OC Birder Girl: August 2008

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Early Morning Birding at Bolsa Chica

The Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve Footbridge on the way back. A few photographers were still there.

I decided to go birding early before work at Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. I was not the only one. There was the usual group of male photographers talking cameras and shots, and a guy in a business suit loading his camera and tripod into his trunk.

Shorebird Silhouettes

There were lots of chances for silhouette shots which I like. Lots of options as far as lighting.

Black Skimmers were skimming in the channels that cut through the wetlands.

Lots of chances to catch birds at two angles--the bird and its reflection in the waters of Bolsa Chica.

Lots of Snowy Egrets. Here's one.

The lighting was incredible.

The channels looked like mirrors winding through the damp earth.

A Black-crowned Night Heron hunting for fish, his reflection mirrored in the water.

Marbled Godwit--one of several foraging in the water and mud.

Long-billed Curlew in the shallows.

Yellowlegs rushing somewhere through the shallow channel, his legs a blur.

Early morning reflections. Storm clouds.

Snowy fishing in by the reeds.

Scattered stormy clouds in a blue sky reflected in the water.

Snowy and his reflection.

Juvenile Forester's Tern resting on a post.

There's nothing like being out in the early morning before work, with the crisp air waking you up and the beauty around you filling you with awe. Get out of the house and get out in nature. Early birding is better than coffee.