My 10 best bird photos of 2018

Welcome to my second annual list of best bird photos from the past year.

My best photos from 2017 here.

Reddish Egret. San Diego River mouth, San Diego, California. August 12, 2018.

This high key photo of Reddish Egret is the one I'm most proud of for the year. It captures this rather rare bird in a typical, but exciting, pose. More photos of this bird are here.

Brown Pelican. San Diego Bay, California. August 19, 2018.

This immature Brown Pelican was photographed from the boat as we were coming back from a pelagic trip. The bird is photographed at eye level with warm afternoon light. It generally meets all the qualifications of an "artistic" bird photo. More.

Common Ground-Dove. Borrego Springs, California. March 18, 2018.

It's not perfect. The shadows of the noon sunlight are a bit harsh. There's no obvious catchlight in the eye. But I like it, perhaps because the species is uncommon. I especially like the pattern of the feathers across the breast and neck. More.

Scaly-breasted Munia. Escondido, California. August 10, 2018.

I chose this slightly smaller-in-the frame composition over a very similar one cropped a bit closer where the bird appears larger. The background grasses fade pleasingly away and the reddish-brown plumage of the bird stands out against the overcast sky reflected in the waters of the pond. More.

White-winged Dove. Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, California. April 15, 2018.

The dove is in more shadow than I would like, so I opened up the crop so the bird is small-in-frame in order to show more of the blooms on the ocotillo bush--a habitat shot. The mottled background of the out-of-focus desert hillside provides a nice texture contrast to the thorny bush. More.

Anna's Hummingbird. Lake Hodges, California. January 21, 2018.

I have so many photos of hummingbirds, especially this common Anna's. Nevertheless, this is probably my best Anna's on a natural perch, even if it is a stereotypical bird-on-a-stick (BOAS). The focus, the light, the pose, and the background are all good. More.

Mountain Quail. Palomar Mountain, California. June 17, 2018.

Okay, maybe it's the backstory and not the photograph itself. The bird is in harsh sun and shade, aided by some reduction of contrast in post-production. But to encounter such a shy and reclusive bird right out in the open was a special treat. The backstory.

Great Egret. Lake Hodges, California. July 4, 2018.

My first high key photograph. Not bad for standing on the footbridge taking shots of herons and egrets as they flew up river against dark overcast skies. Practicing camera settings with my new camera. More about this photo and the High Key style.

Bell's Sparrow. Borrego Springs, California. January 7, 2018.

The small-in-frame and backlit sparrow is perched on a twisted creosote bush. The three main branches all lead the eye back to the bird in the center. This bird-in-habitat shot is more about the composition than the bird itself. The bird alone would be a poor shot. More.

Verdin. Borrego Springs, California. March 18, 2018.

The head angle looking back at me is good and there is a wonderfully pleasing out-of-focus pastel-colored gradient background that complements the soft gray plumage of the bird. More.


Honorable mentions:

Gull-billed Tern. Imperial Beach, California. July 29, 2018.

The photo of this tern is not exceptional, with somewhat harsh overhead light. The head is in sunlight and the bird is in focus, but there is no catchlight in the eye. The background is solid blue sky which some find boring. But Gull-billed Tern is rather uncommon in US waters. And this photo captures it well. More.

Acorn Woodpecker. Mount Laguna, California. October 7, 2018.

A pleasant but not exceptional photo of Acorn Woodpecker in the shade of the mountain forest. The diagonal perch adds some visual interest. It might have done better in warm early morning sunlight. More.

Marbled Godwit. Imperial Beach, California. September 30, 2018.

This is an easy bird to photograph on southern California beaches. And photogenic, too, with those long legs and impossibly long upturned bill. There's nothing wrong with this photo, it's just such a common subject in a common pose. More.

Phainopepla. Borrego Springs, California. March 18, 2018.

One of my favorite birds. If only its head had been turned more toward the camera!

