Category: photography

Sixty-five photos of birds taken near Bishop in April-May of 2025. Organized by location and species.

Buckley Ponds

A flock of White-faced Ibis flies north. The name refers to the white rim around their eyes and base of their beaks; this appears during breeding season. Their glossy feathers seem to change colors with the lighting.

Male Bufflehead flies over the Ponds.

The Red-winged Blackbirds are everywhere in the reeds in late winter and spring. A female is shown below.

Great Blue Herons were common in May.

Conservation Open Space Area (COSA)

A male Mallard looks outraged.

A Red-tailed Hawk landed on a post with a freshly caught rodent. Carnivorous birds have no teeth, so eating consists of tearing apart and choking down their prey. I used to think that if I died and could come back as another creature, I would want to be a bird. Eating like this make me reconsider that choice.

A female Wood Duck is not as gaudy as her male partner, but still a lovely bird.

Male and female Wood Ducks.

European Starlings are famous for their murmurations in large flocks. I also enjoy the colors of the individual birds. In winter they are covered in bright spots. In breeding season the spots fade, the bird develops glossy feathers, and the bill becomes yellow.

Western Bluebirds were often on a fence line in Spring.

Brewer’s Blackbirds lined up on a dead branch. The males, with their yellow eyes, bracket a female. These birds like to hang out in the Vons parking lot and near the tables at the Great Basin Bakery.

Below is a female House Finch. Her eye is swollen, red, and bulging. Her conjunctivitis is likely due to Mycoplasma gallisepticum, a bacteria that often infects poultry. This disease first appeared among House Finches in the mid-Atlantic states in 1994 and killed off about half of the House Finches in the area. The illness moved west, reaching California House Finches in 2006. Birds die due to lose of vision; they cannot feed themselves and are killed by predators. Will this bird survive her illness?

Airport Road

Northern Mockingbirds are common along the fence line of Gus Cashbaugh Lane. The second photo shows a bird with nest-building material in its beak.

A Savannah Sparrow perches on a reed. As a photographer, I am particularly fond of this photo, showing this tiny bird posed against a green background of new reeds.

The male Ring-necked Pheasant shown below was walking on Airport Road near the sewage ponds. I was excited to see this bird, a new species for me. This bird comes from Asia and was introduced to California around 1855. It was introduced to the Owens Valley for hunting in the early 1900s. The Fish and Game Department continued to spread these birds until 1977.

Ravens and Crows often harass other birds. Below a Common Raven torments a Turkey Vulture with the Sierra in the background.

I have many photos of Great Egrets in flight, but the pictures below were unusual. The sky was a bit overcast and the bird flew in front of darker clouds; this lighting made the wing feathers unusually translucent. Near the leading edge of each wing you can see some of the bone structure.

A male American Kestrel flies past.

A Bullock’s Oriole does a balancing act on some vegetation.

Pleasant Valley Reservoir

A Common Loon floats alone.

A male Common Merganser streaks over the water. In the second photo, the bird is moving away from us and the water looks green due to reflections from trees. I liked the reflections of the bird in both photos.

Rock Wrens are common along the Reservoir road. In the second picture, the Wren picks up a fly.

Two pictures of a Mallard and her family.

Owens Lake

For the third year in a row, Roberta and I attended the Owens Lake Bird Festival, sponsored by Friends of the Inyo. Each year we sign up for a photo shoot with Martin Powell; he grew up near the lake and has photographed birds there for many years. We cruise a network of gravel roads to get close to some birds. Drive and shoot, drive and shoot.

California Gulls are plentiful in the Spring and it is fun to see them flying and and feeding on the alkali flies.

In the image below, you can see the bird’s iris.

The black specks are alkali flies.

Waterbirds will often dip a wingtip into the water as they fly close to the surface. I used to think this was a minor flight error, like a car dragging its muffler. But I’ve seen this often with many bird species. My thought now is that the bird is tapping the water to assess or maintain its altitude, just as you might rest your hand lightly on a railing on a flight of stairs.

A long-billed curlew contorts itself to get food into its beak tip.

American Avocets.

Long-billed Dowitcher.

Green Gate road off of Dixon Lane

Two Great Horned Owls have been hanging out here. But no babies this year.

European Starlings showing their breeding plumage, particularly in the third picture.

Eurasian Collared Dove.

