San Francisco Bay Area, California

I have the incredible good fortune to stay 2.6 miles from a site listed in the National Georgaphic's book on the Best Birding Sites in the Western US and listed by the Audubon Society as one of 70 natural heritage sites in California, the Don Edwards National Wildlife Refuge. This lovely picture of a Seagull, one of the first I took on slide film and still one of my best was taken from Alcatraz island. Click on the picture to see a larger image - particularly note to light strike on the eye, and the controlled depth of field

Western Gull (Larus Occidentalis)

Another favorite is the Ed Levin County park, 15 minutes away, in Milpitas. The birds there are so tame. Sitting in a blind, I had this lovely scrub jay sitting a few feet away for 20 minutes, while I clicked away....

Western Scrub Jay (Aphelocoma californica)

But the real illustration of "tame" was this Rough Legged Hawk - who just sat on his perch for 5 minutes, while I stood on the road below him, clicking away. The early bird gets the worm, in birding, and I was the lone human being at the park early in the morning, and that probably made him feel a lot less threatened....

Northern Flicker - Female "red-shafted" (Colaptes aurantus)

Rough Legged Hawk (Buteo Lagopus)

Great Egret

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