Three Bewick’s wrens successfully fledged in the garden last week. It was incredible to see how quickly both parents would return to the nest box with insects plucked from nearby plants and around the foundation of the house. They were also busy hauling off their young’s droppings to keep the nest fresh. Insectivorous birds consume an estimated 400–500 million tons of prey annually.
San Diego birding
Peregrine falcons
Watching the peregrine falcons at Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve is a favorite activity of mine. The water is warming up a little and felt pretty nice as it lapped my ankles while I was shooting.
There are four eyases visible in the large wind cave at center.
Slam!
Brown pelican just kept soaring
There were many squadrons hugging the cliffs.
An eyas strengthens its wings as its siblings watch with interest
Anna's hummingbird nest
If you’re thinking about pruning a tree at this time of year in southern California (and a lot of other warm locations), please look closely for bird activity first. It’d be really easy to send this family of Anna’s hummingbirds tumbling to the ground and I suspect most of us can agree that’d be incredibly sad.
Here’s a female Anna’s hummingbird near her nest site in our largest tree, a Peruvian pepper that came with the house. She built it with twigs, spider webs and bits of lichen from our fence which add a bit of much-needed camouflage.
She’s foraging in bladderpod I planted.
Why is a Cooper’s hawk a hummingbird's best friend?: https://www.science.org/content/article/why-hawk-hummingbird-s-best-friend