HIGH HOPES

American Avocet, San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, California ---------

Every local birder I met in the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Orange County, California a few days ago was excited to talk about the possibility that the American Avocets may breed this year at the ponds of the bird sanctuary. Someone must had posted something on social media because several people asked me where to find the avocets. That wasn’t really difficult to answer, since they were present right at the pond next to one of the parking lots. In the morning I saw only three, but later in the day I counted five birds. They bend down and sweep their bills from side to side in a scything motion along the bottom to stir up aquatic insects. Their diet also consists crustaceans and aquatic plants.

I started to understand the excitement of other bird lovers while watching a pair of avocets preparing a nest side or at least pretending to. Remember, this sanctuary is next to an airport and between extremely busy freeways and residential areas.

NATURE CLICKS #371 - BLACK-NECKED STILT

Black-necked Stilt, San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, California ----------

Hard to believe that it was already a week ago when I visited the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine, California. It was very exciting to see and watch many birds that we don’t see here in Iowa. One of them is the Black-necked Stilt, who feeds in salt and fresh water. I first saw them a few years ago in the Great Salt Lake, Utah, than last week again in the salty water of the Pacific Ocean at the Bolsa Chica laguna, and finally in the fresh water ponds at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary. Their legs are extremely long in proportion to their body, only exceeded by flamingos. This stilt feeds on tadpoles, mollusks, aquatic insects, snails, flying insects, seeds, and even small fish (source: iBird Pro App).

The photo was made with the Sigma 1.4 tele extender attached to the Sigma 150-600 lens and camera was set to DX crop mode. This is the equivalent to an angle of view of a 1275 mm lens. This shows the bird a lot closer but handling this focal length, even on a tripod with gimbal head, is not an easy task. This combination is unforgiving when you make the slightest mistake while focussing on a moving subject. The Black-necked Stilt has some good contrast in its feathers and therefor it is a great shore bird to practice with a long lens.

BLUE SHOW OFF

Male Western Fence Lizard, San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, California -------

I don’t know if this male Western Fence Lizard displayed to attract a female or maybe tried to keep an intruder at distance. I saw only him between the rocks at the San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary in Irvine, California. Commonly called the blue-belly, it was showing off his blue patches on throat and belly right in front of me. I was actually focussing on the birds in the shallow water behind the lizard and therefor had the 1.4 tele extender added to the Sigma 150-600. This was the right combination to make this click without sacrificing any pixels because of the distance.