Life at Bolsa Chica - Watery Wednesday

Wow, I haven't posted on this blog in a while. I don't have much time lately and my posting has been limited to my Watery Wednesday blog. But I took so many shots this weekend I needed to share them. Here goes...

My World Tuesday - Back At Bolsa Chica

I apologize in advance for so many pictures but I taken so many it really is hard for me to narrow it down to just a couple.


It was my kind of day, overcast, cloudy and actually could have rained. It wasn't until I was deep inside the wetlands that I realized if it had rained there was no place to hide from it and it was no short trek back to the car. Gratefully, it didn't rain.

White Crowned Heron & Black Necked Stilt

I hope this fella doesn't mind that I took his photo and posted it.

Long Billed Curlew & Blue Heron

Funny, when I took these photos it was from such a distance I, as well as some other people on the path, thought we were looking at babies in the nest. It wasn't until I got home and uploaded that I realized there were actually three birds in the nest and from the other side what we though we saw moving were feathers, not little beaks.

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Watery Wednesday #37

Can you believe it's time for Watery Wednesday? If you haven't visited my meme before; if you don't know what it's like to get cyber wet, Click Here or on the icon at the end of this post and check it out!

I went to Bolsa Chica Wetlands yesterday. I've got to say, when I took the shot on the meme's main page, I was standing beside photographers with their tripods and massive lenses. I think they were all waiting to capture the heron as it caught a fish. I felt like such a novice standing there with my little camera and built in zoom. I felt like they were shooting their cannons (Boom!), and I came in with a little six-shooter going pop, pop! I wonder if they laughed and called me a rookie after I'd taken my shots and walked off. LOL!


The birds below were really putting on a show. At various parts of the preserve, there would be about 10-15 birds flying above the water, scouting it for fish and then they would dive bomb into the water. All you could hear was them squawking and the sound of them plummeting into the water. Click on any to enlarge or you'll miss some of the water coming off the birds as they took off.


I think I spent most of my time photographing these birds. They were so fast I would never get them going into the water but I could get them coming out. Because of the delayed snap of the digital camera it took me a while before I figured out the timing and then it was on! The minute they splashed I had to snap the camera as I aimed at the splash of water. By the time it clicked, the bird was coming up out of the water. I was like a big kid. LOL! I actually got more good shots then I thought I did. I'd probably still be standing there if my batteries didn't fizzle out on me.


And you can see in the one below on the left that I actually got one coming up with a fish in it's mouth!



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Nature Notes - Bolsa Chica

I can't seem to get enough of Bolsa Chica Wetlands. It's the only place I've been so far where the birds are in abundance. You can't get much closer to nature than this so I'm sharing a couple of shots from my last trip and a video I put together of photos and short video clips.

CASPIAN TERN:



HUMMINGBIRD:



SNOWY EGRET:

My World Tuesday - Birds of Bolsa Chica

Excuse my French but I walked my ass off today. I was already a good walk into the wetlands when I took the photo below. I walked down the path on the right. Now, on the left about midway up the picture do you see the houses waaaaay in the back against the sky. I walked down the path on the right and then waaaay over there. All I keep hearing in my head are these lyrics, "What kind of fool am I?" LOL!

Please correct me if I got any of the names of the birds wrong.





BLUE BILL DUCK - I tried by best to get a good shot of this duck because the first thing I noticed about it was the blue bill. But each one that I saw seemed to know I was trying to take its photo and it would dive under water and turn up even further away from me.


EGRET - I haven't learned the differences between the egrets yet so I'll just identify this as an Egret. It was fun to watch this one tip toeing through the water seemingly stirring up life under the water and then it would duck it's head under the water trying to catch something.


LONG BILLED CURLEW - I could be wrong about this one too but it's the only one I identified that had a beak this long.

BLACK NAPED TERN - Not the best shot but worthy of posting just the same (smile).

I think these are sandpipers.

AMERICAN WIDEON - I was fascinated with this one because of the green around its eyes.


And I'm not sure what this one is either. I thought it only had one leg but when I got closer the other leg came down and it flew off.



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Monochrome Monday - Bolsa Chica

Hope you're not tired of hearing the name Bolsa Chica. I added it to my title to make it a little easier for myself when I'm looking back through my posts. But, these were taken at Bolsa Chica along the water's edge along one of the paths.

I know some people may not like these shots but something about these dead trees jutting out of the water, the textures and shapes against the water appeals to me.


I like the shot below because the tree laying across the bottom looks like a serpent. Does the end of it look like a head?





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Sky Watch Friday #35

Nothing but blue skies over Bolsa Chica. It was hard to miss these huge herons flying in the sky and landing in these trees near their nests. If you'd like to see more of Bolsa Chica Wetlands there are more photos below this post. Have a wonderful weekend! I think I'll be heading back to Bolsa Chica in the morning.






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