I made a trip to Southern California to have my camera and lenses cleaned at the Canon service center.  While down there, I decided to extend my trip to spend some time looking for Pelicans and anything else that moved.  My pelican quest was only partially successful, but lots of other things were moving, and well worth photographing. 

My quest was to find pelicans diving for fish, but once again, I only observed this from a distance and did not get any quality shots.  I did, however, get lots of flyovers and fishing (but not from heights).  After more or less satisfying my pelican craving, I started exploring other areas. I spent the bulk of my time at the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve. The only other location I visited was Upper Newport Bay with the local Audubon chapter. At that location, we saw many birds, a few of which were life birds for me. Including a Black Skimmer: I spent the remaining time at Bolsa Chica. It was one exciting viewing after another, including Black-crowned Night Herons, Yellow-crowned Night Heron family, Red-necked Phalarope, Peregrine Falcons hunting, egrets, and lots of shorebirds. The pièce de résistance however, was Belted Kingfishers dueling for the best real estate.  For an entire day, we saw the Kingfishers chasing each other and vocalizing almost constantly.  It was quite entertaining: By late afternoon, this squabble turned ugly. They started fighting each other. First in the air: Then in the water: I don't know which one was the victor, but by the next day, things were very quiet in the area, so I presume that the disagreement was settled.

The final thing I was hoping to witness was the Reddish Egret dancing while feeding.  It was not until the morning of my departure that I finally got to witness this.  The sun had just risen, so the light was low, but the dance was wonderful to watch:
I need to go back this area in the late fall to observe the Pelicans diving and feeding. There is so much to see here: I will come back!!

To see more photos from my trip, click on these links: September 18, 2018, September 19, 2018, September 20, 2018, September 21, 2018, September 22, 2018