Subscriber Comments for
Photo Safari

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 324141	2012-09-25 08:11 PM
Let's see, great blue heron, brown pelican, common egret, snowy egret, black skimmers...
COMMENT 324147	2012-09-25 08:26 PM
Wow! Amazing pictures. So blessed to be living in Santa Barbara.
COMMENT 324152	2012-09-25 08:35 PM
Okay, 141, you sassy thing. (BTW: "Great egret.") OP, those are Black skimmers, not any kind of gull. Note the huge red mandibles/ bills. Skimmers are 18", Bonaparte's are 13 1/2", so you're also looking at quite a difference in size. I LOVE skimmers. Seeing a whole flock of Bonaparte's at Goleta Beach would be fun, though, but not likely in summer. Love all your photos. I voted the Great egret in flight as pic of day. Hope it wins top place.
COMMENT 324158	2012-09-25 08:47 PM
Should have mentioned I knew what several of the birds are, pelicans, egrets, heron, seagulls but weren't sure about the skimmers. I love those little guys so will try and remember their names from now on. Thanks for the info
BULLSEYEB	2012-09-25 09:58 PM
How beautiful and serene. Thank you for sharing these!
COMMENT 324165P	2012-09-25 10:19 PM
No Black Skimmers - they are Terns.
CEES	2012-09-25 11:08 PM
Beautiful, thanks!
PAMSB	2012-09-25 11:43 PM
Those look like Least Terns, common to the Pacific Coast. You can see Black Skimmers at East Beach or near Stearn's Wharf.
TAZ	2012-09-26 12:11 AM
Lovely photos, looks like a beautiful day you had. Thanks for sharing them with us.
RDH	2012-09-26 07:42 AM
Very nice, pleasing images. I particularly like the shot of the egret in flight over the dark waters.
SBJULES	2012-09-26 08:32 AM
thanks for the lovely pictures
COMMENT 324206P	2012-09-26 08:38 AM
PamSB: I think they are Common Terns. Least Terns are smaller and are much less, uhhh, common, the subspecies, California Least Tern, in this area.
AQUAHOLIC	2012-09-26 09:03 AM
Great shots Denise, as always! I am the 'friend' of whom she speaks, we met through Edaht...thanks Ed. We were out early at the Slough and a woman with a camera comes by and asks me, "are you Aquaholic"?...that was a first! It was fun to meet Nature Shutterbug and look at her great images on her flikr page.
NSHUTTERBUG	2012-09-26 09:28 AM
Lovely photos, Denise. I think the Great Egret with a fish in its mouth is excellent - some could possibly ID the fish from the photo. Here is a guide to some of the terns that have been seen in the area, and the terns most likely to be seen at Goleta Slough are Elegant, Royal, Caspian, Forster's. I believe the ones in your photo are Elegant Terns. Black Skimmers have been seen at Goleta Slough a few times (maybe twice) in the winter, but they are mostly found at East Beach. That would be a good place to go to photograph birds as well. I believe there were/are many Red-necked Phalaropes at the Bird Refuge, another good place to go to take photos of birds. A few Least Terns have been seen at Sands Beach, Coal Oil Point, but I do not believe that they have been seen at Goleta Slough. Elegant terns Royal Terns Caspian Tern Forster's Tern Least Tern Black Skimmer Having seen from EdHat that Aquaholic often visited the same places I did, I wondered when we would cross paths. It is was great to meet you both. Happy birding!
AQUAHOLIC	2012-09-26 09:37 AM
@NSHUTTERBUG....great to meet you as well. I enjoyed your vast knowledge of the local bird population, and help in I.D.ing what we saw. I've sent Ed some of what I shot yesterday as well. BTW, I have photographed Skimmers out at Devereaux point on the beach, as well as East Beast and near Stearns Wharf.
COMMENT 324240	2012-09-26 09:46 AM
Who is the hot redhead in the last pic? Is that AQUAHOLIC?
RED CREEK	2012-09-26 10:07 AM
The beautiful pictures of life in and around the Goleta Slough reinforces the idea of the importance of this estuarine environment. The sloughs and estuaries along our coastline are the cradle of life, and the sustainment of life for many. Efforts to bring back the mechanical and biological functions of once maligned and abused (filled in, bulldozed and drained) marshes, sloughs and river outlets along the coast are making a difference, as shown by the abundance of life in these pictures.
COMMENT 324152	2012-09-26 10:45 AM
NSHUTTERBUG: After looking through my bird guide and online, I realized it is not easy to i.d. those terns. You are correct, I think, in naming them "Elegant" terns, however. I completely goofed up last night and wrote that they were Black skimmers. What a gaffe! To think, that I got an 'A' in my ornithology class . . . I am surprised no expert birder has weighed in to make the definite i.d. and tell me, especially, what a goose I am. (see my embarrassing comment in "deleted" section----oh, my face is red.) Black skimmers don't look a thing like those terns . . . need new glasses . . . need new brain . . . Anyway: fine and lovely photos! @RED CREEK : Yes!
COMMENT 324281	2012-09-26 10:46 AM
NSHUTTERBUG is correct. Elegant Terns, some still with summer plumage and others in winter plumage.
COMMENT 324240	2012-09-26 11:01 AM
Any idea why @152's comment was deleted?
PAMSB	2012-09-26 11:30 AM
Yes, Elegant Terns. And, I call myself a birder...LOL Thanks, edhatters. (Running and hiding from Joan Lentz about now!)
COMMENT 324158	2012-09-26 05:50 PM
Thanks NShutterbug and great meeting you yesterday! Appreciate you posting the info on the birds and look forward to reading your blog & Edhat for your photos & info. Denise

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