Bird Spotlight! Brandt's Cormorants in Breeding Plumage - Natural Bridges State Beach Santa Cruz California April 2025

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Santa Cruz was to see the beautiful Brandt's Cormorants on the colony atop the Natural Bridge!  

It was the beginning of breeding season and I was excited to see these birds in their beautiful breeding plumage.  Brandt's are black birds with electric blue gular patches to match their beautiful blue eyes so of course I wanted to see them relatively close up and try to get some photos.

I was successful and yet, unsuccessful due to hard winds and camera shake. It's so frustrating as I get older.  But luckily Topaz AI is able to help with my shaky photos without looking too artificial (I hope). 

So, after my wonderful morning at the University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum and Botanical Garden and a brief stop at my hotel which is right on the way, I made my way to Natural Bridges State Beach to check it out!

There is a parking lot dedicated to parking for viewing the Natural Bridge rock where the colony is. Time limit (I think 30 minutes?) so you can't park for the beach there. But it was perfect to back right up to where the rock is and pop open my rear door for easy access to my camera and a place to sit. 

 You feel so close to the birds and the ocean and beach is beautiful.   

Nikon D600 Nikkor 28-300 lens at 28 mm

The rest of the photos were taken at 600 mm and then cropped, at least a little and some a lot, in Lightroom and Photoshop.  

These California Gulls wanted their photo taken.  :)  But the rest of the photos are of the Brandt's Cormorants.  It's possible there are some Double-crested Cormorants in the colony too.  

And there some Brown Pelicans hanging out too!

This next one has a pretty good look at the nests which are built upon the ground out of seaweed, eelgrass, weeds, etc.  It was very cool to see birds flying to the rock carrying nesting materials. 

This bird looks like it has a red eye but it is part of the seaweed it's carrying to the colony. 

These guys are bringing fresh nesting material. 

I think it looks kind of cool that you can see the people across the cove on the tidepool shelves.  I went over there later but didn't see any tide pools such as I'm used to...even though it was low tide.  But supposedly Natural Bridges has good tide pools so I guess I just couldn't find them.  

Reliving this adventure through my photographs reminds me that I need to make another trip to see the chicks!  Hopefully I can fit that in.  

xoxo

Nikon D7200  Sigma Contemporary 150 - 600 Lens

Photos edited in Lightroom, Topaz Photo AI, and Photoshop

Oh My!! New Lens In My Bag - Let's Test It Out at Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge!

 For my birthday my wonderful daughter chipped in to help me get the lens I've been wanting!  The Sigma 150-600 Contemporary.  I couldn't WAIT to test it out - especially handheld - because we all know I'm too impatient to use a tripod.  haha  But I am really going to try. Sometimes.  :-)

It was raining in Sacramento but the farther north I got, the more the clouds concentrated around the mountains, creating some stunning landscapes. 

What a beautiful Red-tailed Hawk!  She was huge (so I'm assuming she was a she). 

Awesome Common Gallinule!  Nothing common about these cuties.

They actually lift their wings up further on their backs when they are floating, which often cause them to have a curly look to their feathers. 

Pied-billed Grebe!

I drove right past this guy.  I felt someone staring at me! So I looked to my right and our eyes met.  

I braked gently and reversed...hefted my large camera and Sigma lens to my eye - praying that the bird staring at me would remain calm and still!

Spoiler alert - he did!

More gallinules!  The tips of their beaks were actually a bright yellow; I feel like these photos don't really capture it well.  

And their cousin, a cute American Coot!

Hawk in flight with the Buttes in the background.

There was at lest 75 Coots floating on the lake.  So cool to see them bobbing around.

And another Pied-billed Grebe!

Along with the Coots and tiny Pied-billed Grebes, there were quite a few Clark's Grebes floating around.  A lot of them were settling in for a nap...

But some were beginning to pair up for courting. 

And you could see their beautiful, bright red eyes!

Cormorants, ducks, and geese snoozing on the island. 

Wow!  About 6 American White Pelicans were out there floating around too!

Check out those baby blues!

And, much to my absolute delight, there was a lone Mute Swan serenely floating around the lake. 

And there were a LOT of Snow/Ross Geese still hanging around on the beach!

Along with a pretty gigantic Red-eared Slider turtle.

Turkey Vulture flying over the Geese 

Green-winged Teal duck pair with a Cinnamon Teal duck friend. 

Awwww, babies!!  This Canada Goose had little babies but there were some teenagers hanging around just beyond mama too.

Oh my, this cormorant was soooo fast!  I saw it coming to my right, got the camera/lens hefted and into position.  But before it could focus clearly, the bird was almost out of my range!  I thought it still looked pretty cool.  

White-faced Ibis!  I think this guy is almost in breeding plumage.  But the white around his face isn't quite as distinct as it should be.  

You can really tell the difference in coloring between the breeding adult on the right and the juvenile/non-breeding Ibis on the left. 

Came around the corner and saw this Squirrel just drinking in the sights and looking for birds like the rest of us.  lol  Little cutie. 

I know I say "wow" a lot, but WOW!!  A Double-Crested Cormorant in breeding plumage, which means you can really see those crests!  And his gorgeous blue-green eyes!

These cattle egrets were sitting on a fence beside the road and were spooked by my car.  But luckily they just flew across the water.  Look at his little yellow feet!  

So beautiful.

Red-Winged Blackbirds are so hard for me to get a pic of lately.  They're pretty skittish.  But these two (yes, they are two different birds) were happy to pose!

Oh, this Mourning Dove looked so lovely in the golden and pink sunshine!

I had seen quite a few Jack Rabbits as usual, but they were all very quick to escape my eye.  Not this guy though!  He sat there for quite awhile, clearly hoping that I hadn't seen him!  lol  

xoxo

Nikon D600 Sigma 150-600 Contemporary Lens