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Continue reading →: Heading SouthIt’s fall migration time and many of the local Turkey Vultures are making their way south for the winter. When I was a kid, many decades ago, the local Turkey Vultures cleared out completely every fall and I learned that seeing the first ones reappearing in late winter was one…
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Continue reading →: Bald Eagle Visit, With AssociatesWhen a Bald Eagle showed up the other morning and landed on a snag right opposite from where I was sitting by the river I nearly rubbed my hands together in Scrooge-like glee at the thought of the entertainment I knew would ensue. There were Common Ravens all over that…
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Continue reading →: Embarrassment of RichesAlmost every time I go to the river I hope to see an otter. I know I can count on the birds; even during the quieter seasons of fall and winter, the ravens, turkey vultures, jays, wrentits, and towhees are around, and keep me smiling. But a glimpse of an…
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Continue reading →: World Cup BluesLike a passionate romance that starts off too good to be true, yet you keep wading in deeper and deeper until you’re up to your neck, but then you start to slowly realize it wasn’t such a good idea, this person is not what they appeared to be, and pretty…
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Continue reading →: Masked BanditWarblers can be notoriously hard to see. They are tiny and manically active, and most of them inhabit treetops as they go about finding their favorite insect food. “Warbler neck” is a well known affliction of birdwatchers who get aches and pains from pointing their binoculars virtually straight up in…
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Continue reading →: Eagle Nest Update: June 5, 2026What a pleasant surprise to see not one but two huge eaglets in the nest this morning. I’m so relieved that my guess last week that one had died was wrong. They both look strong and stout, and a corrected guess at their age puts them at about 8 or…
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Continue reading →: Eagle Nest Update: May 29, 2026On my last visit to the Benbow Bald Eagle nest last Friday, it appeared that perhaps one of the two eaglets had died. Over the years we have known this to happen more often than not when we have been able to see two hatchlings at first. Up to 30%…
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Continue reading →: Special GuestsTwo infrequent visitors came by the river on a couple different mornings last week. Northern River Otters are hit and miss for sightings in my neighborhood, and for many months it’s been miss. So when a pair of them came by the other day it was headline news. They went…
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Continue reading →: Eagle Nest Update: May 16, 2026On my last visit to the Benbow Bald Eagle nest it was obvious that a lot of growing had been going on over the past nine days. Unfortunately the light was very challenging and in both the stills and the video, it may require some squinting and even a bit…
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Continue reading →: Location, Location, LocationOver the past week or so I was lucky enough to visit a handful of different locations to watch birds. Almost 500 different bird species have been found in Humboldt County, some residents, some rarities, some seasonal migrants. This number is attributable to the diversity of habitats we enjoy and…
Welcome to Free Range Photography, a photo-journal of encounters with birds and wildlife, mostly in Humboldt County, California.
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