There are 72 photos in the “January 2012″ set. The photos include pictures of birds at home, Goleta Slough, Devereux Slough, AreaK, Coal Oil Point and a few from the eastern edge of OMGC (Ocean Meadows Golf Course)  yesterday when I walked by to get to the western edge of Devereux.

In the standing pools at OMGC, were many Pintails, a few Northern Shovelers, Great Egret, a Ruddy Duck and Pied-billed Grebe. On the course itself, there were lots of Coots. As I walked to my car parked on the street, I saw a line of Coots stretched all the way across the fairway of the ninth hole.

Shots from Devereux include before (very full)  and after (very empty) the last rain .  Because of the rain, the water rose sufficiently to break through to the ocean. After that happened, and the slough turned into a large mudflat, most of the birds hot-winged it out to pools on OMGC and Area K at UCSB. Area K had dried out to such an extent in the dry fall, that the vegetation (pickleweed?) turned to a bright red. Now, with the blue water, the color contrast is amazing.

On my walk along the western edge of Devereux yesterday, I saw two pairs of WTKs – a pair on a cypress a distance  behind the area where the bird interpretation signs are located (see photos). As I exited  from the western path onto the road that leads to the bridge, immediately ahead was a second pair perched on a plant, the name of which escapes me now.

I have taken photos at Goleta Slough for several years, and had never thought about the vegetation growing down the cliffs. Looking at a close-up of a Great Blue Heron, I noticed flowering Lemonadeberry – hence the shot of just the Lemonadeberry, that looks healthy and vigorous, and is a native.

Last Saturday, I went on a SBBG course to Haskell’s Beach to learn about its geology. The trip  included a very brisk walk there and back, and that knocked me out when I got home. Interesting area – need to revisit. At a stream outlet that was somewhat oily, there were quite a few birds happily feeding.  The new lens is a very strong motive to get out and walk, and with somewhat less of a workload, hopefully this year will be more “walkful”. Last year can only be described as “sitful”.

To view the slideshow on Flickr (larger and better), please click here.

Today, I went to buy at book at the Gift Shop at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History, on the way to Goleta Beach for photos.

I looked toward the courtyard, and saw a tiny owl in someone’s hand. After purchasing the book, I went back to the car, and returned with the camera and 400mm lens, paid the entrance fee, and then took photos of the Peregrine Falcon, Kestrel and the Western Screech Owl.

Since the lens is fixed 400mm, I had to stand more than 10 feet away, which must have been less stressful for the birds. I walked all around the courtyard trying to get the best backdrop for the birds – attempting to exclude signs, walls, and people, etc.

To see a larger, better slideshow on Flickr, please click here.

A week ago, I went to LLC to find a reported Sora or Rail, or both – and found a Little Gull.

Today, I went to LLC to photograph warblers, and found a Sora.

LLC is full of surprises.

The Sora was amongst the reeds at the west end of the metal barrier. It seemed to be extracting a long, thin gelatinous substance from the water, and used its long feet adroitly. As long as I stood as still as the fencing, it did not seem to notice or mind the click of the shutter.

Click here for larger, better image slideshow on Flickr.

With free time available, I spent the last week of the hoped-for “walking” (was not) year actually walking, while testing a new lens at various places around Goleta.

For a couple years, I have been thinking about a replacement for the Tamron 200-500 mm. Too much sun had ruined the focus ring, and it should be repaired. While auto-focus had always been slow, it seemed to have worsened with age.  However, the effective 700 mm reach of the lens with a 1.4 adapter was wonderful, especially since the lens was not as heavy as many others.

Eventually, the intersection of economy, weight and focal length more or less made the decision for me – a 400 mm/5.6 Canon lens, at about the same time there was a sale at Samy’s. At first, the thought of a fixed focal length seemed like an impediment, until I realized that most bird photos with the Tamron were shot at max focal length. And as disappointing as it is, not having the 700 mm range with the new lens, there is a rather nice compensation. Photographs of birds in the distance are much sharper with the Canon 400mm. (Autofocus does not work with a 1.4 adapter on my Canon camera/lens combo.)

But the best advantage of the new lens, is the speed of focus. Without this speed, I would never have been able to photograph the Little Gull at all. With the Tamron, I would have resorted to hit-and-miss manual focus for a bird that moved at the speed and sudden change of direction as the Little Gull. Even then, it took about 10 shots to get the hang of aiming the lens in the right place to photograph the Gull, and having fast focus meant one less thing to worry about.

Below, is an in situ slideshow of the photos taken over the last week or so with the new Canon 400mm, with a few having been taken a couple weeks earlier on an outing to Goleta Slough. The slideshow ends with photos of other winged creatures, the Monarchs.

To see the same slideshow but with large images (better) on Flickr, please click here.  But the “Wonderful World” video below is really worth watching.

The sighting of the rare Little Gull (not seen here since 1992), happened after a string of lucky events. I was at Devereux photographing, and was thrilled to find a Redhead close up near the bridge.

Another person birding at the south pullout asked about the swans on the far side of the slough. I had once before seen a group of Mute Swans there, and just did not think much more about them, although they appear in one of the photos. If I had stopped to investigate, possibly I would have spent some time photographing the Tundra Swans and missed the Little Gull.

However, after shooting a few birds on their floating logs, I left and was set to go home, except that I found myself in the exit-only lane, and the traffic was such that I could not get back on the freeway. So I decided on the spur of the moment to continue exiting and go to Lake Los Carneros and look for the reported Rail and Sora.

I walked east and then south, and arrived at the “feeding” area to find a group of Canada Geese close by in the lake. I walked down to the railing close to the water, at about the same time that the Geese noisily took off. And then I noticed the bird that was behaving like a Tern, and eventually captured about 10-20 images of which 2 were reasonable, thanks to the new lens. They are now part of Bird Records. Amazing. Hopefully, the Tundra Swans will return next year.

A wonderful video, to wish everyone and critters a good 2012, if that is possible in these days of complexity. Please note – the layout of the site may look a little different. I hope to revamp it completely by the end of 2012, to concentrate on just fauna and flora, and not get side-tracked by other stuff as before.