While I was in California visiting family I made a couple of trips out to the Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve in Huntington Beach to photograph the birds and wetlands. I have visited the wetlands several times before when I lived in California. However, this was only my second time visiting with the intent of photographing the birds. The wetlands are very accessible and if you want to learn or practice your flight photography, this is an excellent location. You will also find that you have close access to many of the birds in the area. Here is a shot of a Snowy Egret that was perched on the railing about 10 feet from me.

On this trip I brought my 100-400mm lens on my Canon 7D and I used a monopod for stability. During the morning I was wishing I had my 300mm f2.8 due to the typical cloud cover that is known as June gloom in this area. In the afternoon there was plenty of light. The majority of my best shots were in the late afternoon after 5PM.

There is plenty of wildlife to shoot at the wetlands and I was able to spend some time photographing Black Skimmers. These birds are interesting since they will fly low to the the water skimming their beak on the surface searching for food.

I was also able to get a nice closeup flight shot as one of the Black Skimmers flew by me on the boardwalk. This is one my favorite shots from the day.

Shown below is a video of the Snowy Egret agitating the water to find food.



Here is a shot of a Great Egret waiting near the waters edge hunting for fish.

If you are visiting or live near the wetlands, I highly recommend this location.You can view more of my photos and videos on my Bolsa Chica wetlands set on Flickr.