Jonathan Coffin started out with a borrowed Sony digital camera that used 3.5″ diskettes (remember those?) for storing images and over the last four years he has compiled the most comprehensive catalog of birds, bugs, mammals, lizards, and plants in the Ballona area.
Since then, Coffin has moved on to better devices to capture over 4,500 exquisite images of local species few of us knew existed in the area. His collection of pictures at www.flickr.com/photos/stonebird/ is truly a local treasure and continues to grow by the month.
Among the wildlife that he has digitally captured are the Burrowing Owl, Pacific Chorus Frogs, the majestic Great Egrets, the rare El Segundo Blue Butterfly and Least Bells Vireo and Belding’s Savannah Sparrow, the elusive Gray and Red Foxes, scalely creatures such as the lizard as well as caterpillars, beatles, velvet ants and both rare and common flowers such as the Orcutt’s Yellow Pincushion and the California Poppy.
Coffin’s images on Flickr capture an amazing quality that brings out the exquisite and unique beauty of his subject as they carry on their daily lives. Some of his subjects seem to pose for him. The Burrowing Owls are my favorites because they seem to look right into you.
The Stonebird Ballona collection continues to grow and his catalog has also begun to expand south towards the El Segundo Dunes and north into Marina del Rey, Venice and Mar Vista.
Stonebird is a treat that shouldn’t be missed.