Going to California with a camera beside me
I've spent the past two days driving down to California. As I headed south the fog began to lessen and I started seeing more Autumn colors. I stopped in Albany, Oregon for lunch. Coal and I needed a walk. I went to Waverly Park. It's just a small park around a little pond, but there were some great birds.As I was walking I was startled to see a Great-Blue Heron very close. He (or she) was sitting beside the water. I had been lookin at a beautiful tree when the Heron moved a bit. We were both surprised to see each other but he let me take a picture before he flew. He landed along the pond edge again. The trail tooks us past the Heron again who did a wonderful job of blending in with the reeds. I love how still they can stand. I watched him for a bit before moving on, hoping he would relax into natural behavior. Apparently Coal and I were too much to ignore so we moved on.
There were also some nifty waterfowl. I haven't seen Shovelers for a whle. There's something about them I really enjoy. They were out in the middle of the lake. I noticed they didn't mingle with the other ducks. Closer to the shore there were the usual Mallards, domestic ducks and and Coots. I also saw some grebes. I thought they were Pied-billed at first but they were Red-necked Grebes. It was so neat because they were right next to the Mallards and the size difference was so noticable. The grebes looked tiny beside the mallards.
I got back on the road then. I saw some amazing birds. On about a 15 mile stretch of 1-5 I saw 14 Red-tail hawks perched right beside the road. When I got to California I started seeing some cranes. And on of the biggest delights was at a road stop in Northern California. When I got out I had to jog quickly to the bathroom but I noticed some people with binoculars watching the trees. After I got out of the bathroom I went to see what they were watching but the people were gone and I coudl see no birds. But as I was walking Coal I saw a Peregrine Falcon!!!! It was just a brief view but way cool.
I enjoyed the scenery as well as the birds. It reminds me what a beautiful country I live in.
Cemeterary at Waverly Park
posted by Herman | 8:37 PM
2 Comments:
Hmm... the pictures are coming out oddly. I'll need to try and fix that
Sounds like you are having a great time! So fun.
Peregrine Falcons...don't know if I have told you this story already. One backpacking trip out to the coast Levi & I were exploring an offshore island. We were around the front side & not too concerned with the incoming tide, as the island was huge & there was no danger of getting trapped by the waves. Upon making our way around to the coastal side of the island, we discovered the tide had come in over the sandbar & unless we wanted to do some serious wadding, we were stuck. We had a backpack with some lunch & books, so we spent a relaxing 6 hours on the island, waiting for the tide to turn. We climbed up to the top & ate some lunch, took a nap, & only then did we really start exploring around. Apparently we got a litltle close to a peregrine falcon's nest--she was screeching & started dive bombing us! She would arch around in a large circle & then swoop down right above our heads! We quickly slide down the dirt face of the island back onto the beach. She decided that was far enough away, but sat in a tree nearby & kept her eye on us the rest of the afternoon.
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