Yosemite and More

Visited the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge and the Merced Wildlife Refuge on VERY different days. One very sunny, the other fog bound. The Sacramento NWR, was a clear day with a lot of visitors that limited the  birds near the auto route. The fog and few visitors actually allowed for more opportunities at the Merced NWR. Case in point First the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Blue Morph Ross Geese White Faced Ibis, Hunting and Hiding Small Bufflehead Duck, these swim fast and don't like  cars, people, or cameras. This is taken through the reeds and heavily cropped. I thought this hawk was going to take off but instead it just fluffed it's feathers and settled back down. Merced National Wildlife Refuge seemed to have a wider and more easily photographable subjects. Thought this was an interesting juxtaposition. Each section of the refuge is flooded to to certain depth depending on what species they want to accommodate. I find it interesting that in the wild the male al...

 A while ago I went to the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge and the Merced Wildlife Refuge, here's a mixture of both. Unfortunately many of the wading birds preferred the stubble instead of nice reflective  water. Mom and Dad taking a break.  I really liked the late evening background. I tried to identify this  specific one but there are just so many of them. I think he was trying to hide from me. Two for One. I've taken a lot of photo of Great Egrets but seldom get a decent photo of them in flight. I think this is a Red Tailed hawk, but not sure. This Bald Eagle was very accommodating, I stuck around hoping  to get it's takeoff but it seemed very comfortable right there.    When I first saw this huge flock of birds in the distance I thought they were probably Snowy or Ross geese. Nope they were actually seagulls. Another car went by and spooked them. Go, See, Enjoy, Stay Safe and Photograph. Dave

 Spent some time at the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge and the Merced Wildlife Refuge and thought I'd share a few (okay a lot) of photos from those Refuges.  I've kinda mixed the photos up, i.e. no rhyme or reason!!! Let's start off with two types of geese that are very common. The Snow and Ross geese.  The two look very similar and can be difficult to tell apart. The Ross goose  has a shorter neck and rounder head. They also interbreed and can come in different shades or morphs. Speaking of geese, the Iconic Canadian Goose Okay not a bird but I liked the look of the thistle against the water. I don't know why all these blackbirds chose this particular tree.  There were other trees just like it nearby with very few birds on them!? There weren't may of these buffleheads and I had to try and catch this one through the reeds. I'm never good at identifying Hawks, but there were several  lurking around, mostly in the distance. This one thankfully  posed for me....