For four days my friend Sharon and I waited for calm and sunny weather. It came today.
We had been looking forward to finding owls at Sawhill Ponds. I needed more help in spotting them before Sharon leaves tomorrow on a birding trip to the Everglades.
She found a great horned owl for us to photograph on a cottonwood branch close to one of the trails. But it never opened its eyes. And those yellow eyes are what make a great horned owl photo.
So we moved on to Twin Lakes, just a mile north as an owl flies but three miles by road. There she spotted a pair of great horned owls in almost exactly the same place where she found them 10 days ago.
A Pair of Great Horned Owls
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An Owl Yawns
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On the way back from the owl roosting site she pointed out a kingfisher.
A Belted Kingfisher
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The Kingfisher Takes Off
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Then she spotted an American kestrel high on a branch right ahead of us. This species is a small falcon and is the only kestrel found in the Americas.
An American Kestrel
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The Kestrel Takes Off
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Only in our previous birding trip to Twin Lakes had I ever seen and photographed great horned owls. And never before had I got photos of a kingfisher or a kestrel. This was indeed a day worth the wait.
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