June, 2026 Wildlife

 June, 2026 - Many of the Spring birds have now moved on, but there is still plenty of other action around the local areas. Here’s a few from this month.

Small but Mighty

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (June, 2026) - Black-Necked Stilts are so recognizable with their long pink legs. I’ve always noted them as docile. Well, when they have babies, not so much. The mother and father work as a team to protect the babies at all costs. They are badasses! Anything that comes into the area, gets a single and sometimes double assault from the air.

GBH Diet

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - (June, 2026) - For the most part, I’ve always seen Great Blue Herons eat fish. I have heard that they will eat an occasional gopher, but have never witnessed it. Well this month I witnessed a GBH eat three young squirrels in quick succession. The process was to grab them, then go over to the water and dunk them. In the course of about 5 minutes, he poached three of them out of an underground hole. A little disturbing, but here’s some lighter photos. Nature is brutal sometimes.

The Road to Rainier

 CENTRAL WASHINGTON (June, 2026) - Took a road trip to photograph Mount Rainier. What I didn’t realize, was certain National Parks have been affected differently due to budget cuts. I assumed it was similar to Yosemite, but not so much… As we approached Carbonado, one of the last cities before entering the park, we hit a complete road closure. The image below was the shot of Mount Rainier that I was able to get. Will have to take another trip at a later date.

Snoqualmie Falls, May, 2026

 SNOQUALMIE, WA (May, 2026) - It’s been at least 10 years since I’ve visited Snoqualmie Falls in Washington. I was able to get back this month, but was disappointed to find out that they have limited the access on the ground level of the falls. Basically, they built a walkway that ends before the rocks. You used to be able to walk out on the rocks last time I was there. However, it was still magnificent and there was pretty heavy water flow throwing a lot of mist.

Mother’s Day 2026

 Was happy to get all of the girls together this Mother’s Day. I was totally unprepared, so took these snaps with the Leica Q. Haven’t used the Q in a while, but I love that camera!

Spring Birds with Friends

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (May, 2026) - Was stoked to get out with some friends this Spring to photograph some of the migrating birds. These include, but are not limited to, the Blue Grosbeak, Black-headed Grosbeak, Townsend’s Warbler, Wilson’s Warbler, Western Tanager and the Lazuli Bunting.

The Prothonotary Warbler

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (April, 2026) - The Prothonotary Warbler is native to the Southeastern U.S. For whatever reason, one came to Huntington Beach Central Park. He was there about four days total and I was able to see him twice. It turned out to be kind of a big deal, because “birders” from all over were visiting the park looking for him. Here are a few photos from my encounters.

Birds of Spring

 HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. (April, 2026) - There have been many different species of migrating birds frequenting the local spots. Here’s a few photos from April.

Vermillion Flycatcher

Lazuli Bunting

Black-Headed Grosbeak

Blue Grosbeak

Western Tanager

Townsend’s Warbler

Pin-tailed Whydah

Hermit Warbler

Prothonotary Warbler