One of our biggest joys came just pre-Covid with the acquisition of Sophia and Giancarlo, our now-beloved Specialized Como electric assist bikes. We can go for hours and miles along the coast and into the mountains, no matter how steep the hill or how far the destination. And it turns out when you spend hours and hours biking along the coast, you see a LOT of birds. I’ve taken to bringing my DSLR with me, and when we hear the telltale screech of a hawk, we slow down and get ready to try and take what someday will be the penultimate photo. We’ve seen all sorts of raptors nesting in the trees along the cliffs by the sea and circling the open fields in search of a meal: red-tailed hawks, red-shouldered hawks, peregrine falcons. Occasionally we’ve seen herons and egrets make a stop into the local creek where it’s more common to see mallards and mudhens.
I don’t think I’ve got the perfect photo yet, but here are a few of my favorites from the past year and 2400+ miles of pedaling around, biking and birding.
Merganser duck in the wind
You can tell how breezy it was by the way the feathers on this duck’s head are moving.
Sitting duck
Here’s another view of the merganser on a less windy day.
Red shouldered hawk
I actually took this with my iPhone 8. It was that close above my head and didn’t seem to care about me at all.
Red shouldered hawk, distracted
This is probably why it didn’t care about me – there was something much more interesting in the brush.
Raptor and friends
I thought it was cool to get the two smaller songbirds on the wires near this raptor for scale.
Peregrine falcoln on a pole
This falcon landed on the pole to pose for me for a few minutes.
Falcon in a tree
There’s a stand of live oak trees above the creek where there’s often a raptor hanging out.
Peregrine falcon in flight
Zoom in if you can to see the incredible camouflage pattern on this falcon. Beautiful.
Red-tailed hawk in flight
Another elegant soaring red-tailed hawk.
Great egret in flight
I’ve never seen a blue egret in the field above the beach. Such an elegant creature.
Egret at Aptos Creek
I’m not sure what kind of bird this is, an egret of some kind, it appears.
Egret at Aptos Creek
This is a different bird, a different day. I believe it’s another kind of egret.
Low flying hawk
Another one with my iPhone 8. How crazy that this hawk was so close!
Pelican on the sea
We often see pelicans on the sea. This pose was cool to see it come down for a landing at sunset.
Mallard hen
She was posing for us on the edge of the creek.
Hummingbird on a wire
Hard to catch a hummingbird on a bicycle, but I was prepared!
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