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Isabelle Reddy

@oiseaulune_

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California, San Francisco Bay Area
All photos/videos are taken by me.
Audubon 2021 Top Ten Videos, mine is #4 ⬇️

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Wood Stork 🐧Tantale d’Amérique
👀Curious to know how this Wood Stork forages? On the first photo, you can see that it is a tactile feeder : it touches the prey with its beak before capturing it. It doesn’t need to see it. If a prey passes near its beak, it will quickly snap it shut. Look at the second photo. Do you know why it lifts one wing? It is a way to startle the prey. When it opens its wing, it casts a shadow over the lake and tells the prey that something is looming overhead, it is time to move. If you swipe again, you can look at a video showing you exactly what happens. This one-meter-tall wader lifts one wing and turns in a circle around itself, hitting a larger area of disruption. At the same time, the biggest wading birds that breeds in the United States uses its feet to dislodge its prey. Notice the movements of the stork’s feet, it wriggles them, lifts its leg and shakes the lake bottom a step further, disturbing the water and catching any prey in the vicinity : a fish, a crab or a crustacean.

#woodstork # birdfeeding #florida #floridabirds #orlando by @oiseaulune_

Barred Owl 🦉Chouette rayée
👀 An owl sighting is always like an encounter with the wild. I have been wanting to meet this creature for as long as I have been going to Florida. I knew they were often spotted in Mead Botanical Garden and would visit this place each time I was in Orlando to try and spot them. I was luckier this October. It was warbler migration and Mead Botanical Garden was full of warblers and birders looking for them. I had my opportunity to ask about Barred Owl and was shown my first one on a rainy morning. It is quite overwhelming to see an owl. Their eyes are so piercing they seem to read right through you. What do they find? Do they see you? Really see you? I spent some time with this first owl, first seeing her from the back with other birders and then I encounter it again from a different angle while on my own (see photo 3). Another day, another birder told me about a different spot, it was probably the same owl who had changed her day roost. I went twice and found the Barred Owl fully exposed to view the second time. It was magic. She seemed so comfortable on her perch, with her beautiful scarf around her neck. (See photo 1 for a close-up and photo 2 for the full picture of the encounter). I join her to wish you a Happy Halloween.

#barredowl #happyhalloween #meadgarden #floridabirds #owls @meadgarden by @oiseaulune_

European Blue Tit 🐤Mésange bleue
👀European Blue Tits are so colorful. They can be seen all over Europe and in some part of Asia.
They have a very interesting face pattern with these blue lines going from their beak to the back of the head across their eyes and down their chin. It also circles around their neck.
Their belly is yellow and they have lots of blue in their wings. They also have a blue cap on their head.
This small bird, about the size of a chickadee, behaves like one. It looks for small insects under tree leaves and in the bark of trees, hanging upside down from its feet securely wrapped around the leaf stem.

#europeanbluetit #londonbirds #birdingengland #london #birding by @oiseaulune_

Red-crested Pochard 🦆 Nette rousse
👀 Red-crested Pochard - Nette rousse
Red-crested Pochards have been a favorite ornamental bird in the numerous gardens and city parks in England as part of their waterfowl collections. I found this one yesterday, in the lake of Regent’s Park in London. But throughout the years, Red-crested Pochards have escaped or have been willingly released into the wild and started to breed. So England now has an established population. Furthermore, it is possible that some of them have migrated from continental Europe and joined the established population. The Red-crested Pochard is a striking duck, about the size of a Mallard, with red eyes and a red bill and a very orangey overall plumage. This bird is a male in its eclipse plumage because it looks similar to a female but has a red bill. The female would have a black one.

#redcrestedpochard #duck #london #londonbirds #birding by @oiseaulune_

Yellow-crowned Night Heron 🐧Bihoreau violacé
👀I took a trip to South Texas last year in April and saw an amazing variety of birds we don’t have in the Bay Area. This Yellow-crowned Night Heron was one of the highlight. I saw it in Estero Llano Grande State Park. It is quite similar to our Black-crowned Night Heron but its face features are more striking. Its beak appears a bit thicker, maybe because it contrasts with a thinner and rounder head. Its legs and neck are longer so it makes the Yellow-crowned look taller and slimmer than the Black-crowned. The juvenile birds of both species look alike.

