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distortions.net

Tech geek. GIS pro. Avgeek. California Native plant gardener. Cameras: Fujifilm X-T5 and X100V. Views are my own. Follow me on Mastodon: @rpmik@avgeek.social

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    On PetaPixel:

    “Science Explains The Rainbows That Appear in Hummingbirds' Wings”

    https://petapixel.com/2023/12/01/science-explains-the-rainbows-that-appear-in-hummingbirds-wings/

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    Yellow-Rumped Warbler was on the backyard cultivated Native California Grapes just long enough for this fortunate shot. #Birds #YellowRumpedWarbler #Fujifilm 🪶A Yellow-Rumped Warbler in a grape vine that’s losing its red to brown leaves. The pointy beaked warbler has a yellow neck and chest. It’s gray and white elsewhere. The bird is staring at something off-frame to the left.

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    Here’s the turkey that appeared out of a hollow at Point Reyes National Seashore (years ago) and tried to steal our lunch. #Birds 🪶A turkey, showing its side, staring menacingly at the camera. The bird is about waist high and is standing next to a well-worn log. Its beak is bright and sharp.

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    Orange-crowned Warblers are back, feasting on dried out grapes. We’ve also observed Yellow-Rumped Warblers in the grapes. #Birds #OrangeCrownedWarbler 🪶 #Fujifilm A yellow bird straddles a thin grape vine among red and yellow grape leaves.

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    Snow Geese are back in Northern California. It’s nice living in a fly-way. #SnowGeese #Birds #Fujifilm 🪶Snow Geese fly above in a haphazard V formation. They’re all white with black wing tips. The sky is blue with wispy clouds.

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    Good morning. The time changed so I’m now technically up an hour early but I got the usual hours of sleep. So here’s a likely Savanna Sparrow from the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge A small bird perched in dense brown reeds.

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    The Orange-crowned Warbler(s) is/are back! They found our cultivated native California grapes a few years ago and have been back annually. I like to think it’s the same one bird that returns. #OrangeCrownedWarbler #Birds An Orange-crowned Warbler, perched in a grapevine, feasts on a bunch of drying out grapes. The bird is slightly obscured by a grape leaf. The warbler is a brownish yellow with white around its eyes.

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    I guess it’s good that the lost Budgie (parakeet) keeps returning to our bird friendly backyard. The neon green bird seems to be flocking with house sparrows. The sparrows constantly move while the Budgie preens.

    A parakeet is perched on a Ceanothus branch. It has a neon yellow head and green body.
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    Someone lost a parakeet or a small parrot 🙁😳 #BirdsOfMastodon #NotFromAroundHere A bird with a green body and yellow head perched on an elderberry branch. It has black markings on its wings and tail. There are elderberries behind it.

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    Got out to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge this morning. The White Fronted Geese are here (along with many small migratory song birds)! #WhiteFrontedGoose Five Greater White Fronted Geese flying in a clear sky. They have bright white chests and tails. Their belly is striped with black. Their wings are gray. The photo is very soft or slightly blurry.

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    We sometimes spoil our resident scrub jays with sunflower heads loaded with seeds. A juvenile Western Scrubjay looks down at a seed-filled sunflower head that’s on the ground. It is framed by a gravel pathway and some dry grass. Gray down is still on the bird’s back.

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    Today: A Coopers Hawk at the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge. #CoopersHawk #BirdWatching #BirdPhotography Coopers Hawk in a brightly lit tree. It is hunting up high. It has brown bars on its tail and brown stripes on its neck.

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    This morning, House Finches were breakfasting on ripe elderberries in our backyard. #HouseFinch #BirdsOfMastodon #BirdWatching #Fujifilm Two house finches are on top of two bunches of ripe elderberries, feasting on them. The upper most Finch has a Elderberry in its beak. The lower most finch is on a branch, reaching up into a bunch of berries. 

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    Delta 767 (N1604R) SFO-JFK and flock of Brown Pelicans. #AvGeek #B767 #PlaneSpotting #BirdsOfMastodon #BrownPelican Brown Pelicans flying over quiet bay waters in front of a Delta 767 that was preparing for take-off.

