Remarkably this American Bittern was photographed at La Merced flying out of the ditch right behind where I photographed the species before in 2007. Was it the same bird? It did seem to favour this particular stretched of ditch as it was seen flying out of there twice when I drove past.
Unfortunately I didn't have a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the wings completely as I had been photographing some static birds a few minutes beforehand, still not to bad a result.
California - November 2009
Herons, Egrets & Ibis
American Bittern
Night Heron
Great Blue Heron
Snowy Egret
Great Egret
White-faced Ibis
I came across Black-crowned Night Herons at several locations; Salton Sea, Moss Landing etc, however the birds at Lake Merrit in Oakland were by far the most confiding. This may have something to do with the domestic ducks here being fed and they've cottoned on and are cashing in. The adult above was photographed here and is not a crop.
The juvenile/1st winter below was at Obsidian Butte, Salton Sea
The most widespread and commonest of the herons was the Great Blue Heron, often seen in good numbers, i.e at the Salton Sea. The adult above was found at roost in Golden Gate Park one the first morning whilst the juvenile below was at Obsidian Butte, Salton Sea later in the trip. Note on the bird in flight below the 'red' landing lights at the wrist
All of the egrets, Great, Snowy and Cattle, were commonly seen however Cattle Egret was limited in distribution being seen mostly at the Salton Sea whilst the other two were far more widespread. Although Snowy Egret was perhaps the commoner of the two Great Egret were still seen virtually everywhere here there was water, both fresh and salt. The bird in flight was at La Merced whilst the other bird was hunting in rock pools at Point Pinos, Monterey. I had to back away from the bird to get it all in frame.
Snowy Egret was common and widespreas, large flocks were seen leaving Finney Lake near the Salton Sea early in the morning whilst along the coast birds were pretty numerous, less so perhaps north of San Francisco. This bird was fishing in Rock Pools at Point Pinos alongside the Great Egret above.
La Merced and the Salton Sea had the largest gatherings of White-faced Ibis with the following images from Obisian Butte where a goof flock was seen at close range.