Of all the different subjects I photograph, taking pictures of birds in flight is the most demanding of both my personal skills and my equipment.  So, I wasn't terribly surprised last week to see that my skills has deteriorated ... it had been almost a year since I've been to my favorite bird haunt (Bolsa Chica) and had taken any pics, and I was pretty rust.  By the end of the session, it was starting to click again and I managed to get in some good shots of California Brown Pelicans.

I love watching them dive for food, and they are among my favorites to photograph.  I'm always amazed at their agility given their large 7 foot wing span!  How do they hit the water with such force and manage not to break their wings?  

The first shot is of a bird getting ready to fly.  The big clue is the raised wing which forecasts the first strokes necessary to move forward with speed:

This bird is circling to get into position to make a dive:

In this next  photo,  the bird almost seems surprised.  He's spotted a  fish in the water and is going to bank sharply to his left to make his dive:

One of the birds decided to use a chain link fence as a roost.  It would use the fence as a diving platform.  When it spoted a fish in the water it would dive into the water to catch its prey. Then it would return to start the process all over.  I decided to try and get some images of it as it tried to land back on the fence.  It is challenging getting a well focused, well-framed image as the bird gets closer and closer to me ... I was located about 10 feet behind the fence.

Here's a shot where it's quite close (landing gear down).  Given the telephoto lens I was using, it was not  possible to get this much of the bird in the frame without clipping the wings

And, the prize shots of the day are these last two ... gear down; wings extended to slow the descent; eyes on the landing spot; water spilling from its pouch.  How could anybody not like these bizarre birds with their interesting behavior?

And, my favorite of the day:

It was a very fun afternoon.  I need to do some more of this!

Thanks, as always, for looking.  

Bye for now,

Adam

P.S. Did you remember that you can see the image larger by clicking on it?