In the early days of Covid-19, a friend said 'we're getting old let's do old people things', so we picked 'birding'. Looks like it stuck.
Here, a photo of some baby Western gulls on Alcatraz island, which has many types of birds, including falcons, and herons and more. While Western gulls are kind of 'boring', I do love how these baby gulls have spots on their heads.
Once or twice a year, I try to go on a boat ride with some birders. I started birding as a joke ("I'm getting old I need an old person hobby!") but found that I love it. I especially love pelagic birds (and also shore birds, but to a lesser extent). Something about the raw power of the ocean and the ocean life in and around and above it really inspires me. The first time I went, I saw a feeding frenzy up close: of whales hunting, pushing fish up to the surface, different types of birds diving in and out of the water. It was majestic.
The Farallon Islands don't look too far from San Francisco on the map but it's many hours in treacherous waters. Many people throw up: for hours. I have never had motion sickness, so I was happy to tap on that life skill to try to take photos from the boat. It's hard when you're on a boat, harder when the waters are so incredibly choppy.
Anyway, here are some photos I loved from the trip back in July.
Sea lions on a buoy off Half Moon bay.
Tufted puffin bobbing about in the Pacific Ocean.
Active sea life in the Pacific Ocean.
The pure power of the ocean and the life in it.
Sea lion and pup in the rocks.
Sheer and overwhelming number of birds on the rocks and the waters around.
All photos taken with a Nikon D810 and 200-500mm lens.
Sometimes you have a bad photography day where there is no light or poor light, you don't get any of the shots you want because you haven't had coffee, or you just don't know your equipment very well.
In this case, I had a borrowed Fujifilm XT-30 and telephoto lenses and.. boy, I did not have fun. I'm still not sure the Fuji digital cameras are for me, though many people love them, but I did come out with this one shot I love.
I had a wonderful trip to the Farallon islands just off San Francisco. We got on a boat with a birding crew from Half Moon Bay and, many, many seasick hours later, got close to the islands. We saw pelagic birds, porpoises, and even puffins. We got to hover near the rocks full of spectactular marine life, where the deafening chaos of thousands of sea lions and birds overwhelmed us with the sounds of life, thriving.
If you ever visit, it's well worth trying to join a trip to the Farallons. We had a good time with Alvaro's group, where we had some scientists onboard including a scientist who was previously stationed at the Farallon Islands himself, so he had a lot to share. Remember to pack the Dramamine, though.
The scientists told us about how colonialism led to the decline of many birds in the area, but that conservation efforts of the past decades are starting to help them flourish again.
3 posts tagged "birding"