Bishop Creek Canal

Prairie Falcons are not common here and I had no good pictures of them in flight. This changed on April 8, when the bird below shot past me. The falcon headed north and then turned east. Flight was so smooth and predictable that I captured over 100 images with the bird in perfect focus.

The Falcon has fine white dots on the wings, something that was not known to me.

Western Meadowlark. The song of this bird is just as lovely as its feathers.

Red-tailed Hawks have a nest on Warm Springs Road. I managed to find two babies for pictures. They have already been banded.

Two photos of a young Red-tail near the canal. Note damage to feathers in both wings.

Loggerhead Shrike.

Roberta and I spotted 4 hawks that were flying close to each other near Warm Springs Road. They had white rumps and at first we thought they were Northern Harriers. But as we got closer, we realized these were something else. Later, looking at the photos, I decided they were Swainson’s Hawks. The first two photos below show a juvenile Swainson’s; the third photo shows a mature bird. These pictures were taken from the car. These hawks winter in locations from Mexico to Argentina. They come here to breed. They are not common here and I was happy to get photos with so much detail.

A Turkey Vulture was perched near the road. A bug (fly?) passed over the Vulture’s head and the Vulture turned to look at the bug; you can see this flying bug in the picture. The Vulture rolled its blue nictitating membrane over its eye, possibly for protection.

Miscellaneous

Chukars were introduced from areas that are now part of Pakistan. Like the Ring-necked Pheasant shown earlier, they were brought from Asia and turned loose to be hunted. The Pheasants like the habitat of agricultural fields. Chukars prefer dry rocky slopes. This bird was in Mazourka Canyon in the White Mountains. I got out of the car to get this picture. The Chukar did what they usually do. It ran off uphill.

The male House Finch shown below was singing like mad in my neighbor’s front yard. But his color is wrong; he should have bright red feathers on head and upper body. Instead he is yellow. Apparently this Finch cannot produce red feathers because his diet is deficient in certain chemicals that are needed.

Roberta spotted a Western Kingbird in a tree next to Ed Powers Road. The bird kept flying out to grab something in the air, then perching again.

A short comment

In this collection I showed two birds that were introduced from Asia so that people could shoot them in North America. This introduction of species for hunting is common. If you visit White Sands National Monument in New Mexico, you can also visit the nearby White Sands Proving Grounds. The Army tests missiles here. The visitor’s center has a missile museum, but surprisingly has heads of Oryx, a large African antelope, mounted on the wall. The State Fish and Game Department introduced 95 of these animals into the missile range between 1969 and 1977. Now the population numbers around 5000 and they are hunted as big game. They have also become a road hazard for motorists. On another trip, we were in the Davis Mountains of west Texas and saw a herd of what we initially thought were deer; but these were Barbary Sheep, imported from North Africa to be shot by hunters in Texas. These are all small, quirky examples of how humans have manipulated nature. For a more sweeping discussion, see Beth Shapiro: Life as We Made It: How 50,000 Years of Human Innovation Refined — and Redefined — Nature.

           I selected bird pictures from the 2024-25 winter. All were shot in the Eastern Sierra, most close to Bishop. All were taken with my new full-frame camera, the Nikon Z8. I picked 60 photos that had some special appeal to me.

The Buckley Ponds

Horned Larks hang out in flocks of 30-40 birds. They hop about on the ground, scratch for food, and then take-off in unison to zoom about. They seem skittish, nervous, and hyperactive.

The Song Sparrow below was trying to find food on the ice. In the second image, the bird is executing a Hamill camel. If this term is not familiar, look up Dorothy Hamill.

A mature Cooper’s Hawk was in the trees on the Rawson Canal.

A Bewick’s Wren weighs 1/3 of an oz, but can bellow out over a dozen melodies. I often hear this bird, but cannot find it in thickets. Sometimes it poses politely, as shown below.

This Cinnamon Teal looks a little comical with his beak open.

The Ruddy Duck below looks calm and relaxed. I like the way his paddling churns up the water in his wake.

This Pied-billed Grebe also seemed tranquil, but then suddenly spit out water.

A male Redhead cruised by and then turned to fly over me.

The Eared Grebe below does not have the characteristic “ears” (tufts of feathers) that appear in mating season. It dives for food in the second shot.

