Well, there I was with a day off work and a rental 500mm f4.5/L and a new tripod. I had to do something. So I drove around the pond at the Coyote Creek Field station, where a Peregrine Falcon let me get surprisingly close. I then headed over to the Don Edwards Center, where I met up with two other bird photographers, also toting Gitzo and Canon gear. They sent me down to the turn in the road by the sign to find the flock of Phalaropes, which I had good luck with. By then it was getting really hot, and I called it a day.