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  • Online Since 2009
  • Riverside, CA

birds

Happy New Year! A Few Random Pictures from the First Morning of 2017

January 1, 2017 by Ole 6 Comments

The first sunrise of 2017. The view from Lake Mathews in Riverside, California.

The First Sunrise of 2017 over Lake Mathews

A seemingly fat and happy hawk overlooking “A” Street / Citrus Heights Drive in Riverside, California.

A seemingly fat and happy hawk

A seemingly fat and happy hawk

A millipede crossing “A” Street / Citrus Heights Drive in Riverside, California.

Millipede Crossing "A" Street in Riverside, CA

Hope everyone has a great 2017.

Filed Under: Animals, Sights, Uncategorized Tagged With: birds, hawk, inland empire, inland empire hiking, lake mathews, riverside california, riverside hiking, sunrise

A Morning at Fairmount Park in Riverside, CA

December 6, 2016 by Ole Leave a Comment

I have lived in Riverside for thirteen years, and have never visited Fairmount Park in Riverside, California.

This past weekend after I dropped my oldest son off to take the SAT, I decided to take a walk around the park. Here are a few pictures:

Fairmount Park - Riverside

Fairmount Park - Riverside

For a minute, I thought this Greylag Goose was going to charge me. He decided to pose instead.

Fairmount Park - Riverside

A bunch of coots.

Fairmount Park - Riverside

These Muscovy ducks seemed to be talking to each other.

Fairmount Park - Riverside

I didn’t walk near the tank on this visit, but I was very curious about its background. I found a page on the City’s website that provides a little bit of the history. Here is a summary:

The tank is a light amphibious tracked vehicle called the LVT (Landing Vehicle, Tracked). The LVTs were produced here in Riverside during World War II by the FMC Corporation. The same company also retrofitted these vehicles for use in the Korean War. The LVT was also known as the Water Buffalo.

“In 1949 a monument, complete with LVT, was dedicated to the factory war workers at Fairmount Park near the location where they had conducted testing.”

Fairmount Park - Riverside

Fairmount Park - Riverside

Canadian geese.

Fairmount Park - Riverside

Fairmount Park - Riverside

Fairmount Park - Riverside

Fairmount Park - Riverside

Fairmount Park - Riverside

Fairmount Park - Riverside

Fairmount Park - Riverside

Fairmount Park - Riverside

Filed Under: Animals, Sights, Uncategorized Tagged With: birds, city of riverside, fairmount park, inland empire, riverside, riverside california

Snowy Egret in Riverside

May 12, 2016 by Ole Leave a Comment

Not being a bird expert, I had no idea what kind of bright white bird flew over my truck a few days ago. After realizing it was hanging around a local storm basin that I drive past almost every day, I decided to try to get some pictures.

Snowy Egret in Riverside

After a few tries, I got some marginally decent pictures. I also consulted Google and found out that this bird is a Snowy Egret.

Snowy Egret in Riverside

The following quotes are from AllAboutBirds.org:

Snowy Egret in Riverside

“Among the most elegant of the herons, the slender Snowy Egret sets off immaculate white plumage with black legs and brilliant yellow feet. Those feet seem to play a role in stirring up or herding small aquatic animals as the egret forages.”

Snowy Egret in Riverside

“Snowy Egrets wade in shallow water to spear fish and other small aquatic animals.”

Snowy Egret in Riverside

Filed Under: Animals, Uncategorized Tagged With: birds, snowy egret

Double-Crested Cormorant and Green Heron

May 4, 2016 by Ole Leave a Comment

Ever since we saw the bald eagles at Lake Mathews, my wife and I have been noticing birds. Here are some recent pictures of a few birds near Lake Mathews in Riverside…

Double-crested Cormorant - Riverside
Double-crested Cormorant - Riverside
Double-crested Cormorant - Riverside
Green Heron - Riverside
Green Heron - Riverside

Filed Under: Animals Tagged With: birds, double-crested cormorant, green heron

Newport Dolphins

April 29, 2016 by Ole Leave a Comment

Tried out a new superzoom camera out at Newport a few months ago…

Dolphin at Newport

Dolphins at Newport

Birds chasing dolphins

Filed Under: Animals, Uncategorized Tagged With: birds, dolphin, newport beach

Roadrunner Sighting

April 27, 2016 by Ole Leave a Comment

Saw this today in Riverside.