Most of my flight photos of Red-tailed Hawks show the underside of this bird. But this hawk banked so that I captured a good view of its back and the red tail feathers. Note the messy white feather in the middle of the tail. Blackbirds will often chase and attack these hawks. Was the white feather partly pulled out by a Red-winged Blackbird? 

Northern Harriers patrol low over open areas. I usually identify them by this flight pattern and the prominent band of white feathers where the tail meets the body. The white rump is easy to spot as the birds twist and turn over the sagebrush.

A Harrier couple was hunting at the ponds and in the surrounding desert. Back and forth, back and forth, over the brush. The female, seen below, wears a brown outfit.

The male sports a conservative gray suit, a dignified look.

            I parked along the Rawson Canal, a little north of the ponds, and walked about, hoping to get more shots of the Harriers. I was tracking the brown female when the gray male came close, as seen below. I was pumped when I saw the encounter in the viewfinder. The camera was shooting 12 frames per second with a shutter speed of 1/2000. I wasn’t initially sure if I captured the action, or if the image was well focused. Later, when I saw the images on my computer, I was pleased. The camera caught sharp pictures of this split-second meeting.

            In the next two pictures, the female hovered while the male plunges toward earth. But no bird hit the ground. These superb fliers were in control.

            The next photo shows the female continuing her patrol of the desert.

The COSA

            The COSA (Conservation Open Space Area) is a 25-acre plot of land right in Bishop, managed by the Bishop Paiute Tribe. It is just north of the Forest Service Office Building and the Hospital. On the east is a school and to the west is a health clinic. There are 1.2 miles of popular trails. Birds of all kinds frequent this area.

This winter a pair of Wood Ducks were often here. The colors of the male are so gaudy that they seem comical.

A Ring-necked Duck, below, was bathing itself in the pond.

Female Mallards have lovely feather patterns. I like the first Mallard photo for the reflection.

As we were leaving the COSA, we surprised two Mallards in a small drainage ditch. The ditch behind the female was in shadow, creating a portrait that reveals detail against a black background. A Mallard counterpart to Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring.

A Sharp-shinned Hawk yielded two photos that I liked.

A Great Egret lands, using wings to brake and legs to reach out for a perch.

A Red-shouldered Hawk.

European Starlings have intricate patterns.

A Song Sparrow.

A Ruby-crowned Kinglet weighs ¼ of an ounce. Hard to photograph because they won’t hold still. It is wearing spectacles.

A male House Finch looks as if it was dipped head-first in red powder.

I liked the feather detail in this image of a Eurasian-Collared Dove. This bird species originated in India, spread throughout Asia and Europe around 1600, arrived in North America about 50 years ago. They are now the most common dove in the Bishop area.

A Northern Mockingbird peeks around a branch.

Airport Road

            The intersection of South Airport Road and Gus Cashbaugh Lane is a good place to find birds.

A flock of Canada Geese is heading south in March. The wrong direction!

Another flock of Geese heads north, with the Sierra in the background.

This Mountain Bluebird appeared in early March.

A male Northern Flicker.

Western Meadowlarks perch on the fences along the road. Their loud and lovely song is often heard here. In the first photo you can see the bird’s tongue. I managed to catch the bird in the air.

Pleasant Valley Reservoir

            In winter the reservoir is used by all sorts of water birds, plus others.

The image below shows four Double-crested Cormorants. One thinks it is performing on Dancing with the Stars. The nearest bird is trying to ignore this display, while two other birds look on in shock.

A group of Ring-necked Ducks tries to take-off in a panic.

A Yellow-rumped Warbler displays the reason for its name.

A male Bufflehead tries to get airborne by pushing off the water with its pink feet.

The American Dipper (previously the Water Ouzel) was John Muir’s favorite bird. If you hike in the Sierra and take a break near a forested stream, you can watch this bird as it flies upstream and downstream near the water surface. It may dive into the water and re-emerge in another spot. When it lands on a rock, it bobs up and down as if it was doing squats. My favorite Dipper encounter was in Shinumo Creek in the Grand Canyon. I was wading down the creek bed; the clear water was about a foot deep, placidly flowing over a bottom of rock and sand. I watched a dipper that was walking about underwater searching for bugs. In the photo below, the Dipper was looking for food where the Owens River flows into the reservoir.

Miscellaneous places

Across the street from my house, a flock of male Brewer’s Blackbirds mingled with female Red-winged Blackbirds.