#yellowcrownednightheron #texasstatepark #happybirthday #heron #birding by @oiseaulune_

Vaux’s Swift 🐧Martinet de Vaux
👀I know very little about Vaux’s Swifts because I never get to see them in Alameda county. So, it was a special treat on Sunday when I spent a few hours watching them fly above China Camp State Park in Marin County. I first wondered : what kind of swallow could it be? And then I realized it was them - the Vaux’s Swifts, accrobatically maneuvering in the sky to pick up small insects. I am used to White-throated Swifts who are much larger and elongated with perfectly arced wings, flying like little boomerangs. Vaux’s Swift are very different, they are dark looking, except in certain light where their belly suddenly appear clearer. Their wings are much shorter and full. They are stockier and it is true, their body is shaped like little cigars. In flight, they glide and suddenly flap, flap , flap before resuming their gliding. (Scroll through the photos to see them in different views).
Lately, I learned through a couple of birder’s friends that they roost in two places around here. As many as 20,000 gather each September and October at the chimneys of McNear Brickyard in San Rafael. Another place they gather in, since 1989, at the same period, is in a boiler of the Rio Lindo Adventist Academy in Healdsburg, CA. Of course the boiler is switched off when the Swifts appear.

#vauxswift #CAstateparks #birdinflight #ornithology #birding by @oiseaulune_

Willet 🦪Chevalier Semipalmé
👀Has this Willet stumbled upon a treasure? Crab shells? Oysters? Bivalves ? I am not sure. In its excitement, the Willet is trying desperately to swallow them whole. But here’s the catch, the prey is too big for the Willet’s mouth. It is trying bravely to open its beak as wide as it can, to turn the treasure around, to use all the required swallowing techniques it knows to make it go down its throat, to no avail. After a long time trying, the Willet had to admit to itself that it wasn’t the best food : very hard, oddly shaped and much too big.And after giving it its best effort, it gave up. Willets mostly eat aquatic insects, small crustaceans, fish, crabs and rarely small toads.

#sfbbo #willet #shorebird #haywardregionalshoreline #ebrpd @sfbbo @ebrpd by @oiseaulune_

Black Skimmer 🐧 Bec-en-ciseaux noir
👀I never noticed before the way Black Skimmers plop themselves onto the beach like seals. Other shorebirds rest on one leg or even sit down on their bellies. But, Black Skimmers slouch on the sand like a teenager would do on a couch. If you watch until the end of the video you will see this behavior. Before dropping down they spread their wings and they rest this way on the sand, belly down, wings spread on the side of their body and beak comfortably laid on the ground. (See photos 2 to 5) It makes me think that this plopping down is really because their beak is too heavy to hold at rest and giving the head a rest must be a welcome relief.
The French name for Black Skimmer translates as Black Scissor-beak, which I find very descriptive.

#blackskimmer #alamedaca #birdbehavior #baynature #ebrpd @ebrpd by @oiseaulune_

Wandering Tattler🐧Chevalier errant
👀A place — 1.5 miles of coastal trail along the bay
A bird — Wandering Tattler
A note left on @ebird by 6 Bay Area birders: « Breeding adult. Don’t have camera for pic. 6 observers. Heavily spotted of breast. White line above eye. Dark line thru eye. Yellow legs. Smaller than willet. »
A goal : refind the bird, take its picture, and post its GPS location on ebird.
I arrive at Bay Farm island with a mission. I love to bird this way. Every square foot has to be scanned carefully. Wandering Tattlers are found on rocks and this coast is mostly rocky. I am looking for a rather big shorebird, larger then a Spotted Sandpiper with which it can be mistaken. Halfway through the trail : a shorebird with spots all over its belly appears. It’s bobbing its tail a lot. It’s very small compared to the nearby Willet. Darn! A Spotted Sandpiper. I am now at the end of the trail. No Wandering Tattlers! Doubt enters my mind. Did the birders see a Spotted Sandpiper? With that thought a second one pops in front of me. But suddenly, a bird appears on the rocks at the edge of the bay (photo 2) It seems larger than a Spotted Sandpiper. I use my binoculars to check its legs - definitely thick and yellow. It is barred on its whole belly. I follow it. It climbs on a log and stops (photo 1) It doesn’t bob its tail often. It maintains a horizontal position it is long bodied. Its eyebrow is well marked. (photo 3) I try to imagine a spotted Sandpiper on the log next to this shorebird. It would appear much smaller. That’s my bird, an adult male in breeding plumage. The Wandering Tattler has tucked its head under its wing through all my internal debate (photo 4) I film this very cooperative lifer. It is a rare bird with only tens of thousands of individuals, often solitary, scattered along the Pacific Coast and basin. (See a map of current sighting photo 5) What are the odds of finding one? But when there is a lead, chances increase! #wanderingtattler #baynature #birding #alamedaca #birdingstory by @oiseaulune_

