JOURNAL 16 - THE NOVICE BIRDER

Apr. 18, 2004

Hi Everybody,

I just love those little orange-legged, black-headed Bonaparte Gulls, so I took advantage of a cloudy morning (Apr. 15) at French Creek to snap a few pictures. (For gulls and anything white or light, I need dull weather for my camera. I have a Nikon D100 (digital), and it is terrible for blowing out the whites in bright weather. There is supposed to be some "fix" for this problem, but until I figure it out, I'll have to rely on the weatherman. Please email me if you have a solution for this problem.)

I also made a trip to Buttertubs on Apr. 16 in an unsuccessful look for the Yellow-headed Blackbird, and on Apr. 17 I checked on the progress of the Killdeer eggs at Northwest Bay.

(Apr. 15) HAPPY ANNIVERSARY BONAPARTES - It was about a year ago that I first met the Bonapartes in exactly the same spot. I'll remember that day even if the gulls don't as it was also the day I decided to get into bird photography.

    

THE BONAPARTES seemed to enjoy probing in the rancid herring roe for lunch. The unpleasant odor is still stuck to my boots after wading through a beach oozing with a 4 inch layer of the stuff..

FRENCH CREEK FAMILY - It's just one big happy family at French Creek, and despite the boats and people, it's one of my favorite spots for bird photography.

MIXED COMPANY - The Widgeons and Mallards didn't mind sharing their territory with the visiting Greater Yellowleg. I wonder if this is one of the 2 Yellowlegs I saw at French Creek on exactly the same day last year.

    

choke cherry and camas

(APR. 16) DOWNY'S AT BUTTERTUBS - The RBA report of a Yellow-headed Blackbird at Buttertubs was too tempting to resist. Unfortunately, the only black birds I saw were Redwings and Crows. However, I did encounter a pair of Downy Woodpeckers along the trail by the dead oak trees.

(Apr. 17) WELCOME TO OUR WORLD

Last week I showed a picture of a Killdeer with 4 eggs. Today I'm happy to say that there are 4 little cottonballs running around. I would guess that the babies were 1 or 2 days old and no bigger than fluffy toonies on matchsticks.

[1]INDEX    [2]Mid-I HOTSPOTS     [3]Mid-I NEWS    [4]Mid-I RESOURCES    [5]GALLERY
    [6]SOUTHISLAND    [7]BIRDCARDS    [8]ODDSHOTS    [9]JOURNAL 2    [10]JOURNAL     [11]JOURNAL 3
    [12]CONSERVATION    [13]JOURNAL 4    [14]JOURNAL 5    [15]JOURNAL 6    
[16]JOURNAL 7    [17]JOURNAL 8    [18]JOURNAL 9
    [19]JOURNAL 10    [20]JOURNAL 11    [21]JOURNAL 12    [22]JOURNAL 13    [23]JOURNAL 14
    [24]JOURNAL 15    [25]JOURNAL 16