Great Egret and Turkey Vulture in Flight

Walking along the Stevens Creek Trail, I often see birds flying overhead. Not much good with a macro lens attached. So, I switched back to the multipurpose 28-300mm lens.

This area has a lot of great egrets. Some noisily hang out in the nearby trees. Others lounge around at Shoreline Lake. As I was nearing the end of the trail, I spotted a large white bird in the distance. Luckily, it headed towards me and then flew right overhead.

Great Egret

Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 200, 300mm, 0 EV, f/8, 1/800s

I’ve also been trying to photograph what looked like a hawk. Yesterday, I saw it gliding at the trail head. I had the right camera and lens, but was too far away. By the time I got to the rendezvous point, it was gone. Today, I headed up Crittenden Hill, where I saw the Space Shuttle Endeavor, to take a look and I got lucky. I could see a large brown bird gliding in the brisk wind. So, I started shooting. I momentarily put down the camera to check a setting and when I looked up again, the bird was right next to me.

Turkey Vulture

Nikon D800, AF-S Nikkor 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR, ISO 200, 300mm, 0 EV, f/8, 1/1,000s

I managed to grab a few photos before the bird flew away. Only back at the office did I notice that it had a red head. I had no idea what it was but a Google search for red headed raptor lead me to turkey vulture.

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