For my trip this winter, I had a bit of a chance to take photos of a few animals. I didn't go out too much because I got hit by
bronchitis; a shame, really, because I wanted to go outdoors before I had to go back to my daily grind. There were wild animals in this collection but most have learned to live in proximity to humans.
Anyway, here are some of the animals I encountered along the way...
I'm always confused whether the black bird I see is a
raven or a
crow. Same thing happened when I found this black bird up on a lamp post one afternoon in Concord. Based on it's size, I'm willing to bet that it is a crow. There are many of them roosting in the trees in the city. With the grey skies of winter, these birds just add to the eerie atmosphere that reminds me of Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven.
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| Common raven |
However, because I was able to walk up close to one of the huge black birds in
Golden Gate Park, I was able to take a clear photo of it. I think that this one's a common raven. It was in a conspiracy, a group, that was waiting for food to be tossed up by an elderly man. The ravens were all quiet; atypical to the cawing I keep hearing when they are close by.
Wild turkeys
My dad says that he has seen these wild
turkeys ever since the early 2000s. Reading about them, I learned that the male gobblers could become aggressive in spring when the mating season happens. They attack people too, take note; having the capacity to fly and really reach out to claw at people's faces. The best thing to do when they're around? Have an umbrella ready to open so you can fend them off when they attack.
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| Northern mockingbird |
My family was on a
road trip to Monterey when we made a pit stop at a gas station. As I was waiting for them in the car, this mockingbird landed on the gas station's fence. These birds are known to mimic the songs of other birds. Too bad I wasn't able to listen to this one. Come to think of it, I may not even know if it's mimicking or not because I'm not familiar with bird songs yet.
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| Ghost crab |
I wouldn't have noticed this ghost crab (thanks to it's camouflage) if it wasn't pointed out to me. It's living a quiet life along the beach in Cotonou. This beach wasn't crowded with people. Perhaps, tourists weren't keen on going near the water because of the strong tide... the waves reminded me of what I saw in
O'ahu.
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| Domestic cat |
I miss my ginger cat,
Miming. Yes, he's old, slobbery, and scruffy but he's a good cat. He's afraid of strangers. In contrast, I found this grumpy cat in Concord staring at me while perched on a fence... it didn't seem perturbed when I came close. I think that this kitty is used to human presence because it's a pet.
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| Chicken |
In Ouidah, while walking through the narrow alleys along the Route des Esclaves, I noticed a flock of free-range chicken finding shelter from the sun between the shaded side of a hut and a well. The free-range nature of the chicken might be the reason why these have tougher meat than the broiler chicken I have been used to eating in the Philippines. I won't be surprised if the chicken I spotted would be a meal to the villagers at some point. My taking a photo of chicken reminded me of the afternoon that I was at the
Nu'uanu Pali Lookout in December 2016... we tourists were taking photos of the chicken and the tour guide was asking us why we were doing so. Surely there were chicken where we're from. I was taking photos then because I thought it hilarious that there were wild chicken in O'ahu.
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| Western gull |
I've always noticed this bird in California, near the shore. Last year, I've seen it in San Francisco. This time, I photographed this one near
Monterey's Cannery Row. It's actually fascinating to watch them feed off the sea. While eating at Fish Hopper's on Christmas Day, Anna pointed to one which had caught a fish by the beak.
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| West African dwarf goat |
When I first stepped into West Africa, one of the first thing I noticed was how short the legs of the goats were. This goat, spotted in Ouidah, turned out to be a West African dwarf goat... a breed that is quite distinctive to the goats I typically see in the Philippines. Despite their stunted legs, these goats are highly capable of climbing trees. I was surprised, quite frankly. And seeing the tree-climbers, I remembered an article I read as a kid about goats contributing to desertification because they excessively grazed.
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| Dog |
Dogs are man's best friends, or so they say. In
Carmel-by-the-Sea, there was no shortage in dog companions. I had the impression that each family brought their dog(s) along to the beach for some playtime before it got dark. This particular dog reminded me of Balbon, Biboy's chihuahua-terrier mix, because he pees to mark his territory each time he goes out for a walk.
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| Laughing dove |
When I saw this one perched on an electric wire in Cotonou, I thought that I was looking at a
rock pigeon. But I was mistaken because those are two different birds. Apparently, the colouration should have told me that these birds are of two different species. The laughing dove I photographed wasn't alone. There were other individuals sharing the same wire. I was able to capture this photo while the traffic was at a standstill near an intersection.
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| Flesh-footed shearwater |
While driving around in
Monterey, I first noticed a flock of these birds near the gulls. However, I couldn't photograph them because the car was moving and I had to zoom in... that combination leads to blurred photos. So the next chance popped up when we were in Carmel-by-the-Sea. There was a flock beyond the breaking surf, seemingly having a lot of fun riding the waves. I just had to take a photo because the golden hour was at hand; even if the photo wasn't taken under the best of conditions.
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| Red-headed rock agama |
I'm not a big fan of reptiles. Particularly of the big ones. So when I found myself in Ouidah, I couldn't help but freeze and point to this agama, sitting peacefully on a tree branch. It's huge! It's about a foot long! I'm used to seeing the tiny house lizards at home;
not intimidating at all, compared to this creature. But after a while, the novelty wore off... there were many of them scurrying up concrete walls, seeking shade. I ended up not noticing them anymore after a few hours.
