You don't have to be a birder to enjoy birds. Whether it's a transoceanic rarity or the commonest yard bird, with their brilliant colors, lively songs and wide variety of behaviors, there's something to appeal to almost everyone. No need to put a label on it to enjoy it.
If you've spent any time wandering with binoculars, you've probably had the experience of being stopped by someone out for a stroll who wants to make sure you don't miss an interesting sighting ahead. Like on our Christmas Count, where it seems likely that we'd miss the cranes every year if there weren't people to point us toward them...
And then there was a our great luck up at Bodega in early February - we thought it was too early for this, but there were already babies everywhere. Out on the bay, we saw this Common Loon swimming with her four young (you can tell she's a female because she doesn't have the bold black and white patterning of the male).
On the eastern edge of the bay, there was a Willet with its chicks. They've now reached the point where they can venture forth a little, rather than huddling beneath an adult all day.
Of course, as they start to explore and forage for themselves, they need to keep an eye to the skies and watch for predators. Like, for exampe, this peregrine who's chasing a redtail that got a little too close to its nest. We debated about this bird for a bit - we knew it was a falcon because of the pointy wings, but it seemed pretty pale for a peregrine. The eyestripe made us wonder if it could be a prairie, but with the coastal location, that just seemed too unlikely.
Some of the birds weren't quite as far along the breeding process. This Brewer's Blackbird was putting on an impressive display, hoping to catch the ladies' eyes:
Going through my photos at the end of the day, I was pleasantly surprised to find this image of a barn owl perched on a piling, I don't remember seeing the bird, truthfully, but I must have just forgotten in the excitement of getting such a nice close look.
There was also this raven, in all his shaggy-maned glory, croaking away. A day on the coast is just not complete without these guys. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any of their great aerobatic flying.
Corvids were everywhere - we had both Steller's and Western Scrub Jays. For those of you in the east, we don't have a Blue Jay - we have two blue jays. Steller's are a beautiful cobalt blue with a black head and a large crest (bigger than the Blue Jay's); they're more commonly found in wooded areas and they weren't very cooperative. Scrub Jays are turquoise blue above and grey below, and they prefer more open areas - which makes it easier to get a decent photo.
Completing the corvid trifecta was this American Crow. A lot of people have difficulty separating crows from ravens, but if you can get a good look at the tail, it's a lot easier. Crows have a rounded tail like this; ravens are more of a wedge shape (just think of the "V" in raven superimposed on the end of the tail).