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Author Archives: ctaylor

Common Redpoll in The Land of Enchantment

February 13

Spent Valentine’s Weekend in Santa Fe, New Mexico so we took advantage of the fact a Common Redpoll had been visiting a local resident’s feeders since December 22nd.

Thanks to the generousity of Bo Olcott and his wife, we were able to visit their property and see and photograph the Redpoll with relative ease. It was a snowy and blustery 15F when we arrived but the Redpoll was perched in a tree right above the feeders.

Common Redpoll
Common Redpoll

Not too far the down the road, we encountered one of the largest flocks I’ve ever seen of Mountain Bluebirds, Eastern Bluebirds, Townsend’s Solitaires and Cedar Waxwings! It was quite a sight and I was surprisingly able to get some of my best Mountain Bluebird photos yet. Still working on better Eastern Bluebird shots – for some reason I can never get close to them!

Mountain Bluebird
Mountain Bluebird

Some of the most beautiful country in New Mexico. It’s my favorite state in the Lower 48, and you can see why:

 

Posted by on February 13, 2012 in Photography Adventures

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Rescued a Brandt’s Cormorant!

February 09

Did my good deed for the week! I encountered a Brandt’s Cormorant all tangled up in fishing line whilst photographing at Ballona Creek this past weekend. I text’d Peter Wallerstein with LA Marine Animal Rescue and he responded immediately at the scene 15 minutes later! I took a short little video of Peter netting the Cormorant:

Peter capturing the Brandt’s Cormorant


The happy Brandt’s Cormorant after Peter freed it from the fishing line wrapped all around its body and wings:

Brandt's Cormorant
Brandt’s Cormorant

I was rewarded later in the afternoon by getting up close and personal with a beautiful Brant. Probably one of the cleanest Brants I’ve encountered in Southern California.

Brant
Brant

 

Posted by on February 9, 2012 in Photography Adventures

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Arctic Loon and Gyrfalcon in California?

February 03

Spent the past couple weekends chasing some decent rarities in California. An Arctic Loon near San Simeon State Beach, which is the 2nd Arctic Loon I’ve seen in California – but I was able to get some absolutely stunning photos of him!

Arctic Loon
Arctic Loon

Less than a week later, a Gyrfalcon showed up in Riverside County. Marking one of the farthest south records ever for the species. The last Gyrfalcon I saw was in Alaska and the last one in the Lower 48 was in Idaho!

Gyrfalcon
Gyrfalcon

 

Posted by on February 3, 2012 in Photography Adventures

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Crested Caracara in Ballona Wetlands

February 03

A bit behind on blog updates but a Crested Caracara made a brief appearance in the Ballona Wetlands on January 13th. It only stuck around for a day…actually more like half a day. I was able to get some photos of it before a Red-tailed dive bombed it. It circled around the area few times going higher and higher, riding the afternoon thermal updrafts only to never be seen again!



Crested Caracara
Crested Caracara

 

Posted by on February 3, 2012 in Photography Adventures

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United Kingdom

February 03

We just returned from an epic trip through the United Kingdom. We flew into London a couple days before Christmas staying there for 4 nights. Then drove over to Stonehenge, up through Wales and back through the Cotswold’s, central England up to Manchester.



Stonehenge
Stonehenge

Then cut Northeast to drive along the coast in the North Umberlands into Southeast Scotland. Along the way we stopped to check off a Desert Wheatear that had spent the fall and winter hanging around the beaches just south of the Scotland border.

Desert Wheatear
Desert Wheatear

We arrived in Edinburgh just in time for their Hagmanay Festival – which is a huge celebration to roll in the New Year. It was pretty exciting marching with torches through the narrow alleys of Old Town Edinburgh and up to Edinburgh Castle.



Edinburgh Castle
Edinburgh Castle

After the festivities, we drove up through the Scottish Highlands. It was a bit blustery with wind and snow but an absolutely beautiful drive! The rolling foothills slowly progressed into mountains with jagged canyons in between which formed many of Scotland’s Lochs.



Loch Tay
Loch Tay



Loch Lomond
Loch Lomond

After 5 days in Scotland we flew over to Ireland for another 5 days where we met some of the friendliest people of the trip. We took a few day trips from Dublin to Southeast Ireland and enjoyed the magnificent rolling green hills that Ireland is famous for. Some highlights from Ireland including a wintering Bluethroat and Mediterranean Gulls.

Mediterranean Gull
Mediterranean Gull

Bluethroat
Bluethroat

 

Posted by on February 3, 2012 in Photography Adventures

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