A Golden Day, Bar None

To shake off our jet lag resulting from our recent trip to the Philippines, Cynthia and I decided to chase after the Bar-tailed Godwit at the Upper Newport Bay. We probably arrived a tad too late because the tide was already rising and as such, the rare Godwit usually flies off to the less accessible parts of the bay. Nevertheless, we still waited for about two hours for our target bird to show up, finally giving up at around 11:30 am.

From there we visited nearby San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary. I was walking slowly, a bit dejected from missing the Bar-tailed Godwit (which have been seen by probably every birder in Southern California) when Cynthia yelled "Hawk! Hawk!". She was pointing at some dark object by the edge of Pond C. We have not fully unpacked from our trip and that was the reason I did not have my binoculars with me to check out what my wife was enthusiastically directing my attention at. Peering through my meager 300mm zoom lens, I finally saw a raptor grasping some black thing..barely visible from the pond's edge. I thought it was a dark morphed Red-tailed Hawk. I was still pondering over its identity when it suddenly flew off carrying a dead Coot in its talons. Cynthia and I thought that was the end of it and meandered back to the parking lot, taking shots at whatever interesting bird we find along the way. Near the entrance we saw Thang, a fellow bird photographer, busily shooting something something atop an electrical post. I hurried to where he was and discovered that the "hawk" I saw was now feasting on the dead Coot at the top of the pole. Then I realized that what we were looking at was actually a Golden Eagle enjoying its lunch! This was the first time I have seen this species this close. It stayed up there until all that was left of its meal were a few feathers and some tiny bones. I will now let the pictures tell the story of an Eagle enjoying lunch:

Lunch to go:

Yummy!

Mmmm!

A little stretch after lunch

What goes in.....

I'm outta here...

For other (more mouth-watering?) blogs and pictures, please visit:

There Will Be Blog - A D.Day Lewis' (Woodpecker) Lament

Thursday morning, I went to Chesebro Canyon Park at Agoura Hills to see (and photograph) for myself the Lewis' Woodpeckers (note the plural) that were seen there.

I immediately saw one right after I parked the Jeep. When I brought out my big gun (the 500mm) the woodpecker was, of course, gone. For more than an hour I waited for it to return. While patiently waiting for its reappearance, I was rewarded by the sight of a Golden Eagle being chased by a Raven half its size. When the eagle landed on a grassy knoll (too far even for my long lens), the Raven gave up the chase. As soon as the black bird was gone, the eagle ruffled its feathers and flew away.

With my target woodpecker still a no-show, I disassembled my gear, and replaced the lens with the lighter 100-400 zoom. I decided just to stay in the Jeep and listen to some music to soothe my disappointment all the while keeping an eye on the tree where I last saw the Lewis'.

Then it returned. Immediately, I jumped out of my vehicle and before I could even reach the tree where it landed, it flew off and alit on top of an electric pole a few hundred yards away. I took a "Hail Mary" shot and chased after the bird. No more have I gone a few feet nearer and it once again flew off. This happened maybe five times and not once did the skittish woodpecker allowed a clear, close enough shot.

Despite adding two more lifers, I thought it was a disgusting day - not being able to get any good photographs of both Golden Eagle and Lewis' Woodpecker. With bright, clear skies even.