Jim Coda Nature Photography

August 20, 2010Uncategorized

How Smart Are Swallows?

Several years ago I went flyfishing in Lake Almanor for smallmouth bass. As I rowed toward the dam in my pontoon boat I noticed there was a lot of noise and activity at the dam. Swallows were circling the cylindrical dam in large numbers and there were crows flying through the swallows toward the dam’s face. I rowed closer to see what was going on. The crows were flying into the side of the dam feet first. As I got closer I saw what was happening. The crows were crashing into the mud nests of the swallows and grabbing the chicks from the smashed nests. The swallows were powerless to stop it. I’m pretty sure the crows destroyed all the nests and got all the young. It was one of those moments in nature when my emotions really get aroused. I know the crows need to eat, but I still felt sorry for the swallows. I wondered if the swallows would nest there again or find some other place. I never went back to find out.

Fast forward several years. I got a tip that there was a great horned owl nest on a ledge of an old building near my house. I went there and sure enough there was a nest. I was told that a pair of owls has been nesting there for years. Here is a photo of one of the adults and the three young on the nest.

Photo of a great horned owl and its owlets. — Great Horned Owl Parent and Owlets, Marin County, California. I wonder what the one owlet is saying to the other?

I photographed the owls at the nest for nearly a month. I don’t remember now how long it took me to realize that there were many swallow nests near the owl nest because I was pretty absorbed by the owl family. It was probably when the swallow chicks had hatched and the parents were frequently flying to and from the nests feeding their young. Here’s a photo of some swallows and their nests immediately under the owl nest.

Photo of cliff swallow nests below great horned owl nest. — Cliff swallows nest below a great horned owl nest.

Anyway, at some point a light bulb went on in my head. Great horned owls eat crows. They love them. What I have wondered since then is whether the swallows were smart enough to build their mud nests near the great horned owl nest because they thought building them there would protect their nests from crows or was it just a coincidence? I don’t know, but I like to think they are intelligent enough to nest there for their own safety’s sake. There were no attempts by any crows to attack the nests. This crow was the only one I saw that came anywhere near the swallow nests. He’s about 25 yards from the nests.

American crow sits atop ornamental evergreen. — American crow sitting atop an evergreen.

August 14, 2010Uncategorized

California Quail, Point Reyes National Seashore

Bird nesting is about over now. A couple of California quail families go through our yard every day. Baby quail are very easy to recognize. Many baby birds don’t leave the nest until they are about as big as the adults. Baby quail, on the other hand, are on the move shortly after hatching. They’re all legs. I keep saying to myself that I should photograph the baby quail around our yard, but I never seem to get around to it. I photographed this adult male near the trailhead for Abbott’s Lagoon.

A California quail sits on a fence post near Abbott's Lagoon. — California Quail, Point Reyes National Seashore

These immature quail were also photographed near the trailhead.

Immature California Quail, Point Reyes National Seashore

August 12, 2010Uncategorized

Brush Rabbits, Point Reyes National Seashore

A couple of years ago I was on the road to Pierce Point when all of the sudden the road became full of rabbits. They seemed unusually small to me at the time and I couldn’t believe how many there were. If I researched what they were then I’ve forgotten. Well, just the other day I saw a few more of these small rabbits and I was able to photograph them. Here’s a photo of one of them.

A brush rabbit stops briefly in an opening in the brush at Abbott's Lagoon. — Brush Rabbit, Point Reyes National Seashore

Now that I had photographed one I had to find out what it was. That was easy thanks to Google. These small rabbits are brush rabbits. The name sure fits given where I found them. If they look like cottontails to you that’s because they are a type of cottontail. They are different in two ways though. First, they don’t have any white on their tails. Second, they are noticeably smaller than other cottontails. As I photographed them I noticed that they didn’t stay in the little opening where I photographed them for very long. I think that those that do stay longer tend to live shorter lives.

August 9, 2010Uncategorized

Posters of Yellowstone Wildlife

I was remiss in my postings last month and one of the reasons was that I was working on a series of posters of Yellowstone wildlife for the The Paradise Gallery in Gardiner, Montana. Here’s one of the posters.

A wolf stops momentarily near Obsidian Cliff. — This poster features the alpha female of the Canyon Pack.

