More Goleta Birds

I found out inadvertantly last week that Blogger apparently limits the amount of "content" you can put in a single post. If you have a lot of pictures to show you have to break them into different posts, as I am doing here with more Atascadero Creek/Goleta Slough bird pictures.

As I said, it's a great place for birds. This Belted Kingfisher is perched on a powerline spanning the creek, giving him a great view of prospective meals.

There are lots of Great Blue Herons and Snowy Egrets working the creek. In a eucalyptus grove just north of the creek, there is a heron rookery. It's active now, and here is the best view I could get of some nests.
I find their shaggy stick bundle platform affairs of nests kind of cool. Herons have that same awkward ungainly gracefulness that pelicans have.
There are also lots of Double-crested Cormorants. They have such a primitive look with the snaky neck and narrow head that they have. I like the way they perch with a spread wing posture to sun themselves. Of course I couldn't catch any of them doing that for these pictures.

The eucalyptus they are perched in is in the middle of the parking lot for a very popular restaurant (I love their shrimp-filled chile rellenos!) that is adjacent to the slough.

Never park your car under a tree where cormorants hang out. This will happen to you, even if you are driving a Porsche. Did I say it smells like fish?