thinking about the various photos I've shot over the years of large birds. So here is a gallery of birds I've known that weigh over a pound. In order from small to large (as near as I can ascertain). Some of these shots are
seriously cropped (and blown up), and none of them are National Geographic quality, but still: they make me happy. As has been having the opportunity to observe all these birds, mostly in their native habitat.
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| Puffin (Shetland Islands) |
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| Northern spotted owl (Mendocino County, CA) |
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| Black oystercatcher (Monterey) |
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| Kalij pheasant (Hawaii) (an unfortunate introduction) |
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| Black crowned night heron (Oahu) |
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| Red-footed booby (Kauai) |
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| Great egret (end of my street) |
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| Brandt's cormorant (Monterey) |
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| Kaka (Stewart Island, NZ) |
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| Takahe (South Island, NZ) |
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| Northern Gannet (Scotland) |
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| Great blue heron (our local frog pond) |
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| Brown pelican (Monterey) |
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| Canada goose (Monterey) |
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| Wild turkey (our fence) |
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| Sandhill crane (Plumas County, CA) |
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| Bald eagle (Gila River, Arizona) |
2 comments:
I've got a big bird for you to photograph!
Oh, yes, albatrosses! I do have photos of them from NZ, but they never made it into Flickr, which is what I'm mining for my photos. Clearly I have some photo archiving to do....
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