• Home
  • Birding
  • Hiking
  • Wildflowers
  • Bicycling

Adam Paul

Nature & Travel Photography and Narratives

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« Mendocino – Day II
Birding at Rhododendron Dell & Strybring Arboretum (SF) »

Baby bird-o-rama at Stow Lake (SF)

26 April, 2007 by Adam R. Paul

For lunch today, Sarah & I got sandwiches in the Inner Sunset and went to Stow Lake to see what birds were afoot. Sarah walks there nearly every morning and has seen numerous chicks recently, so I brought along my camera to see what I could see.

 
Canada Goose gosling

A pair of Canada Geese had 7’ish goslings with them, closely watching them against the calling Red-tailed Hawks, Red-shouldered Hawks, and numerous Western Gulls that were nearby. Not past where they were Sarah showed me a Pied-billed Grebe nest. At midday the youngsters were mostly tucked under mamma, but they occasionally poked their cute stripey little heads up – Pied-billed Grebes are small birds to begin with, and their young are truly tiny!  Unfortunately the lighting was poor and the birds were fairly deep in brush, limiting photo ops.

 
Pied-billed Grebe and chicks

As we ate our sandwiches, several Steller’s Jays came to see if we were giving out handouts (we weren’t), as did a half-dozen Brewer’s Blackbirds. The gulls and pigeons, fortunately, stayed away. A couple of Violet-green Swallows flitted about, and several Great Blue Heron nests showed peeks of their weeks-old youngsters.

 
Mallard duckling 

While we were admiring the Pied-billed Grebe nest, a female Mallard with 8 ducklings in a row came out of the bushes, saw us, and hurried back – I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many young birds at one time! Great Blue Heron, Canada Goose, Mallard, and Pied-billed Grebe – wow!

 
Great Blue Heron and juvenile

Alas, work beckoned, and I couldn’t stay to photograph to my heart’s content, which I would have loved to have done! I must return as often as possible to see if I can get excellent photos of the PBG chicks.

Birds seen:
– Brewer’s Blackbird
– Canada Goose (with chicks)
– Great Blue Heron (with chicks)
– Mallard (with chicks)
(Muscovy Duck)
– Pied-billed Grebe (with chicks)
– Red-shouldered Hawk
– Red-tailed Hawk
– Rock Pigeon
– Steller’s Jay
– Violet-green Swallow
– Western Gull

() = domestic/released bird

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Reddit

Like this:

Like Loading...

Related

Posted in Birding, Nature, Photography | 8 Comments

8 Responses

  1. on 26 April, 2007 at 22:36 aullori

    You take the most amazing photos and wow, you know your birds – I love that dedication! I’m working on bird watching (on a real small level nothing like what you do) and would love to link your blog with your permission.


  2. on 27 April, 2007 at 01:05 Si

    Gorgous photos. love them


  3. on 27 April, 2007 at 07:27 Adam R. Paul

    Thanks for commenting, Aullori & Si! Certainly feel free to link to my blog, Aullori.


  4. on 27 April, 2007 at 09:12 aullori

    sweet thank you.


  5. on 27 April, 2007 at 11:14 mon@rch

    Adam, as you know, I just LOVE that grebe photo! For sure this is a great time of the year!


  6. on 28 April, 2007 at 06:40 Adam R. Paul

    Aullori: You’re welcome!

    Tom: Thanks! Can’t wait to return and see more of ’em!


  7. on 1 May, 2007 at 08:03 gloria gold

    These photos are awesome. I’ve been walking and/or jogging Stow Lake for over twenty years, and have actually seen these marvelous new babies. But your pictures gave me a much closer look than I got while walking! Thanks so much.
    Actually, the mother with eight chicks had 11 in the beginning, but alas, the predatory birds – gulls, hawks, even herons, love to feast on little chicks. One little lone mother mallard started with four babies and was down to only one the other day, and yesterday, we saw the lonely mother, with no chicks. Guess its the law of the wilds.

    I would love to see any more pictures you tak, and think you should have them published somewhere – bet the Chronicle would like to feature them, maybe in their Sunday Magazine section.


  8. on 1 May, 2007 at 15:31 Adam R. Paul

    Thanks, Gloria – I will post any good ones on this blog when and if I take any (hopefully I’ll get back there this week before they all get grown/eaten!).



Comments are closed.

  • About Adam


    I am an avid nature lover and amateur photographer, living in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury. On this blog, you will find photos and narratives from birdwatching outings, hikes, as well as any other random travels. For more information, see here.
  • If you enjoy the photography on this blog, check out my Photography Site, were I sell prints of selected works and maintain a photo blog.
  • Copyright

    All words and images on this blog are Copyright (c) Adam R. Paul, and may not be used without permission.
  • Categories

    Architecture Art Bicycling Birding Books Hiking Misc Music Nature Photography Travel Uncategorized Urban Wildflowers Wordless Wednesday
  • Search this blog

  • Trip Reports

    • Oregon Coast Road Trip
    • Patagonia & Buenos Aires
    • Joshua Tree & SoCal
    • Prague
    • Upcoming:
    • Gold Lakes Basin
    • Washington, D.C.
    • Lassen Volcanic National Park
  • Recent Posts

    • Wordless Wednesday: Calaveras Big Trees State Park’s North Grove
    • Wordless Wednesday: Ferry Building Farmer’s Market
    • Wordless Wednesday: Mission San Miguel Arcangel
    • Wordless Wednesday: Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival
    • Hiking the PCT from Ebbett’s Pass to Nobel Lake
    • Wordless Wednesday: Calaveras Big Trees North Grove Hike
    • Wordless Wednesday: Abbott’s Laggon (Point Reyes)
    • Presidio Habitat hike
    • Dad O’Rourke’s Bench
    • Wildflowers at Calaveras Big Trees’ Bradley Grove
  • Top Posts

    • Oregon Road Trip - Day 7 - Florence, OR to Gold Beach, OR
    • Prague, Part 18: Strahovský klášter (Strahov Monastery)
  • Flickr Photos

    IMG_5257IMG_5258IMG_5259IMG_5253IMG_5255IMG_5246IMG_5251IMG_5228
    More Photos
  • Blog Stats

    • 203,923 hits
  • Nature Blog Network
    PhotographySites
    Nature Images
    Outdoor Blogs - Blog Catalog Blog Directory
    NetworkedBlogs
    Blog:
    Adam's Nature Blog
    Topics:
    birds, nature, photography
     
    Follow my blog
    Fatbirder's Top 500 Birding Websites

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.


Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy
  • Follow Following
    • Adam Paul
    • Join 41 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Adam Paul
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Copy shortlink
    • Report this content
    • View post in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
%d bloggers like this: