Ruddy Turnstone
Arenaria interpres

Fall migration is imminent, so my mind is presently on birds.  Next time, however, I may give you some flowers, butterflies or....maybe I'll just surprise you!



Whimbrel
Numenius phaeopus



Snowy Plover
Charadrius alexandrinus





Black Oystercatcher
Haematopus bachmani



Western Sandpiper - molting adult 
Caladris mauri



Killdeer
 Charadrius vociferus





Black-bellied Plover - molting fall adult 
Pluvialis squatarola





Red Phalarope
Phalaropus fulicarius





Pelagic Cormorant
Phalacrocorax pelagicus

All photographs by Barbara Boethling

Photos taken at the following locations:

Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, CA

Bolsa Chica State Beach, Huntington Beach, CA

Crystal Cove State Park, Newport Coast, CA

Morro Rock, Morro Bay, CA

Monterey Bay Aquarium, Monterey, CA



     I realize I have been straying from my original intent of featuring poetry in this blog; however, I am more and more absorbed with photographic challenges at present. I will, from time to time, return to my poetry and miscellaneous musings. For now, though, let us resume our photographic journey through the natural world.
     It is time to shift focus away from birds, at least temporarily, and take a look at arachnids, insects, and other small life forms. They are such an integral part of life on earth, yet so under appreciated.  Most are notoriously difficult to photograph without special equipment; therefore, a subject I am seldom privileged to shoot. What follows, are some of the tinier inhabitants we share our planet with that I have been able to get close enough to be able to capture.  



Tarantula
Aphonopelma chalcodes

Neon Skimmer (male)
Libellula croceipennis

Red Aphids
Genus Uroleucon (unsure of species)





 

Umber Skipper (on Crown Vetch)
Poanes melane



Turquoise Aurora Damsel Fly
Chromagrion conditum



Blue Dasher  - adult male
Pachydiplax longipennis

Western Green June Beetle -
Cotinis mutabilis
(on Austrocylindropuntia subulata cactus flower)



Bird Grasshopper nymph
genus: Schistocerca



Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle, or
15 Spotted Ladybug
Harmonia axyridis




Fuller Rose Beetle
Naupactus cervinus

All photos by Barbara Boethling
Photos taken at the following locations:
Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve, Newport Beach, CA
Huntington Beach Central Park, Huntington Beach, Ca
Mile Square Regional Park, Fountain Valley, CA
Santa Rosa Plateau Ecological Reserve, Murrieta, CA



Let's not forget about the wading birds that can be sighted here in Orange County!


White-faced Ibis



 

Black-crowned Night Heron




Black-necked Stilts



Great Blue Heron (juvenile)



Great Blue Heron (juvenile)



Great Blue Heron (adult)





Snowy Egret





American Avocet



Green Heron



American Bittern


These photos were taken at the following locations:

Mason Regional Park, Irvine, Ca
San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, CA
Upper Newport Bay Ecological Reserve, Newport Bch, CA
Huntington Beach Central Park, Huntington Beach, Ca
Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, CA



This time I'd like to share some photos of shorebirds seen here in Orange County, California. Many are year round residents; however, we also encounter a lot of migratory species because we are directly in the path of north-south migration in what is known as the Pacific Flyway! 

 

Black Turnstones



Royal Tern (winter adult)

Royal Terns (breeding plumage)

Forster's Tern



Willet



Marbled Godwits




Western Gull (adult)



Western Gull (first winter)



Sanderlings

   


Bonaparte's Gull

 



   



White Pelicans (nonresident species) & a Double Crested Cormorant



Brown Pelican

All photos by Barbara Boethling.

Photos taken at the following locations:

San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, CA

Bolsa Chica State Beach, Huntington Beach, CA

Crystal Cove State Park & Beach, Newport Coast, CA



Here are some photos I've taken of birds here in Orange County, California.  More to follow. Enjoy!

House Wren











Northern Mockingbird



Anna's Hummingbird



Tree Swallow



Orange Bishops




Black Phoebe



White-crowned Sparrow

These photos were taken at the following locations:

San Joaquin Wildlife Sanctuary, Irvine, CA
Mile Square Regional Park, Fountain Valley, Ca
Huntington Beach Central Park, Huntington Beach, Ca
Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, Huntington Beach, CA



Ten A.M.

Here I sigh
in ritualized boredom
amidst the colors, sounds, and smells
of being for no tenable reason.

Time spirals away
and is tragically trapped
in the back of the refrigerator
with the hardening red Jello.

Slumped here on the kitchen chair,
I pinch myself and scream,
but still can find no thrill
in feeling half alive.

I cock my head and see, much to my dismay,
a sad lump of soggy doughnut
sprawled pornographically behind my coffee cup, taunting me.

"Tomorrow you may awaken," it says.
"Why?, and to what?",  I cry.

Crisp and Brightly Colored Leaves

Crisp and brightly colored leaves
had begun to drift down, bit by crinkly bit,
from the upper branches of the trees.

I was also inclined to drift into the forest, on some brisk afternoon,
but just to wander a bit before winter's bitter cold 
left the woods destitute of anything welcoming.

Soon straying off the path, I stopped and sat down
against the rough brown bark of a fallen log,
because I longed to be surrounded by the dark garnet of  sumac berries, the polished sienna of the acorns in their knobby caps, the more childlike
crayon colors of the sycamores, and all the other marvelously subtle shades of  failed and fallen pieces of spent seasons.

I saw the sodden leaves weeping
beneath the moving water of the creek,
and the lengthening shadows falling like doubt
upon its ebullient surface.   I raised my eyes when I heard the the wind sigh, 
and through the crimson, green and gold canopy, 
was pleased to see brilliantly white clouds embossed across
that curved blue bowl of sky.

The effects of these things were sad or sweet (or both),
yet all reassuringly familiar to me, and
more comforting, in fact, than any narcotic could possibly hope to be.
Drowsy, I heard the wind and leaves
whispering their serene and seductive sounds,
and yet, as I struggled to my feet on the slippery confusion
of colors spread upon nature's splendid palette,
they boldly summoned the storms.

photos by Barbara Boethling