Lost and Found...

I remember taking this photo at Sandy Ridge, butt I could never find it..until now!

This is the beginning of the "Lost and Found" photos. I guess the crashing hard drive has its good points. It has forced me to go through all of my files and photos. It brought back some good memories of birding with the Doodles and our buddies. And also the nightmare of trying to identify all of the shorebirds...argh! I may post the shorebird photos unlabeled, because they all look alike and I can't remember anything more than an hour or so ago...

This is the beginning of the "Lost and Found" phot....wait a second...I just typed that...I guess my hard drive has a few bugs too...

We saw this Black Phoebe on our San Diego, California trip two years ago.

I found a whole days worth of pics that I never titled, it's just like Christmas!

Blue Gray Gnatcatchers (pronounced 'GA-natcatcher!) are one of those little birds that hate to be photographed, at least in focus.

Too much sugar or something...

Oh yeah, another good butt shot! This Hooded Merganser was in the San Diego,CA area also.

That's my brother Phil on the left, choking in the smoke of the fire at the BirdMobile.
The Doodles actually built that fire all by herself! (with a little help from the Loop! Shhh!)


This is my first view of a Limpkin. The wrong end of course...
There where a few shots from Florida last January that I somehow overlooked.


I have two folders from Sandy Ridge that I missed somehow.
There are an amazing number of Red-headed Woodpeckers residing there.
We had a visit from Kelly the Peanut a couple of weeks ago and made a trip out there to show her these gorgeous birds.

You would be as cranky looking as this Song Sparrow if you were out in a snow storm.
I remember this walk because the snow was up to the Doodles knees and she couldn't go any farther down the trail! Poor, poor Doodles...


Huh, a Western Gull, in focus and from the front. How did this picture get in here?

This shot of two Wilson's Snipes was taken on an evening while we were searching for a Ruff.
We were at Sandy Ridge five nights in a row looking for that rare bird and never found him.
Butt, we did see more than half a dozen Snipes and Soras and one crazy looking Virginia Rail zooming through the marsh!

I still have a number of files to go through and hopefully I'll find a few fantastic fannies to show!

California Dreamin'...

I love this photo of a California Gnatcatcher. It has an Asian look about.

And the bird is shot from behind, of course.

We have more snow forecasted for this evening. We have had over 70 inches so far this season, an amount I believe to be quite sufficient. Dr. Bob my chiropractor will be the only happy person after this latest round of winter weather.

I just finished my slide show on birding in Britain and have just started a new show on the San Diego bird fest that we attended last year. It was a fantastic festival put on by a wonderful group of bird enthusiasts. They had everything you could possibly need, snacks in the morning at registration, maps, brochures and more. In the evenings they had programs and an Optics fair.

Buses and vans were provided to get you to places all over, from the San Diego area, to Mexico, to the Salton Sea. You can see all sorts of habitats from desert to mountain to ocean. If you are looking for a great festival, with warm weather I might add, try this one. It's in early March this year. http://www.sandiegoaudubon.org/birdfest.htm

Here are a few of the photos I've edited so far....

Anna's Hummingbird nestlings. I think they may be a little too big for the nest!

A Common Moorhen. I haven't posted enough birds from behind lately. I'll try harder...

California Thrasher in Mexico. What a great song he sings!

This Yellow-crowned Night-Heron was found roosting behind an apartment complex near the Tijuana Slough Refuge.

California dreamin' on such a winter's day...