It’s the first poster series I’ve done. I think it came out OK, but only time will tell. Here’s a collage poster showing all the photos in the series.

A colage poster showing all 16 Yellowstone animals in the series. — Collage Poster depicting all 16 subjects in the series.

It was difficult to decide which 16 images to use. The only criterion I had was that it had to include all the major species one could hope to see in a trip to Yellowstone. It was fun. I’m looking for another poster project.

August 8, 2010Uncategorized

Another Bobcat

I decided to go out to Point Reyes National Seashore last Friday to see what was going on there. My main hope was to get a good photo of a bobcat. I don’t think I’ve been out there since late June when I was fortunate enough to see and photograph one. Not long after leaving the house I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. It was a bobcat sitting in a farm field.

A Bobcat sits in a field in Marin County, California — Bobcat, Marin County, California

Lucky me. I wanted to stop, but couldn’t. The road’s shoulders were steep and narrow and there were cars going in both directions. I drove about a quarter mile to where I could turn around and drove back. The bobcat was still sitting there. I drove past it to a spot where I could pull off the road. Some trees screened me from the bobcat. I usually don’t assemble my gear until I get to Point Reyes. My gear was all neatly stowed away and I’d have to pull the big lens out, attach the Tele-converter and camera body to it and then attach my Wimberley head to the tripod and extend its legs and attach the camera/lens to it. I also noticed I hadn’t put a flash card in the camera. (Good thing I noticed that then.) After what seemed like forever I had everything together and walked quietly along the trees to where they ended hoping the bobcat would still be there. It was. I shot several frames before the bobcat turned and looked at me. It let me shoot about 30 more frames and then decided that it didn’t like the fact that I was staring at it and not moving. It finally decided it had had enough of me and split.

It was a good day regardless of what I’d see at Point Reyes. As I drove on to Point Reyes I vowed to be ready to photograph when I left home from now on. That bobcat could have moved on while I was fumbling with my gear. Next time it could be the holy grail — a mountain lion. One was spotted near here a year ago.

July 10, 2010Uncategorized

Oddities of Nature

Have you ever seen something in nature that struck you as odd? In May of 2009 I saw something that I thought was very odd. I was driving into Yellowstone’s Lamar Valley from the west and off to my right not far from the Lamar River I saw a large nest atop a dead tree. My first thought was that it was probably an osprey nest or maybe a bald eagle nest. I slowed down and pulled over. I could see there was something in the nest, but it was too far to see what it was exactly. I decided to grab my big lens and tripod and hike closer to the nest. After a bit I stopped. I couldn’t believe my eyes. It looked like a Canada goose. I looked through my lens. It was a Canada goose.

A Canada goose sits in a raptor nest in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley.

This was a new one for me. Canada geese nest on the ground, usually in wetlands. What was this one doing up in a raptor’s nest? Maybe it had learned the hard way that eggs laid on the ground in the Lamar Valley don’t last long. I checked every day for over a week and there was always a goose in the nest. There had to be eggs there. Will the eggs fare better in a raptor’s nest at the top of a tall tree? Maybe. Maybe not. Furthermore, to the best of my knowledge, Canada geese don’t feed their young like birds of prey do. The goslings will have to get down to the ground and to the river soon after they hatch. I know some waterfowl species like wood ducks nest in tree cavities and the young drop down to the ground, but this is a very tall tree and the branches extend well away from the trunk, especially in the lower portion of the tree outside the framing of the image. Finally, how will they walk across all those branches with their webbed feet?

Osprey in Nest at Tree Top in Yellowstone's Lamar Valley — An osprey is back in possession of the raptor nest a year later.

When I returned to Yellowstone in May of this year I looked to the nest as I entered Lamar Valley. There was a bird in it again. This time it was an osprey.

I’ve often wondered what happened to the offspring of the Canada geese. Did the eggs survive to hatching? If so, did the goslings make it safely down the tree and to the river? I guess I’ll never know.

June 28, 2010Uncategorized

Anniversary of Delisting of Bald Eagle

One bald eagle bites another. — One Bald Eagle Bites Another.

Today is the third anniversary of the removal of the Bald Eagle from the Endangered Species List. This is one of the greatest success stories under the Endangered Species Act. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work out this way.