Sorry, Mr. Lizard.

Roadrunner with a Lizard Lunch

Roadrunner with a Lizard Lunch

Roadrunner with a Lizard Lunch

Filed Under: Animals Tagged With: birds, riverside, roadrunner

Belted Kingfisher, Red-Winged Blackbird and Osprey

March 14, 2016 by Ole 2 Comments

My wife has a knack for spotting interesting birds.

In addition to the bald eagles she found a few months ago, she has spotted a tagged turkey vulture and an osprey while driving over the Lake Mathews dam.

I had a camera with me yesterday when she pointed out some birds, so we stopped to take a few pictures. We aren’t bird experts, so please let me if I found the wrong names on the Internet.

Female Belted Kingfisher:

Belted Kingfisher

Belted Kingfisher

Male Red-winged Blackbirds:

Red-winged Blackbird

Red-winged Blackbird

Red-winged Blackbird

I took the pictures above with a point and shoot camera. Unfortunately, I didn’t even have that with me when we saw an Osprey last December.

Osprey at Lake Mathews

Osprey at Lake Mathews

Filed Under: Animals Tagged With: belted kingfisher, birds, lake mathews, osprey, red-winged blackbird

Bald Eagle Sighting at Lake Mathews – Jan 20, 2016

January 20, 2016 by Ole 1 Comment

Driving by Lake Mathews today, my wife yelled, “There they are!”

She was referring to the bald eagles we have heard about that nest at Lake Mathews during the winter. Here is the iPhone picture I snapped when we pulled over:

Bald Eagles at Lake Mathews

We immediately turned around and headed home to grab our cameras.  When we returned, we were fortunate that this beautiful bald eagle was still hanging around enjoying a meal:  

Bald Eagle at Lake Mathews

Just as I was walking along the roadway to try a different vantage point, the eagle flew away…

Bald Eagle at Lake Mathews

Fortunately, the eagle landed on the Cajalco side of the dam. Although we couldn’t get close enough to get great pictures, we still managed to get a few that were decent enough to post:

Bald Eagle at Lake Mathews

Seeing our national emblem out in the wild was such a great experience.

“The Congress finds as follows: (1) The bald eagle was designated as the national emblem of the United States on June 20, 1782, by our country’s Founding Fathers at the Second Continental Congress. – From the American Bald Eagle Recovery and National Emblem Commemorative Coin Act

Bald Eagle at Lake Mathews

A few facts from The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service:

Distinguished by a white head and white tail feathers, bald eagles are powerful, brown birds that may weigh 14 pounds and have a wingspan of 8 feet. Male eagles are smaller, weighing as much as 10 pounds and have a wingspan of 6 feet. […]

Eagles mate for life, choosing the tops of large trees to build nests, which they typically use and enlarge each year. Nests may reach 10 feet across and weigh a half ton. They may also have one or more alternate nests within their breeding territory. […]

Bald Eagles may live 15 to 25 years in the wild, longer in captivity.

Bald Eagle at Lake Mathews

After watching this beautiful creature for a few moments, it flew away.

Bald Eagle at Lake Mathews
Bald Eagle at Lake Mathews
Bald Eagle at Lake Mathews

Filed Under: Animals, Sights Tagged With: bald eagle, birds, lake mathews

Sights: Turkey Vultures at Lake Mathews Dam

July 31, 2010 by Ole 3 Comments

We saw these turkey vultures flying over Lake Mathews Dam a few days ago. My wife had her camera with her so we decided to stop and take a few pictures.

We were curious about the bird with the wing tag so I consulted google and found a conservation site that had pictures of other turkey vultures tagged with white wing tags. I eventually found out that this bird was tagged in the summer of 2009 either at Irvine Lake in Orange County or at the San Jacinto Wildlife Area.

I also found a site operated by the U.S. Geological Survey that lets you report sightings of tagged birds.  So if you see a tagged bird, visit www.reportband.gov/.

Filed Under: Animals, Sights Tagged With: birds, lake mathews, turkey vulture

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