Webber's Life List
And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the Earth across the vault of the sky."
— Genesis 1:20
For higher resolution images, click on the image titles.
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Forster's Tern
Sterna forsteri, Non-breeding Adult
This bird was identified by a fellow birder during the same outing this picture was taken. The fluttery nature of this photo reminds me of this album cover.
Great Blue Heron
Ardea herodias, Juvenile
This bird was identified by a fellow birder during the same outing this picture was taken. You can tell it's a juvenile because of the lack of head plumes that adults of this species have.
Franklin's Gull
Leucophaeus pipixcan
Not much to say about this one, just that it was hard to identify (and that I'm not 100% centain that it was a Franklin's Gull...).
Great Egret
Ardea alba
All of the egrets that I could see were simply too far for my telephoto lens to capture in a satisfying way, so when this one flew right buy, I snagged a quick shot.
Ring-billed Gull
Larus delawarensis, Juvenile
This isn't the first time I've seen this cigar-shaped sea bird before, but I could never geet a decent enough picture to identify it. It certainly looks a lot like a juvenile American Herring Gull, but those gulls have a solid black beak, while the bird in this picture doesn't. Therefore, I'm fairly certain that this is a juvenile Ring-Billed Gull, which is the species that average people mentally picture when you say "seagull".
Northern Mockingbird
Mimus polyglottos
This little guy flew right overhead, so I hastily aimed my camera straight up and held down the shutter button with reckless abandon! It was by pure luck that I was able to capture anything but a brown blur. Such lovely wingbars...
Osprey
Pandion haliaetus
This Osprey was the easiest bird I spotted because of its large stick nest, but was also the most difficult to photograph due to being in silhouette.
Cedar Waxwing
Bombycilla cedrorum
Being such a small bird with a light, airy, high-pitched call, I had actually missed this bird while out walking. Thankfully, my father alerted me to this little guy in a nearby tree, and I hastily took a photo before it flew away with a few of its kin.
Red-winged Blackbird
Agelaius phoeniceus
A common but very visually distinct bird. This one was sitting on a tree not too far away from a bush that had little berries growing. Perhaps it was waiting for me to go away before engorging itself on the sweet fruits?
Mallard
Anas platyrhyncho
I noticed a solitary male Mallard standing like a statue in between a clearing of reeds. But as I focus my camera lens onto him, a female Mallard emerged from the right. Then another. And another. By the time I took this picture, a convoy of ducks materialized before my eyes!
Downy Woodpecker
Dryobates pubescens
Regarding this bird's identification, I'm fairly certain this is a female Downy Woodpecker, and not a Hairy woodpecker, which look almost identical. Although this isn't a great photo, she was rather high up and very camera shy, so I'm just glad I got a shot at all!
House Sparrow
Passer domesticus
A passing cluster of House Sparrows briefly decided to take a break on an pine branch. I would ordinarily pay them little mind (because of how ubiquitous they are), but I noticed they started preening, so I decided to take their picture!
