Fishing line

  

Brown Pelicans (Pelecanus occidentalis) and a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) fishing along the Bodega Harbor shoreline on 23 September 2020.

 

 

Along the creek

Whew, it's been a hectic few days.  I'm so sorry that so many people in Sonoma County are having such a difficult time right now.  Yesterday (27 October 2019) we evacuated due to wildfire concerns and drove to Davis, CA.  Today I went for a short walk in the UC Davis Arboretum.  I've been on edge since the fire started, but walking today helped a lot.  I finally felt like I could take a deeper breath.

With the hope that some nice photos will help other people, too, here are a few images from Putah Creek this afternoon:

 

 Green Heron (Butorides virescens)

 

 Wood Duck (Aix sponsa)

 

 Bushtit (Psaltriparus minimus)

 

 Red-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta canadensis)

P.S.  A world of thanks to all of the firefighters and the incredible team of people who have been working so hard to fight the Kincade Fire and to coordinate and communicate with everyone in the community.  Our appreciation is hard to express.

 

High and low

 

Today's tides were some of the highest and lowest of the year.  

Above, a flock of Snowy Egrets (Egretta thula) concentrated on a small patch of salt marsh remaining above the high tide (+6.9 feet) in Bodega Harbor this morning.

 

 

And a small juvenile Gumboot Chiton (Cryptochiton stelleri) exposed during the low tide (-1.4 feet) on the outer coast in the early evening.

 

Morning meeting

 

Great Egrets (Ardea alba) and Snowy Egrets (Egretta thula) getting ready for the day.  Photographed in Bodega Harbor on 8 February 2018.

 

Wading

 

A quick shot of a Black-crowned Night-Heron (Nycticorax nycticorax) in Cheney Creek on 8 May 2017.  The long white occipital plumes (originating from the back of the head) are longest in older birds during the breeding season.

P.S.  On 19 June 2013, I shared a photo of a younger Black-crowned Night-Heron in the post called "Nesting locally".

 

Sunrise surprise

It was 6 a.m.  I saw the flock in the distance, and I thought it looked different, but I didn't follow up on that instinct until they came closer.  And then I had to scramble for my binoculars and camera.

 

The birds kept flying to the south, and the light was still dim, so I didn't end up with sharp pictures — but they're good enough for an interesting record!

Can you tell what species they are?

Here's another view (below).  I can also share that they had a distinctive flight style — long glides alternating with a short series of relatively strong wing beats.

 

These are ibis, and likely White-faced Ibis (Plegadis chihi).  Scan carefully and note the long outstretched neck, long trailing legs, and long down-curved bill.

Did you count how many were in the flock?  It's easiest to use the first picture.  (My answer is below the next image.)

 

I counted 16 ibis — that's a relatively high number for this area. White-faced Ibis don't nest here.  It's more likely these individuals were passing through on their way to breeding grounds further north.