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    In more expected bird behavior, on the infill shores of the San Francisco Bay, here’s a Willet (a Sandpiper) snacking on a worm. #BirdsOfMastodon #Willet #SandPiper A Willet (Sand Piper) with mottled brown and white steps through the San Francisco Bay shore muck with a worn hanging from its beak.

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    I’m slowly getting the canopies of my shrubs off the ground. Mostly to reduce outdoor cats hiding under them. I’ll do a lot to keep their destructive, bird killing lot out of my yard.

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    Here is a Black-necked Stilt from the #SacramentoNationalWildlifeRefuge #BlackNeckedStilt #BirdsOfMastodon #Fujifilm
    A Black-necked Stilt bird is waking through a shallow brown pond. Small forbs surround the pond, including low laying purple flowers and then, further in the background, yellow flowers. The Black-necked Stilt has a all-white underside and all-black back and top of head. It has long legs and a long black beak.

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    Ash-throated flycatcher was also a new bird for us at Pinnacles National Park. Ash-throated flycatcher looking toward the horizon! It is perched on a bare branch against a blue sky. It’s a slender bird with a gray chest and belly and a dark gray head. Its wings are brown with white bars that curve down. Its brown tail is very narrow.

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    Went to Pinnacles National Park on Friday and we were treated to soaring and resting California Condors. Amazing to watch these birds, not long ago nearly completely extinct, thriving here.

    A California Condor showing it’s brown body, the underside of its half brown, half white wings, and it’s naked neck and head. The background is a blur of vegetation.
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    American Gold Finch digging for sunflower seeds the other day. #AmericanGoldFinch #Birds #Fujifilm

    The American Gold Finch, peering into a bird feeder hole, has a black cap and, besides it’s wings, an all light yellow body. Only the front edge of its right wing is visible and it is mostly black with some white patches. The bird is partially obscured by a vertical transparent bird feeder with a blurry (bokeh) green vegetation background.
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    And now a female Bullock’s Oriole has shown up in our backyard. What luck. #BullocksOriole #Birds

    A female Bullock’s Oriole is perched at the edge of a bird bath that’s in front of an elderberry bush. The bird has a fully gray back with white bars on its exposed right wing. Its upper chest is yellow-orange. Her head is orange from the eyes down to the chest though there’s a strip of black below it’s chin. The bird has black around its eyes and has a gray cap.
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    Here’s yesterday’s Bullock’s Oriole looking right at the camera. #BullocksOriole #Birds A Bullock’s Oriole sits in a violet flowering Ceanothus bush, looking straight ahead. It has an orange chest and orange cheeks. Its head is mostly orange, but it has black on top. The cute bird has black eyeliner and a black chin, creating a cool triangular pattern that nearly looks angry. You can just barely see its right wing. Its wing is black with white on the bottom.

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    Bullock’s Oriole in our backyard Ceanothus. This is our first backyard Oriole! Wow. #BullocksOriole #Birds #Fujifilm

    A medium Bullock’s Oriole bird with a bright orange chest, a reddish throat, and a black chin. It has a black back with whitish wings. Its orange head has a black stripe on top and a black stripe going from the rear corner of its eye to its back. The bird is perched in a Ceanothus shrub that’s loaded with tiny violet flowers and dark green leaves in between.
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    Spotted our first Marsh Wren today at the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge. That vertical tail is something else. #Birds #MarshWren #Fujifilm

    A brown Marsh Wren is perched along the top of a brown reed among a field of reeds. Its tail is pointing straight up! There are some Spring fresh green reeds amongst the brown reds and there’s a calm water pond behind the wren
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    Photographed our first Downy woodpecker today. #Birds #BirdWatching #DownyWoodpecker #Fujifilm

    A petite Downy woodpecker with a black and white striped head and a black and white body that's kind of fluffy. It's foraging on a tree trunk. There's a twig in front of its face.
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