Welcome to my blog.
I document my adventures in travel and birding. My thoughts and experiences are illustrated with captivating photography. My photos are the characters of my stories.
Hope you enjoy your visit!
All in Birding
Cedar Waxwings forage for fruit throughout their North American range. Learn how to identify these frugivorous birds by their behaviors and field marks in this photo / video illustrated account of personal sightings by photographer Robert Groos,
An adult California Thrasher leaves its offspring momentarily while it goes to look for more food to share. In the interim, an adult female California Quail passes nearby. The thrasher chick crouches and begs for food from the quail. Surprisingly, the adult quail responds to the begging and puts something into the thrasher’s mouth. This most improbable interaction between two different species is clearly captured in the photos that illustrate the drama of this true story.
Photographing small birds like Bushtits is always a challenge because they move quickly from branch to branch. Bushtit nests are shaped like tube socks and very fragile. I photographed Bushtit nestlings in a nest that was depredated by neighboring scrub jays before the chicks were old enough to leave the nest.
Mergansers are as difficult to photograph as they are stunningly gorgeous. To capture some portraits of these beautiful ducks, I went to great lengths, on land and on the water, to to find a way to get close without spooking them. This article explains how my photos of Hooded and Common Mergansers came about. The story is illustrated by still and video photography.
Fear and fascination were my companions one eventful October night. When darkness falls, the mystery of the unknown is most certain to stir human imagination. If you’ve ever heard the call of an owl in the dead of night, you know how fully it grabs your attention. Learn about the eyes of the Great Horned Owl, how it is able to rotate its head in a 270° arc, and its daylight activity in this photo illustrated story about an owl that hooted atop of my chimney.
A true, photo illustrated life and death story about California Thrashers. When a California Thrasher pair began courtship displays on my property, I set out to document their behavior in hope of eventually photographing their offspring. Tragically, a neighbor’s cat ate one of the thrashers before breeding season began. The remaining bird later paired with a new mate nearby. They brought their fledglings to my property to forage, and gave me the birding surprise of my life.
The California Scrub-Jay can remember the past, and plan for the future. They have the ability to understand and predict the behavior of other birds, a mental process called “theory of mind.” In this photo-illustrated article, you will learn about the fascinating behavior of these intelligent birds, and their vital role in the disbursement of acorns across the oak woodlands.
The Acorn Woodpecker is the voice of the oak woodland foothills of California where I live. Their riotous laughter, immortalized by cartoon animator Walter Lantz, is the signature sound of this woodpecker species that forages in the air and the oak canopy for insects and acorns. Utility poles are a favorite site for their communal granaries. This humorous, photo-illustrated article explains the endearing, gregarious behavior I am fortunate to observe every day.
A flock of Wild Turkeys forage daily on my property in the spring. One decides this is a good place to nest and lay twelve eggs. On a moonlit light, she is attacked by coyotes and raccoons. Video and still photography record the harrowing experience. I named this turkey Matilda for the way she waltzed into my life, and profoundly changed my understanding of what it is like to be a wild bird. A true story abut birds in the oak woodland foothills of California.
Stepping out of my garage one morning, I came face to face with an egg bandit. Before me stood a Wild Turkey with an egg in its bill. In the following days, two more turkeys appeared in my yard carrying eggs in their bill. Where were these turkeys finding the eggs? In this photo-illustrated article, you will learn about nest predation by Wild Turkeys.
Two Western Bluebirds launched themselves up into the open sky over my property one spring morning. They raced in circles above the tree canopy, one chasing the other. Their routine culminated with a vertical ascent, wings flapping in tandem while they touched toe to toe. They repeated this spectacle several times, accompanied all the while by a sublime iteration of their jubilant vocalizations. In this photo and video illustrated story, you will read about their successful fledging of two chicks.
The American Robin is an iconic songbird found throughout North American. Learn how, according to Iroquois legend, the robin acquired its red breast, and how this member of the thrush family is able to consume as much as fourteen feet of earthworms in a single day. Text supported by photo and video illustrations.
Three Red-tailed Hawks were fighting over a freshly killed ground squirrel in the road ahead. I pulled over to watch. Over the next half hour, I was enthralled by aerial attacks and ground assaults performed by the hawks as they vied for a piece of the squirrel. In this article, illustrated by still and video photography, you will experience the drama as it played out.
The Rock Wren is a sparrow-sized passerine with a repertoire of 100 or more vocalizations. The name derives from its preferred habitat: dry, sparsely vegetated open spaces altered by man, such as quarries, open mine pits, levees, breakwaters, and barren ocean bluffs. I discovered one on the breakwater of Morro Bay. It seemed to follow me around and sing me a song. This post is its story.
An uncommon Wild Turkey feather morphology is the smoke gray phase. An individual hen of this type forages regularly in my neighborhood in the oak woodlands of Central California, affording me the opportunity of close observation. She has a particular liking for black oil sunflower seeds which I toss on the ground for the wild birds that visit. This year, she brought a whole brood of twelve, newly hatched poults to my property to forage. This post is her story, illustrated with still and video photography.
Have you ever been mobbed by a boisterous, double dozen of daffy ducks, and a gaggle of geese to boot? It happened to me one morning this past July while I was walking around a lake in the oak woodland foothills near Yosemite National Park. The experience, I can testify, was a bellyful of quacks, as I explain in this lighthearted elegy to a family of hybrid Mallard and American White Ducks. The post is illustrated by a collection of still and video photography showing a duckling breaking out of its shell with its egg tooth, foraging the mudflats, and the unusual feather colors produced by hybridization.
Every Spring, Canada Geese nest around Blue Heron Lake in the oak woodland foothills near Yosemite National Park. Of the nine nests I observed this year, four were destroyed by predation during the night. One nest, containing five eggs, and situated upon a granite boulder submerged in the lake, seemed destined for success because of its immunity from terrestrial predators. From the beginnings of the nest to the hatching of an egg, in this article, illustrated with photos and video, you will experience the dramatic details of what I observed over approximately five weeks.
Spring is a time of heightened avian activity across the globe. In the oak woodland foothills of the Sierras near Yosemite National Park, bird migration and nesting activity is at its peak. Wild Turkey toms are strutting from dawn to dusk in hopes of attracting females for copulation. Sometimes competition between males becomes violent. See it all in still and video photography in this post.
What bird species eat berries? It depends upon the time of year; many feast on them when other sources of food are not available. In this post you will read about thirteen species going nuts over eating pyracantha berries. Some species may surprise you. Beautiful photo illustrations accompany this article.
Killdeer exhibit fascinating behavior and vocalizations, particularly during nesting season. Following is an account account of three mating pairs, their five nests, twelve eggs, and seven killdeer chicks along a lakeshore, complete with photos, audio, and video.