On Brockman Lane, a Red-shouldered Hawk was sounding off.

On Warm Springs Road, a Red-tailed Hawk was yelling.

A quartet of European Starlings rehearses with their conductor along the Bishop Creek Canal.

In January a couple of Sandhill Cranes spent three days feeding in a mowed alfalfa field north of the Bishop-Sunland Landfill. These Cranes are common on the West side of the Sierra. These two must have made a wrong turn.

A male American Kestrel perches on a power line near the Bishop Landfill.

A Great Blue Heron in a tree near Dixon Lane.

Another Great Blue Heron flies away from me at Klondike Lake, south of Bishop. Note missing feathers on right wing.

A male Bufflehead tries to take off from a pond near Klondike Lake.

Three Ruddy Ducks launching at Owens Lake.

Finally one of the Ruddy Ducks is in the air, its wing-tip dipping into the smooth water.

            The Bald Eagle is low-hanging fruit for a photographer. These big birds (10 pounds, wingspan 6.5 feet) often perch on a bare limb. With just a smartphone you can capture a classic pose: the fierce bird surveying its realm. The distinct white head makes it simple for the casual observer to spot and identify this bird. Even when flying, getting a photo is not hard due to the bird’s large size and straight path.

            Bald Eagles show up at the Buckley Ponds near Bishop in November and depart in February. People get excited if they spot an eagle. When they see me walking with my camera, they love to tell me about this bird. I try to cheerfully thank them, suppressing a grumpy urge to say that I’ve been photographing the bird for weeks. Eagles so excite the public that I own five guidebooks that feature a Bald or Golden Eagle on the cover: The Audubon Society Encyclopedia of North American Birds, Smithsonian Birds of North America, National Geographic Complete Birds of North America, The Crossley ID Guide Raptors, and Birds of the Great Basin: A Natural History. Publishers know that eagles sell.

            In winter, Bald Eagles can be found in several areas close to Bishop: Airport Road, Warm Springs Road, north of Dixon Lane, the alfalfa fields near the dump. I’ve seen them year-round at the Pleasant Valley Reservoir. They show up near Big Pine, Tinemaha Reservoir, and Mono Lake. In summer they can be found at Sabrina Lake (9200 feet) and Convict Lake (7900 feet).

Classic Poses of Mature Eagles

            I’ll start with photos that show mature Bald Eagles in a classic perched pose. These birds are impressive. They look muscular and fierce. You can think of them as gangsters of the avian world. The first eight photos were taken at the Buckley Ponds and were selected because they also show some of the surrounding landscape.

Take another look at the last two photos. They show the same bird. Did you notice the scattered white blotches on the back of the bird? This bird has excrement on its back, undoubtedly from another Eagle that was flying above it. This majestic bird needs a bath.

The next 6 photos show Eagles at the Pleasant Valley Reservoir. They dine on fish and sometimes other birds. The first photo, showing an eagle surrounded by tree branches, is one of my favorites.

The Eagle below is at Sabrina Lake in August. A nice fishing spot for Eagles and people.

Eagle below checks out the electrical grid north of Bishop.

The next five photos are all Eagle portraits taken at the Buckley Ponds. It is often possible to get fairly close to these birds. Of course a telephoto lens helps.

Bald Eagles Have White Heads, Right?

            In February of 2022, I saw a mature Bald Eagle near the Bishop Creek Canal. Then Roberta spotted a dark-colored eagle nearby. I examined my photos and realized that the second bird was a juvenile Bald Eagle, with a pale belly and scattered white feathers on the neck. Until that encounter, I thought all Bald Eagles had white heads.

            Bald Eagles take about 5 years to develop their dramatic white head and tail. In their first year, they have dark brown heads and bills that are black. This change with age was worked out by bird artist Charles Wilson Peale in 1797; by the 1820s this was well-known to bird experts. Two centuries passed before I got the message. I lived in Seattle for over a decade and saw many Bald Eagles. Not once did I notice a juvenile Bald Eagle; this shows that you see only what you look for. Young Bald Eagles can be distinguished from Golden Eagles by several features; a pale belly, no golden feathers on the neck, white wing pits, lots of white color under the wings, a tail with messy-white feathers, lower legs free of feathers, brown eyes that become yellow with age, dark beaks that become bicolored and then yellow, massive beaks with a sharp hook at the end. Bald Eagles hang out with other Bald Eagles. Bald Eagles favor water and prefer to eat fish. Golden Eagles like cliffs and rabbits. In 2022, looked through my photo library and realized every “Golden” eagle in my collection was a young Bald Eagle.

