Sipping from the fountain in Mountain View

October 19, 2012: Rancho San Antonio, Mountain View

How much information is enough? Is the hint of color, shape, and size enough to make a good guess as to whom is trying to sip from this fountain at the park?

Investigating a mystery in Sunnyvale

October 14, 2012: Sunnyvale-Saratoga Road, Sunnyvale

I'd been hearing unusual calls for a few weeks near the Orchard Supply Hardware in Sunnyvale, so today I went out with my camera to document what I was hearing. I didn't see or hear anything unusual near OSH and Safeway, but while walking south along Sunnyvale-Saratoga, I was brought to alert by calls to the south-west, over the Little Caesar's pizza place. Indeed, it was the mystery flock! Can you identify these birds that so surprised me?

Shades of brown at Shoreline

September 29, 2012: Shoreline park, Mountain View.

Living near the bay but not in the bay: can you identify this patterned little brown bird who kept busy hopping from twig to twig?

Expert fishing bird at Shoreline

September 29, 2012: Shoreline park, Mountain View.

This expert fishing bird pauses for some preening in Charleston Slough at Shoreline park. As a bonus, can you identify the host of smaller birds also in the scene? Some of those smaller birds aren't actually that small! See this previous post for an action shot of one such fellow from earlier the same day.

Long legs at Shoreline

September 29, 2012: Shoreline park, Mountain View.

Check out those legs! These showy black and white birds can generate a lot of volume when enough of them start vocalizing at the same time. They were quiet on this late September day though. Can you name this common south bay bird?

Birds wading in the shallow water at Shoreline

September 29, 2012: Shoreline park, Mountain View.

A bunch of little birds were poking around in the shallow waters at Shoreline park in the late afternoon. Can you identify them and guess what they might be looking to find for dinner?

Bold action at Yahoo!

September 27, 2012: Yahoo! campus, Sunnyvale.

While visiting the Yahoo! campus over lunch, this fellow swooped right down, landed, and ripped into my corn bread. Multiple shooing motions with my hand barely budged him. Talk about fearless! I have some confidence I could have grabbed him had I wished.

Do you know what kind of bird was getting all aggressive over free lunch at Yahoo!? This campus is situated right on the baylands of the southern part of the San Francisco Bay.

Update: I spent some time with the Aperture editing tools to pull out some detail in the feathers. The below photos capture more of what I saw directly: a black bird, but with notably lighter coloration in spots and a curious white patch on the belly.

Banking over Rancho San Antonio

September 26, 2012: Rancho San Antonio park, Mountain View.

Near the parking lot at Rancho San Antonio, there's a large open field where model plane enthusiasts often fly their creations. Today there were no model planes, but someone else was showing off their aerial acrobatics.

"Landing gear" ready to go! It was an impressive display.

Black and white at Rancho San Antonio

September 26, 2012: Rancho San Antonio park, Mountain View.

Exciting contrast on the head plus nice balancing work on the wire! I hoped to get a longer view of this bird perched on a wire between the seasonal creek with its trees and a large grassy meadow, but it flew off into the distance moments after I took these photos. I enjoyed the peek I did get and hope you do to.

Bold and curious at Rancho San Antonio

September 26, 2012: Rancho San Antonio park, Mountain View.

Bold and curious: once in Yosemite, I had one of these fellows swoop down and rip a piece of pepperoni right off the slice of pizza I was holding. This one seemed content to just watch me.

Scratching around at Rancho San Antonio

September 26, 2012: Rancho San Antonio park, Mountain View.

Who do we have scritch-scratching in the leaves and dirt under the shade of the trees? She (or he) was very intent and didn't seem phased by my photography not far away on the path. In photo two, we see success! Not sure if that's a berry or something else discovered in the loose dirt.

One thing I enjoy about looking at photos afterwards is getting to see more color than I take in on the spot. I like all the rich greys and browns and cinnamons on this bird.

Shed feather at Rancho San Antonio

September 26, 2012: Rancho San Antonio park, Mountain View.

Who lost a feather? And from where?

Hawks at Rancho San Antonio

September 26, 2012: Rancho San Antonio park, Mountain View.

Hawks! I enjoyed seeing two hawks circling in big loops over a dry grass meadow and a tree-lined seasonal creek near the main path to the farm at Rancho San Antonio. It was a challenge to practice fast-focusing on these moving birds, but I managed to get three decent photos.

What field marks did you use to identify these birds?

Bright red caps at Rancho San Antonio

Two birds, one photo! Don't let your eye be so drawn to that bright red spot against the blue California sky that you miss the other critter. Might not want to jump to gender conclusions too fast either.

These photos are from September 26, 2012, taken at Rancho San Antonio park in Mountain View, California. The tree is near a busy foot path.

Look at those strong, gripping feet and how the tail feathers are used for stability!

Another shot showing off posture and a little bit of the front of the bird as well.

Not sure what's going on here, maybe some preening. Nice white wing patches in any case.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching and listening to these birds.

Welcome to Wild Birds of California!

Welcome to Wild Birds of California! I hope you enjoy viewing and thinking about the birds featured here as much as I enjoyed photographing them.

I'll be using a quiz format. All photographs will be from California, and I'll give some context about the photo, such as where it was taken. My intent is to post only photos I've recently taken, so if you are following this blog actively, you'll also have that context about the season to help identify the bird.

Enjoy! Comments most welcome.

   - Manzanita Starwood