Thursday, June 25, 2009

Black Oystercatcher, Monterey Bay, 2009.





This is probably my favorite bird, for (to me) obvious aesthetic reasons: its color scheme is minimal, with a completely black body, bright red bill, pink legs, bright yellow iris and red eye ring. Fantastic color! It noshes on mussels, limpets and chitons, and, according to Wikipedia, will also scarf down crabs, isopods and barnacles. Its range is the Aleutian Islands to Baja California; my range is from Point Pinos to the Aquarium. Fortunately, those ranges overlap, and I get to see this delightful bird, with its loud squawking call, on a regular basis. I admit to not being a true wildlife photographer, not having the equipment to take good long telephoto shots, and too lazy to lug a tripod everywhere. I do always have my G9 at the ready, and love to photograph birds, as well as seals. 

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