Pacific Commons Linear Park

Introduction

On October 9th, 2025, I visited the Pacific Commons Linear Park at Fremont, California for wildlife photography. It turns out that there are many raptors predating in this area, including Red-Tailed Hawk, Red-Shouldered Hawk, Golden Eagle, and Turkey Vulture. Last year, I also observed Bald Eagle here. But this time, I did not see one. Besides the raptors, I also photographed some other birds and animals, including American Crow, Great Egret, Great Blue Heron, Mallard, California Towhee, California Ground Squirrel, and even a domestic Cat. I was using Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS with Sony 2x Teleconverter, which gives me an effective focal length of 600mm at aperture of f/5.6. However, I found it is still not long enough to capture the flying raptors in good details.

There were some interesting scenes and facts I observed during the trip. When a raptor came, there would be lots of different birds flying around and chasing it, trying to escort it away. Great Egret and Great Blue Heron would use fish as bait to lure other fishes to come closer so that they could catch them more easily. American Crow would play with cones while they were flying.

Camera System Setup

• Camera: Sony A1 II
• Lens: Sony FE 300mm f/2.8 GM OSS + Sony FE 2x Teleconverter

Pacific Commons Linear Park