Phaïnopepla 🐦‍⬛ Phénopèple luisant
👀I am always in awe when I cross paths with a Phaïnopepla. I don’t know if it is because of their name meaning “shining robe”, their slender body, their crest, their red eye or how unusual it is to encounter them. They are nomads after all, like their nearest common ancestors : the Waxwings. The Phainopepla is also known as the « Goth Cardinal »!

I was walking on a road in Livermore, meandering above Lake Del Valle and overlooking Mines Road. The roadside, descending into a canyon was filled with oak trees harboring lots of mistletoe : my chances of seeing a Phaïnopepla had increased ten fold. They love mistletoe berries, they eat about a thousand a day. I first heard the bird. I followed the call looking for it, it was showing its tail or side through the leaves, hiding. Suddenly the bird saw me. I was able to take a single photo and then it was gone. Adult males are shiny black and females are shiny grey. Young birds look like females. This bird is either a female or an immature bird. Immatures are more brownish with a brownish iris so the bird I saw could fit this description.

#phainopepla #livermore #baynature #bayareabirds #californiabirds by @oiseaulune_

Green Heron🪺Héron vert
👀On the 4th of June 2026, at #shadowcliffsregionalpark, a pair of Green Herons were busy building their nest. The nest was located in the reeds, a large enough platform along the arroyo. The nest was mostly made of branches, it was well hidden from foot traffic on the nearby trail. But, once you knew where it was, it was easy to go and observe it without disturbing the birds (photo 3).
I went back on the 11th and one Green Heron was sitting on the nest (photo 2). I checked on the 27th of June and the 1st of July and an adult was still sitting. (photo 3)
But then, on the 8th of July, 4 babies were born (photo 4 and 1). They were hardly able to stand up without tumbling on their tummies. One of them, after standing for a few minutes, seemed so tired that it laid on its belly, head hanging from the ridge of the nest, and stayed there a long time. I feared it would fall in the water. (photo 5) The parent would come to feed them from behind the reeds, there must have been a well hidden entrance. The little ones would all look up in the direction of the adult and open their beaks (photo 6). After eating, one of them stretched its tiny wings (photo 7). I went back on the 11th of July and all the babies were present, more active but still little (photo 8).
6 days later on the 17th of July, they had grown so much! (photo 9) I only saw three this time and they were exploring. They did not leave the nest per se but the nest seemed now to have a kind of antechamber in the back and the babies would go hide and reappear in the open part of the nest.
Next time I visited was on the 3rd of August, the nest was empty but as I approached, three Green Herons took flight from the opposite side of the nest, they must have been standing on a log near the water. On Saturday, only one Green Heron was still in the vicinity of the nest. I found others in the park. They had definitely fledged.

@californiabirdatlas #californiabirdatlas @ebrpd #ebrpd #greenheron #babybirds by @oiseaulune_

Great-tailed Grackle 🐦‍⬛ Quiscale à longue queue
👀Yesterday, I hung out with a hundred Great-tailed Grackles. They are done breeding and the juveniles were everywhere, learning to be proper grackles, imitating their parents’ behavior. A few young ones were still getting treats from their parents. In the first four photos you see a fledgling getting a juicy green caterpillar from its mom. The mom tried to help the young with it but once it had received the gift, it wanted to eat it all by itself and pulled on it until the mom gave up. After dipping it in water, it swallowed it whole. It then proceeded to open its beak wide and flutter its wings and the mom came close and checked inside its beak to make sure the whole caterpillar went down the right way (at least that is my interpretation of the scene 🙂). Meanwhile, the dads had taken over the garbage cans (photo 5). Others had taken over the lake-goers’ picnic tables, dipping their heads deep into their bags to find scraps (photo 6). Some were hopping on the swimmers’ towels. Others were drinking the water from their showers. The juveniles were molting their feathers (photo 7). They were also trying to find food and protect themselves from the scorching sun (photo 8). Lots of tales to tell about the Great-tailed Grackles #shadowcliffsregionalpark

@californiabirdatlas #californiabirdatlas @ebrpd #ebrpd #greattailedgrackle #babybird by @oiseaulune_