Birds
Welcome to my bird gallery! Here you will find the bird photos that I have selected to be sold as prints.
I hope you enjoy!
Moment in Time
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
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Moments in time always pass, but some you don’t get to appreciate for long. Here we can appreciate the moment encapsulating these two animals. One loosing it’s life, the other fueling their own. The struggle for survival is cruel and demanding. Both the sand crab and Snowy Egret were feeding in the few moments surrounding the captured moment, but only one would continue through time. We don’t often see or look at the daily happenings of life when looking at these animals feeding. We often only see for a fraction of a second that a bird caught some food, eats it, now the moment gone. But here, we can take all the time we want to observe and appreciate the circle of life.
I spent over an hour near this Snowy Egret, photographing it in the surf with my knees and elbows in the sand with waves nearly ruining my camera. Every time it caught a sand crab, it would run away from the waves back in my direction, and then turn to the side to eat. This time, it came directly towards me, turned, and launched the helpless sand crab into the air. At the time I was unsure if I managed to capture the moment (my camera does not shoot many pictures per second, so I need a bit of luck and good timing) that the crab was in the air or not, but when I got home and reviewed the days photos, I was overjoyed. The pleasant combination of blue and white in the background matched the tones of the Egret and made the crab pop in the photo. I think I will cherish this photo for some time to come.
Little Ballerina
Grey Plover (Pluvialis squatarola)
I love this photo. This Grey Plover was searching the tides for food, as all shore birds do, but stopped a few times to ‘pose’ for me. In this moment I got to make intimate eye contact with this adorable little bird while it was going about its day. The pose this bird is making and the stance of its feet give it a sense of gracefulness, complimented by the baby blue oceanic scene in the background. When I showed this photo to my girlfriend, Maija, the first thing she said was “LIL BALLERINA”, and I couldn’t agree more. This plover exudes grace and elegance, even while performing the menial task of simply observing its surroundings.
Delicate Steps
Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri)
This is one of my favorite photos I’ve taken. Western Sandpipers are quite small and speedy, making them hard to capture. On this particular day, there were millions of Sail Jelly (“By-the-wind-sailor, Velella velella.) washed up on shore. In this photo, the small bird is gently walking around and through the carnage that is the washed up jellyfish. In an image that feels like you’re floating with bright light colors all around, once you know what is producing those colors, the image changes.
Disdainful Observer
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
It looks as though the Great Blue Heron is looking down at you with disdain. Positioned up high with fierce eyes staring directly at you from upon it’s lone perch, gazing over it’s domain.
This photo was taken at Goleta Beach, CA, where many birds nest at a slough outlet. I walked through the slough to the other side where I could get closer. This heron, and two others, were perched on this large, dead tree. It kept a watchful eye on me from a distance on it’s solitary perch. Since it was so high up, the bird was really was looking down at me and paired with the sharp eyes this species already has, it makes for intense stare, especially in black and white.
Catch of the Day
Snowy Egret (Egretta thula)
This photo was taken at Butterfly Beach, Santa Barbara, California. It was low tide that day and I went down to the beach to see if I could get some pictures of the local wildlife. Toward the end of my session I came across this Snowy Egret. It was quite the fearless bird. I was squatting on a rock, in the water while the Egret did it’s thing and hunted for food. It was amazing to watch it sift it’s feet in the watery sand to find its prey. I sat there for for a long time, taking picture after picture as the egret caught fish after fish. It kept moving closer and closer to me and at one point was nearly an arms length away. Around that same time is when this photo was taken. Roughly 8-10 feet in front of me, it stood still staring at me as if to pose for a shot and say “look what I got!”. I’m glad I was able to capture the moment and display this animals hard work in catching its daily meals.
Solitude
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
At the end of one of my sessions, after the sun had gone below the horizon, this Great Blue Heron was wading alone in the water for fish. The lighting wasn’t too good, especially for my much older camera. Because of this, the original image didn’t have a lot of detail or color in it, so I decided to make it a black and white photo. The water was calm enough to make this reflection pretty good, though the birds movements made ripples. I enjoy this picture because of the intensity and focus in the birds posture and eyes. It’s souly fixated on obtaining food, fully in the moment, isolated in the moment, in solitude.
Floating Blues
Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)
Near my house is an open space called the More Mesa Bluffs that is a host for lot’s of wildlife. Nearly every time I have gone there I have seen at least one Great Blue Heron, and this time was no exception. I managed to get around 20 feet away from this majestic bird and pushed my luck a little too far. I stood up slightly to try and inch forward more and it didn’t want me to be that close, so it flew about 30 feet to my right. As it flew I held down the shutter and tracked it to it’s landing spot. As it was landing, I captured this photo. I love the ruffling of the feathers in it’s wings and the deep blues of the bird, it really pops out against the dead chaparral.
Foreign Waters
Canadian Geese (Branta canadensis)
There was a flock of Canadian Geese sitting in a local lake at sunset. They were quite some distance away from me, in the middle of the lake, so I was photographing the much closer ducks, coots, and gulls. Then, suddenly, they all started to take off in my direction! Very quickly a large swarm of Canadian Geese were flying roughly 30 feet above me and I frantically started shooting, hoping for some nice photos. I love the golden glow on their feathers from the sunset and the blue background as contrast. The photo portrays these birds as graceful beings, like they’re dancing through the air together.
Sunlit Landing
Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis)
One evening at Goleta Beach, CA, there were hundreds of shore birds congregating at the slough that had been cut off from the ocean creating a small pond of sorts. There were gulls, herons, egrets, greater yellow legs, western grebes, pelicans and so on, all in the same spot, trying to catch the trout that live in the waters there. As the sun began to set, this gorgeous Brown Pelican came in for a landing in the water and the light caught it’s flight feathers beautifully.
Endless March
Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa)
These three Marbled Godwits had separated from the main flock to go to where the waves were still washing over the sand to make it easier to find food. They stick their long beaks into the sand and “fish” for sand crabs and worms that live in this tidal zone. When water passes over the sand, the sand crabs dig their way out of the sand, exposing their mouths to filter feed on the nutrients in the waves that wash over them. As the waves recede, the crabs burry themselves back into the sand to avoid predation. These birds are walking this line of receding waves in the hopes that they will catch the stragglers. The photo portrays an eerie and moody landscape while depicting the endless march and struggle for survival.
Humming Colors
Anna’s Hummingbird (Calypte anna)
The male Anna’s Hummingbird, Skewie! As seen by his offset beak, this little fella likes to visit daily. On this evening, the sun was just about to pass under the house across the street, and I was about to get in my car and drive off somewhere. When I got to my car I saw him perch on our avocado tree out front and quickly grabbed my camera out of my bag and ran back over across the street towards my house to try and get some shots. The first few were okay, but I didn’t like the angle and he wasn’t big enough in the frame for my liking, so I tried something. Just in front of the tree was my dads truck, so I went over and stood on the tire. This got me REALLY close to him and he luckily didn’t seem to mind at all. From this position I was able to get the nice warm colors of the tree in the background behind him to make for this picture. Such a majestic little hummingbird.
One Legged Imposter
Willet (Tringa semipalmata)
What I thought to be a one legged Willet, turned into a deceitful event. I was photographing a small group of Willets at the beach when I noticed one of them standing and hopping around on one leg. Now, I know that birds often will stand on one leg for various reasons, but I have never seen a water bird be so averse to two wet feet. When I moved to get a closer shot, the other leg shot down and THEN the normal walking ensued. This particular Willet gave me a pretty good laugh and a memorable experience, and the future knowledge to never trust a one legged bird.