With the advent of its technology being more advanced than its competitors, Sony has gained a significant market share in its photography segment despite being viewed as consumer electronics instead of professional gear by many photographers.
To add to the injury, we had been having a heavy fog blanketing the owl hunting ground, resulting in poor visibility of both the owl and photographers.
Please click on the above image to view the video clip. This was my first great opportunity to capture a pair of the American Kestrel nesting in great length over a short period of time at Coyote Hills Regional Park, Fremont since I got into birding photography back in 2011. They are ever so obligingly posing for us with their daily shows that usually start after 5:00PM with fresh caught meals as well as courting and mating. It was unfortunate for me that I can only shoot on weekends – darn work got in the way.. The American Kestrel’s scientific […]
Despite getting wet, cold, and uncomfortable, shooting in the rain can be fun and challenging. Depending on the time of the day and visibility of the sun, the soft lighting can compliment your shots by reducing the usual shadows and highlights problems caused by daytime natural lighting. I always look forward and overcome with excitement to shooting in the rain after knowing from the weather forecast that rain is coming over the weekend. Besides who doesn’t welcome some pouring with severe draught we have been experiencing over the last five years in the bay area. My favorite spot for shooting […]
Despite being informed that the resident Great Horned Owl of Coyote Hills Regional Park was nesting at a lower perch than its usual spot this year a few months back, I did not get a chance to capture any of the ‘fur-balls’ shots until both of the chicks fledged and no longer had their cute looks. Nevertheless, during the span of two weeks starting from August, I have been frequenting the park almost on a daily basis, breaking the norm of being exclusively a weekend shooter. The timing of them showing up from around 6 to 8:00PM not only works […]
Like other shorebirds, Western grebes do not go by the human calendar or clock to tell them when to start their new family. They merely go by their instinct relying on the weather cycle. Based on human calendar, the breeding season typically starts around April through end of July and by late August through October. During these period, you can find the adult pairs carrying their young(s) on their back. Perhaps due to the global warming, there are more than a dozen of both Western and Clark’s grebes being seen with their courting behavior as late as the week before […]
The Northern Harrier aka the Marsh Hawk flies low by gliding over a marsh or grassland when hunting. It has an owlish face which helps to hear mice and voles beneath the vegetation. All Northern Harriers have a white rump that is visible when they fly. The Northern Harrier is one of the a few raptors including the Red-tailed Hawk and Great horned Owl that are residents of CHRP and can be seen almost all year long at the park. They cover a very wide territory and can be seen gliding over all the marsh areas of CHRP. At times […]
As she was just about to gain elevation from the launch, searching for a new feeding spot, little did she know a pair of preying eyes had been intensely shadowing her every little move from a nearby tree. A golden window of opportunity finally opened up for the hungry, cold juvenile Red-tailed hawk, who had been hunting to no avail since the break of dawn. Not wasting such an opportunity, the young raptor simply seized the ill-fated female bufflehead in the mid-air with little struggle. It took over three hours for the hawk to devour its fresh catch. This was […]
Short-eared Owl 2015 has been a lucky year for bird photographers at CHRP. A pair of this owl stayed long enough to give every photographers an equal share of taking their images. It usually comes out to hunt after 5:00PM and most of the time it would keep flying around a fix territory until it gets tired then it would perch. It is very skittish thus taking a perch shot of this owl requires a lot of patience, and a lot of luck. I had to hide under a camouflage blanket on my belly against some rock surface for almost […]
Coyote Hills Regional Park (CHRP) is part of the East Bay Regional Park District (EBRP) system of beautiful parklands and trails in Alameda and Contra Costa counties east of San Francisco, California. It comprised of nearly 978 acres of marshland and rolling grassland covered hills and was dedicated to public use in 1967. The park is popular for outdoor activities such as picnicking, jogging, bicycling, walking, nature exploration, and bird watching. Since it is located only ten minutes away from where I live in the City of Fremont, it is one of my favorite spots for my bird photography activities. […]