Shorebirds of Central California

kdog · November 2, 2011

Inspired by DsrtVW's recent post on Sand Hill cranes, I drove out to the Merced NWR to check it out. This was my first wildlife foray since moving to CA a few months ago. I only had a couple of hours to kill, but was greatly encouraged by what I saw there.

Lots of Sand Hill Cranes

But they were pretty skittish, just like Chris had said.

Lots of snowy egrets around. Here's one who just found a snack.

Plus some great white herons.

There were even a few white pelicans.

Ibis

Stilts

And hawks.

All in all, I was pretty pleased with what I saw in my two hours there, and looking forward to returning when I have more time.

Thanks for looking,
-joel

Harryb · November 2, 2011

Excellent set Joel with a variety of good subjects.

kdog · November 3, 2011

Thanks, Harry.

JohnDC · November 3, 2011

Hi Joel,
Lots of good shots for only two hours. Looks like you are adapting well to your new environment. Especially nice light and pose on the ibis. Who needs Bosque for cranes? The shots from you and DsrtVW convinced me to head up there soon from SoCal.
Best regards,
John

kdog · November 3, 2011

JohnDC wrote: »

Hi Joel,
Lots of good shots for only two hours. Looks like you are adapting well to your new environment. Especially nice light and pose on the ibis. Who needs Bosque for cranes? The shots from you and DsrtVW convinced me to head up there soon from SoCal.
Best regards,
John

Thanks, John. Give us a holler if you're heading up this way. It would be great to get together with you. This place is just like a mini-Bosque, only about 50 or 60 degrees warmer.

leilanimr · November 3, 2011

Beautiful job! So many subjects, I don't know how to managed to capture as many as you did within your short time frame.

I do love the intensity of the Snowy Egret.

pathfinder · November 4, 2011

Great set of shots and subjects.

I like warmer than Bosque as well.

Sandhills can be quite skittish, too!

DsrtVW · November 4, 2011

You did have a productive day for the short time. Merced has a great Auto tour route lot of available angles to work with the light. Sandhills get a bit spread out on the private land after leaving the refuge but the flyin and outs are pretty good. San Luis NWR is nearby you can get some Tule Elk shots there and more waterfowl.

DsrtVW · November 4, 2011

Maybe we will have to do a Norcal Wildlife shoot. I know the last week of December I have a Photo blind reserved but I am planning on taking more days off to do shooting then.
It will be focusing on the Butte Basin north of the Sutter Buttes. Sacramento, Colusa, Llano Seco NWR & Gray Lodge State WA. Waterfowl, Raptors and other such critters. Could also include locations south too. Lodi, Consumnes River Preserve.

LightMagic · November 5, 2011

Amazing captures for a two hour span. I should check this place out... Looks very interesting.

kdog · November 5, 2011

leilanimr wrote: »

Beautiful job! So many subjects, I don't know how to managed to capture as many as you did within your short time frame. I do love the intensity of the Snowy Egret.

Thanks, leilanimr! I'm very stoked about this park, it's a really good place to shoot.

pathfinder wrote: »

Great set of shots and subjects.

I like warmer than Bosque as well.

Sandhills can be quite skittish, too!

Thanks, Jim. The nice thing about Bosque is that the Sand Hills are pretty approachable, especially when their feet are frozen solid in the ice.

All in all, I'm probably sticking with Norcal for a while.

DsrtVW wrote: »

You did have a productive day for the short time. Merced has a great Auto tour route lot of available angles to work with the light. Sandhills get a bit spread out on the private land after leaving the refuge but the flyin and outs are pretty good. San Luis NWR is nearby you can get some Tule Elk shots there and more waterfowl.

Thanks, Chris. I really appreciate the pointers on where to go to shoot wildlife around Norcal and can't tell you how good it felt to get back out there. I owe ya one!

DsrtVW wrote: »

Maybe we will have to do a Norcal Wildlife shoot. I know the last week of December I have a Photo blind reserved but I am planning on taking more days off to do shooting then.
It will be focusing on the Butte Basin north of the Sutter Buttes. Sacramento, Colusa, Llano Seco NWR & Gray Lodge State WA. Waterfowl, Raptors and other such critters. Could also include locations south too. Lodi, Consumnes River Preserve.

In!