Tijuana River Estuary Research Reserve

The weather's been in the 80's and sunny which makes for good walking weather.  The birds are out as well and the ducks are still here for Winter, which makes for some good bird watching.  Here are pictures of a few of the birds and critters that were out and about at the Tijuana River Estuary Research Reserve.

 Black-tailed jackrabbit, Lepus californicus.  These guys are bigger than a small dog and admittedly looked pretty fierce.  Although I don't suppose the hawks care one way or the other.

 Brush rabbit, Sylvilagus bachmani.  These are true rabbits, as opposed to the afore-mentioned jack rabbits, and are as cute as can be.  This one was keeping a keen eye out for hawks.

 Bufflehead, Bucephala albeola.  These little diving ducks live on small crustaceans that the root for in the mud and sand.

 Caspian Tern, Sterna caspia, showing its Winter colors.

 A female American Kestrel, Falco sparverius.

 Northern Harrier, Circus cyaneus.  There were several of these large hawks cruising low and slow over the brush, looking for rabbits, squirrels and lizards.

 Whimbrel, Numenius phaeopus.  Normally you'll find these in the marsh.  However, there was a pair of them stalking the low ground cover for bugs.

Willet with Winter Colors

American Kestrel on a Sign Post

American Kestrel, Falco sparverius, resting on a wildlife sign post.  These are also known as Sparrow Hawks and may be seen hovering for prey over grassy and shrubby areas.

American Kestrel at Cabrillo National Monument

American Kestrel, Falco sparverius, Cabrillo National Monument, San Diego, California. I drove out to Cabrillo National Monument to see a Fin whale that washed up into a cove just outside the Point Loma Waste Treatment plant. It turns out, however, that the waste treatment plant wasn't having anything to do with lookie-loos and crazy photographers. In fact, they didn't even let their own security guard go down to the cove to see the whale. However, since I was at Cabrillo, I paid the entry fee and made a day of exploring Cabrillo National Park. I started off photographing the tide pools followed by taking pictures of the bird colonies on the cliffs and then by photographing the succulent species growing in the coastal scrub...which is what I was doing when this little guy popped up. He was flying into the stiff, cool breeze, flapping just hard enough to hover over the coastal scrub, looking for lizards, bugs and small animals. Every now and then he would dive down at some prey and then bob right back up into the sky. He (you can ID male American Kestrels by the grey on the top of the wings -- not shown in this photo) continued to hover and swoop for over 15 minutes, providing for some excellent shots including the one above.

American Kestrel

American Kestrel, Falco sparverius, Tijuana Slough. These small hawks are about the size of a jay. They Winter in the Southern United States and Summer up North. This one is relaxing on a cholla cactus (how do they do that?).