            Below I show photos of Bald Eagles ordered, approximately, from age one year to age 4 years. If you are a birding expert and think my age estimates are off, let me know.

One year old

The massive, hooked beak, below, tells you this is a Bald Eagle.

Alfalfa fields near the Bishop dump, below.

Age two years

Age 3 years

Age 4 years. By now the head is almost white, the eyes yellow, the beak nearly all yellow.

Flight

            Below, an Eagle over Convict Lake, October, looking for fish. This was one of my first eagle photos: 2018. I did not even need a telephoto lens.

            White Mountain in the background below:

Below, a young eagle hunting at the Buckley Ponds. When the Eagle takes off, dozens of American Coots go wild trying to fly or swim away from the Eagle’s path.

            In December of 2022, I was walking on Warm Springs Road. I saw two birds flying toward me and I started shooting. These were two young Eagles. As they flew past, one Eagle braked and slowed, while the other bird did a barrel-role and displayed its talons. This behavior is sometimes described as a mating ritual. Or were they were just having fun? These are some of my favorite photos. How I wish I could see something like this again.

            Below are 4 photos that show a young Eagle landing in a Cottonwood at the Buckely Ponds. It overshoots a bit, failing to stick the landing; then it balances properly. In the last photo you can see the bird’s tongue.

            A young Bald Eagle takes off at the Buckley Ponds and swoops low over the ground.

A young Bald Eagle soars above the Pleasant Valley Reservoir.

            In January of 2025, a 4-year old Eagle takes off at the Buckley Ponds. One of my favorite Eagle photos.

Eating

            Double-crested Cormorants catch fish at the Pleasant Valley Reservoir. The Eagle below caught a Cormorant. You can see the Eagle is tearing apart its prey.

            The Eagle below was perched at the Buckley Ponds on Dec 18, 2021:

A few days later, on Dec 22, I walked alone at the Ponds. It was 26 degrees and the Ponds were mostly frozen. I rounded a corner and found a Snow Goose on the road. I was surprised and so was the Goose; it flew off before I could get a photo. An hour later I came back to my car and saw an Eagle eating on the frozen lake; the fluffy stuff on the ice is white down, the remains of the Snow Goose. Blood, flesh, and bones were mixed with the down.

The Eagle flew off. You can see it below and even make out blood on the beak and feet. Some snow is on the ground.

            The next photo, below, shows the Eagle perched, with blood on beak and toes. Compare with the picture shown above for Dec 18. This is the same perch and probably the same Eagle.

A Northern Harrier then arrived and tried to steal some of the remaining flesh; the Eagle chased the Harrier off. Later in the day, I came back to the Ponds and found a Red-tailed Hawk had managed to get some of the Goose meat. So three raptors dined on Goose that day. I wondered if my sudden appearance caused the Goose to carelessly fly into the path of the Eagle?

Below are 2 photos of the Red-tail, with Goose feathers on its beak:

            The next picture shows a young Eagle flying near the Buckley Ponds. The bird is clutching something and seems to be pecking or biting whatever was in its talons.

Miscellaneous

            The photo below shows a group of Crows harassing a Bald Eagle near Airport Road. The Eagle looks downcast.

            The next two photos show a Crow chasing a Bald Eagle.

            The next 4 photos show a Bald Eagle cleaning its beak on a branch near the Buckley Ponds. The bird cries out in the last two pictures.

            The final photo shows the talons of a young Eagle.

A Fictional Eagle

            Kenn Kaufman’s new (2024) book, The Birds that Audubon Missed: Discovery and Desire in the American Wilderness, describes how John James Audubon created a fictitious bird which he called the “Bird of Washington, Falco washingtonii.” Audubon claimed that this was a newly discovered species of eagle, 25% larger than a Bald Eagle, with a wingspan over ten feet. He did this to sell subscriptions for his expensive book series, Birds of America, which was printed in Britain starting in 1827. Audubon knew that Eagles sell. Recently, historians discovered that Audubon’s painting of this counterfeit bird was plagiarized from an illustration of a generic raptor in a book by Abraham Rees.