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| Rock pigeon |
This is the most common bird I've observed in my trips so far. I've observed some in flight in Cotonou but I couldn't take photos of them. Most of the time, I'd seen flocks of them perched on electric wires or traffic light posts in Concord. Then, while in
Richmond, I noticed this individual walking on the parking lot, foraging for food. Unfortunately, I couldn't go closer because as soon as I stepped on the parking lot, it flew away.
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| Brown/rusty red rock pigeon (left) |
In
Martinez, I saw a brown rock pigeon in a flock of pigeons with variable (but dominantly blue and grey) feather colours. I was quite surprised... but then again, I was at a wildlife refuge. I should have expected to see less common variants of birds in the area. I was fascinated that the pigeon could hold its own amid the other, bigger, birds flocking the beach... the rock pigeons were directly competing with the sea gulls and the blackbirds for food being thrown at them by people!
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| Canada goose |
While strolling along the Marina Bay in Richmond, I heard a loud squawking from overhead. I thought that crows or ravens were above me (I'm not familiar with bird songs yet). Instead, I saw a pair of geese preparing to land in a marshy field. A third one squawked its way to their landing site too. Like the first two, this one's fast. If my camera was in my pocket, I wouldn't have been able to take this photo.
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| California gull |
To me, all gulls look the same. It was only when I took a closer look at this gull's beak (with a black band and a red tip) did I realise that it may not be the same type as what I've seen previously in Monterey. This one, which I spotted on a lamppost in Richmond, had spots on its neck and yellow legs, which further distinguished it from the Western gull.
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| House sparrow |
I was quite surprised to see a
sparrow in
Concord, near the
BART station. Normally, I'd see a whole flock of them (in the tropics) but maybe this was alone because the rest were still roosting... or were too quick for me to even notice.
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| Red-tailed hawk |
The traffic was heavy along the freeway the afternoon we were returning home from
Stanford. I looked up and saw a raptor perched on a lamppost. Obviously, it was searching for food. This is one of the rare time that I was able to take a photo of these bigger birds primarily because I don't normally see them at home (I suppose that they are favourite targets for hunters). Here, though, they are protected and can hunt where they pleased.
These hawks typically hunt rodents, which are also quite numerous in the area. I've spotted quite a few
squirrels along the freeway and along less busy streets but I never got a chance to photograph them because they move too fast. I even saw one squirrel with completely black fur just outside Stanford Medical Centre!
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| Mew gull |
I had thought that all seagulls are the same, until I started taking their photos. Aside from California gulls and western gulls, for instance, I have also seen mew gulls. These mew gulls were foraging at Pacifica State Beach around sunset... quite close to the San Pedro Creek (leads to the Pacific Ocean). The creek, in turn, is part of steelhead trout habitat.
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| Deer |
The same afternoon we saw the red-tailed hawk, I was looking for cows grazing on the mountain slopes near Dublin CA while we were stuck in traffic. Instead, Daddy spotted deer... looks like the cows took the afternoon off!
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| Brewer's blackbird (male) |
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| Brewer's blackbird (female) |
At the Golden Gate Park, I was walking with Anna and Vernon when I heard a lot of chirping under the trees at the Music Concourse. I followed the sounds to the grove of trees and found a flurry of these blackbirds that had striking yellow eyes and shiny bluish feathers. There were smaller brown birds with similar glossy finishes in the wing and tail feathers. I was thinking that perhaps, the black ones were the males while the brown ones were females because male birds are typically more colourful than females (like those
peacocks I saw in Hyderabad).
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| Red-winged blackbird |
I thought that my problem with black-feathered birds was just between crows and ravens because the brewer's blackbird has a distinct body shape. And then I saw this flock of dark-feathered birds roosting on a tree close to the duck pond in Martinez. Naturally, I had to take a closer look... the birds flew down when they noticed that people were throwing food up in the air. There was a cacophony of bird calls... I wasn't hearing the sad caws of ravens (or crows) anymore. Instead, I was hearing the season turning into spring.
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| Mallard duck |
The only birds that weren't interested with the food being thrown by people near the Martinez regional shoreline were the mallard ducks. They largely stayed in the pond, catching small aquatic animals in the water. It was quite fun seeing them above water one minute and then tipping their bodies into the water to catch their prey... but they do
not dive. Instead, their feet and their tails were just up in the air.
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| Great egret |
The great egret is the largest bird I was able to photograph at the Martinez Regional Shoreline. It was perched on rocks, seemingly looking for food. It also didn't seem to be bothered by people ogling at it (that's mainly me). But as soon as it spotted its main meal, it flew off and repositioned itself on a different rock.
I was very happy to have seen as many animals as I did this time. I wasn't expecting this much because it's winter but I was lucky that I was able to go to dream locations for viewing wildlife adapted to urban areas. I wish that I get the chance to go on safari in the future to see bigger animals.
(Yes, the Dora the Explorer in me is alive and kicking... waiting for the next adventure)
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