The Santa Ana River is known more as a flood control channel than as a rushing river, but it still attracts some interesting bird species, especially this time of year. I have seen White-faced Ibises in the area for years, but I don't remember any with more distinctive "white faces" as I saw this morning. First seeing the Osprey diving for prey (unsuccessfully), it soared overhead several times looking for food before settling in a tree top up the river about 50 yards. I came to this spot in search of two species: a Solitary Sandpiper, which I was unable to find, and a Yellow-headed Blackbird, which I had been searching for over the past week. Well, today I finally located a couple of the Yellow-headed Blackbirds. One was a female, which you see here with a male Red-winged Blackbird in the Bulrushes down in the river bed. The other was probably an immature bird...gender unclear. House Sparrows were introduced from Europe in the 1800's and have spread throughout the US. Still, they are beautifully marked despite their "commonness." The final shot shows my prey for the day in the best shot of it I was able to get. It was probably 150' from me, but it was fun to get a fairly clear shot of my target. All shots were taken with a Nikon D500, Nikkor 200-500mm telezoom, handheld with Auto AF (Spot) and Auto ISO. The final shot was at 1/1000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 360. I just missed tack sharpness plus had to crop significantly to get this picture. Hope that doesn't detract too much. Good health and luck to all.
jak
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White-faced Ibis showing its white face
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Osprey soaring in search of prey
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Blackbirds in the Bulrushes: Red-winged and Yellow-headed
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House Sparrow
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Female Yellow-headed Blackbird
jak86094 wrote:
The Santa Ana River is known more as a flood control channel than as a rushing river, but it still attracts some interesting bird species, especially this time of year. I have seen White-faced Ibises in the area for years, but I don't remember any with more distinctive "white faces" as I saw this morning. First seeing the Osprey diving for prey (unsuccessfully), it soared overhead several times looking for food before settling in a tree top up the river about 50 yards. I came to this spot in search of two species: a Solitary Sandpiper, which I was unable to find, and a Yellow-headed Blackbird, which I had been searching for over the past week. Well, today I finally located a couple of the Yellow-headed Blackbirds. One was a female, which you see here with a male Red-winged Blackbird in the Bulrushes down in the river bed. The other was probably an immature bird...gender unclear. House Sparrows were introduced from Europe in the 1800's and have spread throughout the US. Still, they are beautifully marked despite their "commonness." The final shot shows my prey for the day in the best shot of it I was able to get. It was probably 150' from me, but it was fun to get a fairly clear shot of my target. All shots were taken with a Nikon D500, Nikkor 200-500mm telezoom, handheld with Auto AF (Spot) and Auto ISO. The final shot was at 1/1000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 360. I just missed tack sharpness plus had to crop significantly to get this picture. Hope that doesn't detract too much. Good health and luck to all.
jak
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The Santa Ana River is known more as a flood contr... (
show quote)
JAK, Thanks for sharing the great images you shared from Santa Ana river. Each one in their own right are excellent. Thanks for sharing. Stan
The colors on the ibis are amazing. Too bad it's not a better background.
Another excellent set, jak!
Curmudgeon wrote:
Nice set
Thanks very much, Curmudgeon. My pleasure to have presented these images. Jak
PixelStan77 wrote:
JAK, Thanks for sharing the great images you shared from Santa Ana river. Each one in their own right are excellent. Thanks for sharing. Stan
Thank you, PixelStan77. Those are very kind words. Hope I an continue to share worthwhile images from time to time. Have a great weekend. jak
saxman71 wrote:
The colors on the ibis are amazing. Too bad it's not a better background.
Very kind, saxman71. I agree about the background in the ibis photo. I’ll have to see if I took one without the junk. Thanks for taking the time to write. jak
UTMike wrote:
Another excellent set, jak!
Thanks, Mike. I get great pleasure from taking and sharing them. Glad you enjoyed them. jak
Many thanks kpmac. Hope you are well and enjoying your weekend. jak
CLF
Loc: Raleigh, NC
jak86094 wrote:
The Santa Ana River is known more as a flood control channel than as a rushing river, but it still attracts some interesting bird species, especially this time of year. I have seen White-faced Ibises in the area for years, but I don't remember any with more distinctive "white faces" as I saw this morning. First seeing the Osprey diving for prey (unsuccessfully), it soared overhead several times looking for food before settling in a tree top up the river about 50 yards. I came to this spot in search of two species: a Solitary Sandpiper, which I was unable to find, and a Yellow-headed Blackbird, which I had been searching for over the past week. Well, today I finally located a couple of the Yellow-headed Blackbirds. One was a female, which you see here with a male Red-winged Blackbird in the Bulrushes down in the river bed. The other was probably an immature bird...gender unclear. House Sparrows were introduced from Europe in the 1800's and have spread throughout the US. Still, they are beautifully marked despite their "commonness." The final shot shows my prey for the day in the best shot of it I was able to get. It was probably 150' from me, but it was fun to get a fairly clear shot of my target. All shots were taken with a Nikon D500, Nikkor 200-500mm telezoom, handheld with Auto AF (Spot) and Auto ISO. The final shot was at 1/1000 sec, f/6.3, ISO 360. I just missed tack sharpness plus had to crop significantly to get this picture. Hope that doesn't detract too much. Good health and luck to all.
jak
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The Santa Ana River is known more as a flood contr... (
show quote)
JAK, excellent set and a few of the birds were first time seeing for myself.
Greg
I live near there and also saw white-faced ibises for the first time last year... from all the way across the channel, so my pics are not that close. Are those shots from up on the trail or down in the riverbed?
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