Great Blue Heron stalking gophers on the Monterey Peninsula

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While driving around the Monterey Peninsula, we saw this great blue heron beside the road at a city park. After we watched and photographed him for a while, we realized he was hunting gophers, the animals that made the mounds he was walking over. We even saw it take a stab at the ground trying to snag one, unsuccessfully. The blood stains on his bill especially visible in the closeup photo may indicate that he has been successful in past attempts. 

We drove on later to look at more parts of the peninsula, and then, when it started raining, we turned around and headed back. This heron was still there, on the hunt.

The first image was taken with a Canon Powershot SX530 HS at f5.6, 1/100 sec, ISO 100, 51.9 mm.

The closeup was taken with a Canon EOS 90D with a 100-400 mm zoom lens at 400 mm with 1/125 sec., f5.6 at ISO 400 exposure.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Marbled Godwit and Sanderlings, Monterey, California

Bob was looking back through some of his old photo folders from our trips to the Monterey area and came across this photo of a marbled godwit and sanderlings foraging through the sand of San Carlos Beach at the Coast Guard Pier in Monterey, California.  Sanderlings are fun to watch running at the edge of the surf because of how fast their little legs have to go.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

 

Double-crested cormorant near Monterey, California

This double-crested cormorant was resting on rocks along the coast between Monterey and Pacific Grove, California. Cormorants are fish-eating birds that can hunt their prey in both salt and fresh water. They can be found along the coast as well as along rivers. This one seemed quite content to rest close to the walkway that follows the coast, despite the people passing by.

Cormorants' eyes work better in air than they do in water. According to a study of the greater cormorant in England, cormorants only see well enough to catch fish about 1 meter (3 feet) in front of them and their snake-like necks allow them to strike quickly at a fish that is within range. The small tooth-like structures in the bill point backwards and keep the fish from escaping after the bird bites down.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Whimbrel shorebird searching for food at San Carlos Beach, Monterey, California

A whimbrel is a shorebird with a long decurved bill used for probing into the sand to find edible mollusks. This one was searching for food on San Carlos Beach, in Monterey, California. Some of the other whimbrels were competing for the opportunities to feed even to the point of pushing and shoving a little. When one pushed its bill into a promising hole in the sand, sometimes another rushed in to knock the other bird out of the way and get its bill onto the food instead.

These birds are constantly in motion, so the picture was taken at 1/500 of a second to help stop action. The zoom was about 25x.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Marbled Godwit foraging on Monterey Beach

A marbled godwit foraging along San Carlos Beach in Monterey, California.  This shorebird uses its long bill to probe in the sand for invertebrates to feed on. We visited the coast at Monterey after a storm had stirred up the ocean and there were many shorebirds out foraging.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Heermann's gull drinking fresh water on a Monterey, California beach

Heermann's gulls are distinguished by their dark red bills and dark legs. This gull was drinking fresh water that came off the streets of Monterey, California, and flowed down onto the beach. Several other birds were taking advantage of the runoff, too. This beach is San Carlos Beach, next to Monterey's Breakwater, famous among SCUBA divers in California. It's also where we went for a field trip while in college to practice diving for our certification. We had intended to dive the time we got this picture, but a storm had just passed and another was on the way, so the ocean was too stirred up for diving and getting good pictures. The lady at the dive shop described the water clarity as "pea soup", so we didn't go diving but looked for wildlife along the coast.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!