Ten of my favorite shots from 2011

On this, the last day of the year, I’ve looked back at my photos from 2011 and I’ve chosen ten shots that I really like.  Let me know what you think. Click on any shot to enlarge to full size, click on the back button to return to the blog post.

This first one is of Dapper Dan, a peregrine falcon that nests at PG&E’s 34 story office tower in San Francisco. It was taken in December when Glenn Stewart and I were up on the ledge where the nest is located. We were there to clean out the detritus and supply them with clean nesting gravel. The peregrines were not amused. This shot was just one of many…

Full page of photos here

Back in May…

Full page from that day here

Later that same month the chicks had fledged…

Full page from that day here

We also got to see Great Horned Owls nesting in Golden Gate Park…

Full page from that day here

A subsequent visit, I found one of the chicks that had fledged, sitting, napping and preening…

And the photos from that day are here

That same day, I went from one of the largest birds, to one of the smallest and rarest ones here in the city, a Snowy Plover on Ocean Beach…

And those photos are here

Not exactly rare, but I don’t come across them very often, a small flock of Cedar Waxwings were found near Stow Lake…

And the days photos for that day are here

Closer to my home, Heron’s Head Park provided quite a few opportunities, but these are my favorite shots from that locale.

In February, I found this Black Oystercatcher feeding…

That day’s shoot here

American Avocets were there almost every time I went…

That days photos here

And shot number ten, from back around Thanksgiving, a Spotted Sandpiper in non-breeding plumage…

That series of photos are here.

Thanks for looking and have a Happy New Year.

Regards,

Glenn Nevill

Peregrines defend their nest site during cleaning…

On December 13th, Glenn Stewart went up to the nest ledge at 77 Beale to clean the area and swap out gravel in the nest box. I went along to wash the dome on the web camera and document the process. However, the adults, Dapper Dan and Diamond Lil showed up to protest our intrusion. So I swapped my wide-angle lens to capture some closeups. All total, we were there for less than ten minutes.

Here is a link to the complete series of photos.

Happy Holidays to all, and thanks for looking.

 

Regards,

Glenn Nevill

Birds at the Palace of Fine Arts

Saturday morning I participated in the 2nd annual Peregrine count. I set up at my location from last year, the Palace of Fine Arts. I got to watch a peregrine for two hours that time. But this time there were no peregrines in sight. So I made do with photographing the birds that were there that morning. Here is one of at least 15 Black-crowned Night Herons that sat in the trees at the pond edge. This is the only one that I could get a clear photograph of.

Lots of Gulls were there bathing and flying around.  Here a Western Gull shakes off in flight, its head completely upside down as it prepares to settle back down…

Lots of ducks and coots, here an American Coot runs across the pond towards someone throwing bread into the water…

For the complete show, click here.

Thanks for looking.

Heron’s Head Park – Birding the day after Thanksgiving

I avoided Black Friday shopping, instead I drove out to Heron’s Head for a much needed nature break. Not many people, and just a few birds at high tide, like this Lesser Yellowlegs…

and this Spotted Sandpiper in winter plumage…

I managed to see some fishing action as a Great Egret explored the pickle grass

and a Brown Pelican passed overhead and dove into the water just north of the trail.

Click here for the complete series of shots.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving.

Regards,

Glenn Nevill

Two new calendars for 2012

I’ve created two new calendars; Peregrines of the San Francisco Bay Area…

and Birds of the San Francisco Bay.

For a larger preview of each calendar, see these two links…

For the Peregrines of the San Francisco Bay Area

For  Birds of the San Francisco Bay Area

Why paper calendars? Because while I love photographing the birds, I really like to share the images in a way that others can appreciate. They make cool gifts and get hung on walls.  With any luck they might inspire someone that has never seen a peregrine or even an egret up close to learn more about nature and conservation.

So please check them out.  I’m really happy with the quality this year and hope that you will enjoy them too.

Best regards,

Glenn Nevill