Grebes and blackbirds at Shoreline, Leica flowers in Palo Alto

The sun rises ever sooner and it's time to set the alarm even earlier to catch the best light at Shoreline Lake

This man-made lake yielded the usual coots, a few common goldeneyes, pied-billed grebes, ruddy ducks, surf scoters, greater scaup and young ring-billed gulls. But I was after an eared grebe in magnificent breeding plumage.

Like their horned cousins, eared grebes wear somewhat drab winter plumage: http://tinyurl.com/6qjnb But both sexes become strikingly-colored to attract each other for breeding This guy decided to stare me down: http://tinyurl.com/4nc79

Watch these guys in close-up action. Going... http://tinyurl.com/6qmyw Going... http://tinyurl.com/5bb9j ...Gone! http://tinyurl.com/3q989

Shoreline's loaded with red-winged blackbird males calling, displaying and eating. This guy snagged some tender grass:
http://tinyurl.com/4wv5f

I captured early spring colors last Sunday at Palo Alto's Elizabeth Gamble Gardens: http://tinyurl.com/6cjzx
It's hard to believe the high prices these flowers fetched during Holland's tulip mania of 1637: http://tinyurl.com/4cxw7

(Both flower shots, 51-year-old M3 and 90mm f/2 APO-Summicron-M ASPH, Fuji Xtra ISO 400, Nikon LS4000ED scanner @ 2700DPI, Digital ICE)

All comments welcome.

Mark Bohrer
Mountain and Desert Photography
www.mountain-and-desert.com
Subscribe to my free newsletter for bird photo tips and print discounts! 


=========================================================
To Unsubscribe: Send email to leica-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with 'unsubscribe' in 
the Subject field. The acknowledgment that you then receive MUST be replied to 
per instructions. You may also log in to the Web interface to unsubscribe.

Other related posts: