Lings

Of the duck- and gos- kind:

Big family of Mallards

Adolescent Egyptian Geese

Mother Wood Duck and her babies (one is behind her head)

More Mallards

The growth of a fuzzy duck

Some sort of domestic/wild Mallard hybrid, apparently the youngest of several like it in the park, photographed on weekly birdbox-inspecting trips:

April 7th

April 14th:

April 21:

April 28:

May 5:

May 19th (didn't see it the previous week):

Note the development of green iridescence on the bird's head in later images.

Bluebirds

I have been working with the Southern California Bluebird Club to investigate bird nestboxes at a couple of local parks (mostly bluebirds and the occasional Tree Swallows). We have had a few setbacks-- missing eggs, dead nestlings-- which were probably the work of Gopher Snakes, but overall it's been wonderful seeing the nests, eggs, and juveniles as well as adult bluebirds.

Miscellaneous pictures below the fold:

Baby green herons

They look like some kind of muppet velociraptor:

More of these adorable creatures below the fold:

Hummingbirds in their little nest

I have recently had the opportunity to observe an Anna's Hummingbird nest on an almost-daily basis for a bit over a week, watching the babies grow from tiny nestlings to flying fledgelings. (The image names contain timestamps.)