Bird Watching: "On the Waterfront" - Part 5

Here's the same cliff side zoomed in on the major concentration of pelicans.

Here's a different cliff with even more pelicans.

I managed to get this close up of one of the pelicans grooming himself.

Next, we came to a cliff full of comorants.

Here's a close of showing one of the cormorants with its breeding plume.

Ok, these aren't birds; but I just had to share this cliff full of seals too.

One last picture. This sea cave is the real reason we drove up to La Jolla; but the lighting wasn't very good for getting photos of it. The birds and seals more than made up for it though.

Hi Jane, Good to see you! love all your photos of the Pacific Coast!!

Linth, Great shot of the Forster's Tern along with the others!

Great shots Jane!

Excellent shots, Jane. Thank you for sharing them. The sea cave reminds me of a place in Bar Harbor, ME called 'Thunder Hole'. It attracts a lot of people to observe the waves crashing against the rocks, emanating a thunderous noise. Bar Harbor was always one of my favorite places to visit.

I like the Brown Pelicans, also. They have made a fantastic recovery here in the mid-Atlantic. Once listed as "endangered" in our area, numbers of nesting sites have increased significantly. Nonetheless, I seldom observe them.

Breath taken beauty of the West Coast. Thank all for sharing such beautiful experience and photos!

Beautiful photos Jane. They're all wonderful.

Wonderful photos all!! Love the sea cave!

Here are my on the 'frozen' waterfront shots of Canada Geese.

Canada Geese walking on the still frozen Tunkwa Lake.

Mated pair of Canada Geese?

Looks like he was courting her in this shot!

Must be a male Killdeer, he was walking around fluffing his feathers at Tunkwa lake.

Photos of the Killdeer front and back!

I think this one is off in search of a partner at Tunkwa Lake, the last time I saw him he was eyeing a Robin, guess the females hadn't arrived yet!!

Wonderful shots Margaret! I love the Killdeer very much!

Nice photos of the Killdeer, Margaret. I have only photographed one thus far, this year, but they're around.

The weather here continues to be lousy. Hopefully, the storm front, moving northward, will bring some new migrants by this weekend.

I have lots of photo opportunities with the Osprey but with the gray skies it's like taking black and white photos. Anyway, here is a few photos of Osprey taken on Sunday. The female is not sitting on eggs, as of yet.

When I get bored and/or frustrated, I start playing around with the photos. Here's a 100% crop of one of the Osprey.

And another photo I played around with.

Looking skyward ......

Circling the surrounding area ......

This is the nesting pair .......

It probably didn't help that I had my white balance manually set for "bright sun". When I go out, I need to have a checklist to make sure that my settings are what I want them to be.

However, nothing beats a colorful background, like a blue sky. This was another photo that was taken against the gray sky. I altered the background ..... added the blue sky ...... to illustrate how big a difference it makes.

Wonderful shots Linth!

Linth, are you ever able to see the nest at Blackwater which is featured on the webcam?

Even without the sun your photos are still great Linth! And you hit on something that I should also do and that's make sure I,m ready to shoot pictures (settings). Too many times Ive went birding, not fully prepared.

Thanks Linth and cheer up, hopefully the weather will get better soon. It hasn't been too good here either, we had a little snow the past 2 nights, thankfully it melted during the day, and it's been really windy.

Your doctored photos of the Ospreys are really neat!.

Love those Osprey shots. They are such magnificent birds.

Thanks, everyone.

Margaret, the Osprey nesting platform on the Blackwater webcam is just off of the wildlife drive. One can stop their car and take photos from a distance of probably 200 ft (60m). You are not supposed to venture closer. I seldom have taken Osprey photos from that vantage point.

They actually moved the platform a short distance closer to the roadway a few weeks ago. Accessibility to it, for camera repair work, was being hampered by the swampy surroundings. Now if something happens to the camera, they can more easily get to it. Actually there are several Osprey platforms along the drive, usually all occupied by Osprey. I just never bothered to take photos unless something unusual was happening. Osprey platforms can be seen everywhere on the eastern shore of Maryland.

Burd, I'm pretty good at remembering but occasionally let my guard down. I like to be one step ahead of the next scene, like going from an open field into a woods. But one should have a checklist, i.e. shutter speed, aperture, ISO, white balance and most of all, battery check.

Margaret, here is a photo at the Osprey cam taken from the wildlife drive. You can see the wires leading up to the camera. During the winter, Bald Eagles often sit on the platform.

Sorry, wrong photo. Here is the one that I wanted to post. The other one was also taken at Blackwater a few years ago.

This message was edited Mar 30, 2010 9:48 AM

Thank you very much, Linth.

We sure have been a State (Maryland) of record setters. First, record snow. Now, record heat. The 90 degree heat should certainly move some summertime birds our way, a little early.

I did see my first-of-the-year Snowy Egrets and Little Blue Herons, this week, so that's a good sign. Unfortunately, the leaves will already be on the trees when the masses arrive. Fortunately, on the waterfront, trees generally are not an issue. In the meantime, I've been taking a bunch of photos of one of our local Osprey. Since I don't have a view into the nest like Margaret (in Perth), I will probably limit my Osprey photography until the offspring are ready to fledge.

So, here are a few recent photos taken in the last 10 days.

The sun was almost directly behind the Little Blue Herons so I was unable to get any nice photos. so I turned what I did get into something presentable.

The male Osprey is off for a food search while the female is getting some feelings that egg-laying is very near. She is sticking very close to the nest.

Although the female Osprey is not visible, mating is underway .....

Normally, I don't use a teleconverter but this photo was taken at 700mm.