Skip to main content

Point Reyes - A Week Later


Visiting Point Reyes National Seashore on Thanksgiving reminded me of what a gem this location is and motivated me to return.  On the following week a friend and I headed there.  In particular I wanted an image of Drakes Beach with its sandstone cliffs holding back the surf.  I think it would make a nice painting subject.
On the way to Drakes Beach we spotted this female Northern Harrier.  Harriers fly very close to the ground in search of prey, which makes it possible to get some pretty close images if you are lucky enough to be in their path.
The one bird which is a favorite of mine is the kestrel.  I couldn't remember ever seeing one a Point Reyes and mentioned this to my friend remarking that we needed one.  About a half hour later, there it was on a bush next to the dirt road we were on.  Kestrels are usually fairly shy birds so it was quite a treat to have it stay on its perch while we took its picture.
And then off it went, which is what we were hoping for as their beauty in flight is something to see.
And once again our friend the coyote was out and about.  We saw this one hunting in the field, watched  locate his prey, make the leap, and come up with lunch. I loved the look he gave us.  We were a good distance away but he was very aware of our presence. 
This time of year the male elk are hanging out together with their amazing racks on full display.  They are a common sight along the road.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

All comments are moderated. Please be patient. Your comment may take a while to appear. Thank you.

Popular posts from this blog

White Tailed Kites - A Family Affair

  Perhaps you have seen birds fluttering in one place in the air.   I have seen Northern Harriers do this as well as kestrels.  But most commonly it is the white-tailed Kite.  Three years ago there was a family of them in the Laguna De Santa Rosa and I had the privilege of witnessing their behaviors and capturing some of it with my camera.  This first picture (above) shows a juvenile in flight and an adult on the branch.  The juveniles are distinguishable by the brown markings.  This Kite family had three juveniles and one adult, perhaps two adults but I only saw one at any given time. Late one evening I saw this scene with the adult holding a gopher or vole while the three juveniles gathered. I was particularly taken by the orientation of the juvenile's body on the bottom left.  As it turned out I got several shots of juveniles in unusual positions.  On one occasion I photographed one of the juveniles doing a somersault in mid air (topi...
1 comment
Read more

The East Side of the Sierras is Beautiful

Why “Notes to My Mother”? My mother was the one person in my life who was always interested in what I was doing, what I had to say, who I was. She was never too busy to listen and take an interest. Never critical, always accepting. Even when I was wrong or misguided, there would still be a gentle interested listener present. Though she has been gone over 6 years, I still get the urge to write or call her, to share an image I am proud of or share my latest adventure to some beautiful place. I know she would love to hear about it. My mother was an artist. She painted most of her life, right up to her passing at the age of 96. When I was 4 years old we lived on the east side of the Sierra Nevada Range. She would take me out to paint with her - she with her easel, me with mine - and we would sit together creating our art. While I gave up on the medium she kept at it. Then, in the year she passed I picked up a digital camera and began my adventure into the world of landscape ph...
2 comments
Read more

Aurora Borealis May 10: A Northern Lights Extravaganza

As a quick update: All of these images were taken on the night of May 10-11, 2024. on San Juan Island WA.  We were taken by surprise in the middle of our vacation when it was announced there was to be an aurora display that would likely be visible from our location.  What an understatement!  What we witnessed was simply out of this world.  We saw colors I did not know existed in the auroras, especially the light pinks and, of all things, orange (neon).   There were four of us on the grounds at the Trumpeter Inn during the "show".  I was the only one with a DSLSR camera so the others would see something interesting and I would point my camera in that direction and take a timed exposer.  Most were in the 15 to 20 second length.   At one point, Jan looked up straight overhead and saw something that was quite unusual; it looked like some kind of convergence.  I pointed the camera overhead and took this picture, which I find startling....
Post a Comment
Read more