Great Backyard Bird Count

If you haven't yet, be sure to get out there this weekend and participate in the Great Backyard Bird Count. You don't have to stick to your own backyard...just get out there, count birds for at least 15 minutes per location and then submit your findings. Easy.

My two locations for today were Lake Isabella and Armleder Park.
Lake Isabella had the usual species, but Armelder Park, site of this year's Raptor-Palooza, was lousy with short-eared owls.


Most of my pictures, taken with my little point-n-shoot, were like this.



For once, the SEOW outnumbered the harriers (here you can see two SEOW with a single harrier in the middle, trying to harass them).



Let's play Spot The SEOW! See that stick-looking thing in the middle of the photo? That's a SEOW. They blend in well, don't they?



Here's one on take-off. See that dark wrist spot? Good field mark for a SEOW. That, and the flat face. They look so huge as they fly around, but they are only about 13-17 inches long and weigh a little less than a pound.



One was good enough to fly right over my head. If I had my regular camera (Come on, repair center! This is your last chance!) this would have been a stellar photo.




As I walked back to my car, after being there for about an hour and a half, I finally got a decent shot of one as it rested in a tree:

Ahhh......that's better.

I'm off to submit my counts. Be sure to get out there and count some birds!

Oh! Forgot to mention that I got a lifer......American Pipits! Whoot!