My 10 best bird photos of 2017

Capturing a good bird photo requires a close subject, good lighting, an uncluttered background, and a well-posed bird. A wildlife photographer doesn't often have very much control over the conditions and the subject. So, a bit of luck is also required.

Travel back in time with me to last year and view my best photos of the year...

Brown Pelican. Mission Bay, California. January 1, 2017.

I started New Years Day 2017 with the annual pelagic trip sponsored by the San Diego Field Ornithologists. While the just-completed 2018 trip started in dense fog, the 2017 trip out of Mission Bay was sunny. This pelican caught the low morning sun in the harbor as we departed.

Burrowing Owl. San Diego River mouth, San Diego, California. January 1, 2017.

After the pelagic trip I stopped nearby to look for the Burrowing Owl I had missed a couple of weeks earlier. It was right there in the ice plant where everyone else had reported it! Easy to photograph as it was not 8 feet off the road with bikers and dog walkers going by continuously all winter.

Male Western Bluebird. Escondido, California. January 3, 2017.

On the pelagic trip Nancy C. gave me a tip on where I might have a good vantage point to photograph Zone-tailed Hawks that roost in winter at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. They roost with Turkey Vultures in the Park, then fly out with them in late morning. I arrived too early, and had to leave well before noon--a better time, perhaps. But this Western Bluebird was a nice consolation. It really wasn't; but it was a nice photo, nonetheless.

Female Mountain Bluebird. Ramona, California. January 29, 2017.

Near the Ramona Grasslands Preserve is a farmland road of exactly 1 mile that is always worth a stop in winter for hawks, geese, and rather rare Mountain Bluebirds. This makes a nice complement to the Western Bluebird from earlier in the month.

Male Ring-necked Duck. Escondido, California. March 28, 2017.

Female Ring-necked Duck. Escondido, California. March 28, 2017.

In late March I caught a sunny morning with numerous ducks at Kit Carson Park in Escondido. I couldn't decide whether the bright male Ring-necked Duck was my favorite, or whether it was the simpler brown female. So I present them both here.

Yellow-breasted Chat. San Pasqual Valley, California. April 5, 2017.

In early April I birded the Highland Valley Trail in the San Dieguito River Park near Escondido. I was surprised and delighted to find an early Yellow-breasted Chat singing away. It was even better to get several very good photos.

Marbled Godwit. Imperial Beach, California. July 16, 2017.

Marlene was missing the miles of nearly-empty beaches we formerly enjoyed in Oregon. That's a bit difficult where every day is a beautiful day, and most of the population lives within 15 minutes of the beaches. So I took Marlene to the beach at the mouth of the Tijuana River in Imperial Beach. Though it is about a 45 minute drive from our home, it is Marlene's favorite. There are very few people on the beach and there are usually some interesting shells washed up. We ended up visiting several times during the year.

California Gnatcatcher. Escondido, California. October 11, 2017.

Sometimes the secret of getting a good bird photo is just to take lots of photos. The California Gnatcatcher is an endangered bird of San Diego's coastal sage scrub habitat. This is a habitat that is being plowed under for housing developments. So I take photos every time I see and hear these birds. They are tiny and active, crawling through the brush and peeing out from the foliage. So I'm pleased with this photo without a distracting branch cutting across the face as is typical for most of my photos of this species.

Rock Wren. Ramona, California. November 26, 2017.

Another run out to Rangeland road in Ramona provided me with Mountain Bluebirds, a Merlin, and a Burrowing Owl. Plus, I got excellent photos of a Rock Wren that seemed as curious about me as I was about it.

This completes my favorite photos from the year 2017. I'm impressed that it includes none of the photogenic and abundant herons and egrets. Though I do have many photos of them, too. I think I attended 4 or 5 ocean birding boat trips last year. I didn't come up with any truly extraordinary at-sea photos this year. Though a Brown Booby off San Diego would probably make this list if expanded to the top 12 birds. And I didn't travel much outside San Diego County this past year, so all the best photos were near home. I hope you enjoyed these!