Tag Archives: John Batchelder

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John and Janice Batchelder had a wonderful sighting of Humpback Whales a couple of weeks ago. Seen off of The Sea Ranch, it was quite a spectacle. Here a Humpback is breaching. Humpbacks are among the most acrobatic of whales.

Below you will see one of the Humpback's long flippers.

The Humpbacks were following their food source, forage fish like huge schools of anchovies. Along with the whales, Gulls and Brown Pelicans were feasting too.

Thanks to John for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

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John Batchelder managed to photograph one of the fast, little CA Quail chicks he saw recently.

Quail families are being seen now. Several years ago George Anderson captured these newly hatched chicks.

And Clay Yale had two perch on saucer with water.

Here's a cute photo taken by Jon Loveless of the chicks following their mother.

The chicks are very vulnerable now, as they cannot yet fly. The number one predator of these chicks is the domestic house cat.

Thanks to John, George, Clay and Jon for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

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John Batchelder photographed a beautiful Ferruginous Hawk during the Sea Ranch annual Christmas bird count. We only see this large hawk in the wintertime. John told me this hawk wasn't squawking at him; it was yawning.

It's funny, but I've never thought of a bird yawning! John also photographed the hawk soaring seemingly effortlessly through the sky.

This is a light-morph Ferruginous Hawk due to the white underparts you can clearly see in the second photo. Their call is more of a scream and you can listen to it here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ferruginous_Hawk/sounds

Thanks to John for allowing me to share his photos with us here.

 

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It's called fledging when the chicks leave their nest, testing their wings for the first time. Sometimes the beginning flying lessons can go awry. But in the case of a group of young Pacific Wrens, according to John Batchelder, they were hopping around in several bushes, doing just fine.

John commented that this fledgling's beak looks too big for its head. I agree! But we know he or she will grow into that big break. Here's a photo of an adult singing, taken by Craig Tooley.

We loved this photo so much, we included it in our book, Mendonoma Sightings Throughout the Year. This bird used to be called a Winter Wren. They have the most lovely song, which echoes through the forest in the spring and early summer. You can hear it here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pacific_Wren/sounds

Thanks to John and Craig for allowing me to share their photos with  you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: www.ruffimage.com

 

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Rick and I had a Steller's Jay nest just outside one of our doors. It was in an abelia bush, a lovely flowering bush that Monarch Butterflies love. The chicks left the nest yesterday and were standing a few inches away. I photographed this chick as he/she stood perfectly still.

John Batchelder, a Sightings contributor, sent in a photo of Pacific Wren fledglings. He made the comment that their beaks are too big for their heads. Well, that's definitely the case here too! Don't worry, this chick will grow into its beak. This is what the Jay will look like when it is mature. This great photo was taken by Robert Scarola. Thank you, Robert!

It's warm and breezy again today. Amazingly enough, there is a storm forecast for late tomorrow/early Thursday. We don't often get storms from the north in June! But after the drought, the rain is always welcome. Forecast for the weekend, if you'd like to plan a trip here, is fabulous!