[arunrajk81]

The holiday season is over and it's January, and it is winter in CA. By this time of the season, the trees have already dropped their leaves and it's easy to spot as well as photograph the birds.


Considering the above, my colleague and my colleague who has similar interest in Wildlife Photography decided to have a short drive to some spot and do a little birding. Based on his suggestion, it was decided to drive to a place called Moss Landing beach for Shore birds which is roughly a two-hour drive.


We started around 6Am, and it was just over an hour's drive. The Moss Landing is a place where people used to go surfing and today is also not different as there were few surfers. We were welcomed by a flock of Sandpipers, in the sand perfectly camouflaged with the Sand on the beach and we didn't notice until they took off.


There was a single Long Billed Curlew, and it came close to us as we were lying still in the sand. What happened next was my concentration was on a Curlew that was coming close to my sweet spot for a click. I almost forgot that I was too close to the seashore and waves did their part. Luckily, I was able to lift the camera just before waves hit me, reminding me of a scene from Bahubali. The only difference was, I was holding the Camera above the Water instead of the child. Still some droplets got into the hood which was OK . Other than there were Brown Pelicans, Sanderlings, Marbled Godwits and Gulls. That day was rewarding.

[arunrajk81]

I used to go to Los Banos and surrounding areas for birding, and recently since July, I stopped going there because the recent sightings there were not great. At Los Banos, there are few wildlife recreation areas that have the option for auto trails so that we can drive around unpaved roads looking for birds and wildlife. The animals include Tule Elks, Coyotes, Foxes etc. There are lots of migratory birds around this area that include Sandhill cranes, Cackling geese, Snow Geese etc. As the season is right, I decided to visit again and my humble 2019-Prius is my companion for most of my solo birding trips if I don't need to tackle bad roads as it's efficient, silent, and moreover, very economical.


As usual, after packing cereal for my breakfast, I started early in the morning around 4:30 and it's a 2Hr drive. It was still dark and a few minutes before sunrise when I reached there. So, I decided to wait in the car for sunrise, and as I was waiting, I heard a familiar Hooting. A Great Horned Owl that came and perched on a pole very close to my car. The Great Horned Owls are also called Winged Tiger because of the “Whooff” call it makes like a tiger. As I was scanning the area, I saw another three individuals making their mating call. I really enjoy photographing owls more than any other bird as their eyes look magical.


After photographing them, I started driving via the auto tour trail. There were few male Tule Elks, about to shed antlers. They were like Sambar deer in India, but slightly bigger and dangerous to approach during mating season. There is a swamp with Thousands of Snow Geese and cackling geese on a swamp with some sandhill cranes and these are migratory birds.


While driving through the auto trail. at a parking spot where I saw a few guys with Binoculars. From the attire, they looked like some birding experts and thought it might be looking for some rare bird. I stopped there and during conversation, I came to know that there was a report of a “Vermillion Flycatcher” which is a rare bright red bird in and around the area. I too joined the group as I haven't seen one in real life. One of the guys explained what to look for and how it looks. After Some time, it was me who spotted it and it was sitting behind a small tree while we were looking in the other direction. We were able to capture a few good shots before disappearing into the woods. One of the guys in the group whom I talked to mentioned that he just returned from a birding trip to North India and the Himalayas. While hearing that, what I was thinking was, I have never been to the Himalayas! That was a nice day and now it's another 2 Hour drive back home and I started getting extremely sleepy and took a 15 min Nap before driving back.










































































Thanks for Reading.

[Rajamass]

Great shots dude. I visited Monterey but I did not know about this location.

I lived in California for 2 years and can confirm that winter is the best time for bird photography. I enjoyed my time shooting some of them in and around Davis and Lake Tahoe.

Here are a few from my Nikon camera

Stellar Jay


Mallard Drake


California Scrub Jay


Acorn Woodpecker


Red Tailed Hawk


Ring Billed Gull


American Goldfinch


American Robin


American Tree Sparrow


Audubon's Warbler


Black Phoebe


Cassin's Finch


Red Tailed Hawk


Yellow-Rumped Warbler


California Gull