maia bird's photostream  

Heermann's Gull, Huntington Beach, CA

What a handsome bird! Wish we had these out East.

I greatly enjoyed having my Flickr friends along on my lifetrip to New Zealand. Thank you for your enthusiastic comments and encouragement. I have many more shots to post! It was an extraordinary adventure, but with plenty of downtime to relax with friends (see Queenstown balcony, glass of wine :)).

Rest assured that my backyard birds are still well pampered, but I'm afraid they won't get much Flickr air time unless they start doing "wingstands." The weather is still so mild that they seem to be coming to the feeders more out of habit rather than necessity.

Can you fill in the blank? Every aspiring BIF photographer must know the answer! I was fortunate to have the trigger ready.

American Kestrel
Bolsa Chica Ecolgical Reserve, CA
Seems like a lifetime but was just three weeks ago

Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve, CA

Otago Peninsula, South Island, New Zealand

We were able to have dinner with Maureen and Roger prior to our flight back to Boston. I'm afraid we talked their ears off about our trip to New Zealand. I'm posting this head shot by special request from Maureen. The penguins were a highlight of the trip in part because the location was so gorgeous, raw and remote, but also not least because this rare fellow walked right past us on the beach.

Member of the Flickr Bird Brigade
Activists for birds and wildlife

Probable juvenile heading out for a nighttime swim. Adults fish during the day and sleep in the hills at night.