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

Here is a link to the complete series of photos.

Happy Holidays to all, and thanks for looking.

Regards,

Glenn Nevill

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.

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

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

The lighting was terrible, and we did not stay long, but if interested here is the complete page of that day.

I decided to come back the next day in the morning, September 5th, with the hope that overcast skies would make for better photos of these birds.

I arrived close to 9AM and it was overcast.

The first bird I saw was this Long-billed Curlew.

For this and other shorebirds I saw that morning see this page…

I set up near the pond and waited. It was not long before I spotted one of the adult Clapper Rails.

And not long after, I spotted a second one…

This one has a band on the right leg,

and a olive green radio transmitter attached to its back (click the images to enlarge)…

This was the closest shot I got that day of the female rail, the soft lighting and background worked well with this bird…

I shot several sequences of the rails that morning, see the entire series here.

Thanks for looking, and comments are always welcome.

Here is the result, click on the images to enlarge them…

It never came out of the pickle grass for a clear view, I felt lucky just to get a few clear shot of the eyes.

You can see the complete page here.

Thanks for looking.

Regards,

Glenn Nevill

A number of supporters of the Predatory Bird Research Group were invited last Sunday by Glenn Stewart to visit a rescued juvenile peregrine falcon that was found in a hole by PG&E workers somewhere in the Sacramento River Delta. It was taken to the Lindsay Wildlife Museum where it was nursed back to health.  But it needed to regain strength in the wings and it needed some coaching to be able to hunt on its own once more.  That is where falconry comes in.  Not only were falconers instrumental in the recovery of endangered peregrine falcons, but they continue to aid rescued and injured birds when they are ready for rehabilitation so they can survive once released.  Using methods developed over thousands of years, the ancient art of falconry continues to be virtually the only way to insure that the falcons thrive when they regain their freedom. You can see the complete sequence of still photos from that visit here.

After we had spent about an hour visiting this young bird, we drove out to a field on the UC Santa Cruz campus where Glenn Stewart did a training flight with his own peregrine falcon, Sophie, who not only goes with him to classes when he speaks on raptor conservation, but also goes with him when he travels to Montana to practice one of the oldest sports known, that of falconry.  On this sunny afternoon, Sophie was to fly out then come back in to catch a lure made of rubber that Glenn Stewart swung around on a cord. Five passes were made before Sophie caught the lure.  You can see the action in this HD video I have uploaded on YouTube.  Use the controls at the bottom to size it to full screen and set it to 720 HD quality.

In Golden Gate Park at Stow Lake, Great Horned Owls had nested.  It had been over a month since I had seen them last and I heard that they had fledged.  Walking up the hill, I found people with binoculars staring at two trees near the trail. And there I found one of the adults and one of the fledglings resting.

Here is the adult…

And here is the fledgling…

With a 44″ wingspan it is not the biggest owl, the Great Grey Owl with 52″ has a greater wingspan, but the Great Horned Owl weighs in heavier at 3.1 pounds versus 2.4 pounds. The Great Horned Owl feeds on mice, rabbits, squirrels and skunks as well as birds like ducks and quail. And it uses these claws to catch its prey…

You can see the complete page of images here.

After spending about two hours watching the owls, I had lunch at the boat house, then headed west to the ocean where I parked at Ocean Beach to try to find one of the smaller species. There were reports of Snowy Plovers there, and I wanted to see how they were faring on a city beach.

Once I made it to the water’s edge, I found lots of people, dogs, gulls and a lone Marbled Godwit  with a very long beak feeding in the surf.

I photographed it for a short time, then continued south along the beach where I finally found a small flock of Snowy Plovers.  This species of plover is small, 6.25″ long, 17″ wing span and only 1.4 ounces in weight. They are also endangered and I kept my distance.  Using my long lens setup of 700mm and by cropping the images, I kept at least 30 feet away to keep from disturbing them.

This one is in breeding plumage…

compare it to this one, not in breeding plumage…

and here is one with banded legs, flying…

You can see the whole series of photos here.

Thanks for looking.

I have been refinishing a kitchen table, doing the work out back, and I had to delay putting on a coat of varnish because this Cooper’s Hawk decided to make a meal of a Mourning Dove on our back fence. I did not want to go outside and spook the hawk while it was eating, and so I went and got my camera and recorded some to the meal through our dining room window. The first few shots were pretty blurred as I was shooting through the window glass which is at least 100 years old and not what I would call optically flat.  After a while, when I was sure the bird was almost done, I opened the window enough to poke my camera out and got some clear shots of the bird before it flew off.

Checking my copy of Hawks of North America, which gives a good description of the differences between Cooper’s and Sharp-shinned as well as male and female, I’m going to say that this is an adult male Cooper’s hawk. Cheeks on females are rufus while adult males are gray as seen on this bird.

Back and upper wing coverts are blue-gray on males and brownish gray on females. This bird has the blue-gray markings mentioned.

Outer tail feathers of the Cooper’s hawk are shorter than the inner tail feathers which gives the tail a rounded look and it can be seen clearly in this view of the tail. Sharp-shinned tails have a much squarer look to them. Note also the gray nape seen clearly as the bird reaches down to eat.

The hawk finished up by taking the carcass away. After it was gone I went out with a vacuum to remove the left over feathers. The last thing I needed was down feathers landing on the next coat of varnish I was about to put on that kitchen table I was refinishing.

For the complete sequence, here’s the link to the page.

Thanks for looking.