Birds on the Coast

The owls of Canada Cove - Stuart Nafey photo

Looking for wildlife to photograph? A recent blog post by Scott Bourne lists his top 7 bird and wildlife photography hotspots in the states.

Reading this article, I realized that many of the birds he mentions to be found in these refuges can also be found here in the San Francisco bay area. According to information provided by the Don Edwards Wildlife Preserve, the bay area has "30,000 acres of wetlands, open water, and upland habitats, are home to at least 800,000 birds at any given time and to millions during peak migration". That link takes you to a comphrehensive list detailing when you might find which birds.

Just a partial list of birds we have spotted here in Half Moon Bay include:

Barn owls
Pacific Great horned owls
Great blue Herons
Cattle egrets
White herons
Green herons
Cormorants
Lesser murres
Oyster catchers
Snowy plovers
Red tailed hawks
Golden eagles
Turkey vultures
Kestrels
Kites
Peregrine falcons
Hooded oreoles
Downy woodpeckers
Acorn woodpeckers

Not to mention all the other sea birds, finches, hummingbirds and other North American varieties. It is a worthy project to document the birds of the bay area.