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distortions.net

I'm Ryan Mikulovsky. Tech geek. GIS pro. Avgeek. California Native plant gardener. All photos on this blog, unless stated otherwise, are mine. Cameras: Fujifilm X-T5 and X100V. Views are my own. Follow me on Mastodon: @rpmik@avgeek.social

Birds

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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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    Northern Flickers have evaded my best efforts to photograph them. So this photo from today at a Northern California refuge will do for now. #Birds #NorthernFlicker

    Northern Flicker up in a tree, vertical against a vertical branch. The Flicker has red on its chin and its tail. It has black heart shaped markings on its gray chest.
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    Last week I nearly missed this Great Blue Heron at the Sacramento Wildlife Refuge. #Birds #BirdWatching #GreatBlueHeron

    A big gray-blue heron looks away from the camera. The bird is nestled in brown reeds.
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    Snow Geese from last weekend. #Birds #BirdWatching #SnowGeese

    Snow geese, white with black wing tips, take flight in the foreground while a linear group look on in the background. They're in an area with some tall grass and the sky is blue gray.
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    I spied a Spotted Towhee today by the Sacramento River. #Birds #BirdWatching #SpottedTowhee #Fujifilm

    A black backed bird with white spots and a very rust red chest is perched upon a leafless plant with brush in the background. The bird has a gorgeous rust colored eye.
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    The Western Blue Birds have already discovered the new piles of grape vine trimmings that still have clusters of raisins. And one of the Mockingbirds got really intrigued about the newly pruned grapevines. #Birds #BirdWatching #BlueBirds #Mockingbird #Fujifilm

    A western blue bird sitting atop a pile of prunings of grape vines with clusters of raisinsA gray and white mockingbird standing on a thick horizontal dormanr grapevine. The bird gazes to the left as it thinks about its next move.

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    Finally pruned the bird feeding native California grapes (cultivated of course). Only had a few more weeks until they woke up! Always quite the puzzle pruning two intertwined grapes. #CaliforniaNativePlants

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    Western Blue Birds have been in the neighborhood for a while now. Today they finally found our desiccated grapes! #Birds #BirdWatching #WesternBlueBird #Fujifilm

    A blue bird with a blue back and rust red chest sits on a thick grape vine loaded with desiccated clumps of grapes (raisins).A blue bird flies away from the grape vine with a grape in its beak.

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    Black-necked Stilt near the City of Burlingame Shorebird Sanctuary. What a pose! Black-necked stilt facing the camera with its legs nearly crossed. It has a white belly, chest, and neck. It’s black long beak, forehead, eyes, and rear feathers is stark against the calm low tide bay waters

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    Great Egret on the San Francisco Bay Trail just south of The City Of Burlingame Shorebird Sanctuary. #birds #GreatEgret #Fujifilm

    A very white, tall and narrow Egret standing with one leg on a rock watching the quiet bay water brunch.
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    Indisputably confirmed Yellow Rumped Warbler at yesterday’s visit to the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. They were everywhere but it’s rare to have one facing away for more than a split second 😍#birds #YellowRumpedWarbler #fujifilm

    the yellow patch on the rump of the Yellow Rumped Warbler faces directly at the phonographer. The bird is perched on a defoliated branch and the sky is overcast.
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    What luck today. Photographed a juvenile Bald Eagle (second year?) at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. #birds #BaldEagle #Fujifilm

    A juvenile Bald Eagle perched up high. It is mostly brown with a developing, and so mottled, white neck and headBald eagle soaring off. Its white head and neck are clearer.

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    My partner only looked at cat, bird, and wildfire posts on Twitter using Tweetbot. Its permanent chronical timeline was key. Now that Tweetbot appears to be banned, that’s it. No more Twitter. Fortunately Mastodon is maturing quickly.

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    Red Tail Hawk from yesterday’s bird watching at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. It’s not surprising that they’re not easy to spot. Even rarer is the one that won’t fly off if you get within 100 yards. #fujifilm #birds #RedTailedHawk

    Red Tail Hawk perched in branches of a deciduous plant
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    While bird watching yesterday, a M5.3 earthquake occurred south of Rio Dell. My RaspberryShake felt it but I sure didn’t https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/nc73827571/executive #RaspberryShake #earthquakeSeismograph of the M5.3 earthquake on 1/1/2023 south of Rio Dellclose up of the M5.3 seismograph

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    Spotted a Belted Kingfisher today! #kingfisher #birdsFemale Kingfisher looking down into a canal for prey. She has a patch of rust color on her belly. Her head is two-thirds dark gray and one-third white. Her back is gray. She has spiky feathers at the crest of her head.

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    Yesterday: Red-winged Black Birds at the local wildlife refuge. Likely some Starlings in there too.

    dozens of black birds in a bare tree top
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