Green Heron, Night Heron, Redtailed Hawk (20161014) Day 1 of California, headed to Santa Barbara area.

Well after a 31/2 year sabbatical we have managed to return to California to visit with Laurel and Neil. We had an early morning to get there, it was almost not "early" enough. Anyway we made it on Thursday, Friday morning we headed out to the Santa Barbara area to spend the weekend. Although the skies were not pleasant, before we even left the parking lot we found this cooperative Red-shouldered Hawk. We were hoping it was a good omen for the day.

Neil had done just a ton of preparation for our visit and we had a number of options on the way to our AirBnB. We stopped into a park with a small "lake" and the ladies took a stroll with us. The local Osprey put on a show for them.

Within the first couple of minutes of being here we had spotted a Green Heron. This has be a bit of a nemesis bird for me. I spotted one last time we were in California, but I didn't manage any shots. Here is a shot of a Green and a juvvie Black-crowned Night Heron.

A little later I was able to get a bit better image of the Green, so here it is.

There were some early migrants showing up in the area like this Pied-billed Grebe.

While the Green wa our most exotic bird on this stop, Red-tailed's are always a pleasure to shoot.

A great memory of the Calgary area, American White Pelicans are not something we get in Nova Scotia. It seems they like to cruise around with their wings in this position.

Another of the Heron family were also present, this Great Blue did a couple of Fly-by's.

I expect that this is one of the parents of the juvenile bird we spotted earlier.

As always I am trying to achieve the perfect Mallard drake shot. Here is my latest entry,

This American Coot made an appearance that demanded an image, or two.

One of the major attractions of California in the spring is the great Anna's and Allan's Hummingbirds. In the fall the colours are somewhat less impressive.

 That wrapped up our little outing. So we headed off to our weekend "home" and got some wonderful dinner prepared. While only one new bird for me today, it was a super start to our time in Cali.
Turbo