Notes To My Mother

Driving on a back road I saw this coyote running full speed parallel to the road and in the same direction I was driving.  I had my camera in my lap and got a couple of quick shots of him.  I noticed him looking back a couple of times and there some distance behind him was the reason for his apparent panic This coyote was coming like gangbusters.  It was a marvelous animal, bigger than the other, and looked to be a much more powerful animal, running, leaping and digging in,  giving it all he had in what appeared to be a chase after the first coyote.  As they went up over the hill and out of sight, we had to drive farther up the road to the other side of the hill to a place we could park and get out of the car.   As we got out of the car, here came the first coyote, the one who was being pursued, around the bend, still glancing back, panting, but no longer running for his life.  I am guessing that this coyote was in the other coyote's territory and...

Point Reyes National Seashore is a gem.  About an hour drive from Santa Rosa at the end of a drive through some very beautiful landscapes lies a treasure chest of wild life photography opportunities.  On Thanksgiving, Jan and I packed cranberry and turkey sandwiches and headed there for a walk and a picnic.  I, of course, took my camera gear. A good friend and I once hired a photography guide to help us find bobcats at Point Reyes.  While we did find some badgers, we did not see one bobcat.  On subsequent excursions I had seen them but always at a distance and they being very wary of humans would disappear quickly.  On this lovely Thanksgiving Day, here was a young bobcat hunting along the road.  He showed no concern about our presence and kept right on hunting. On our walk I couldn't pass up this white crowned sparrow feasting. And a bit later this northern harrier leaving its perch.  As a side note, there is a phenomenon that happens frequently ...

   Traveling from Sonoma County to the Eastern Sierras I will often stay overnight in Topaz Lake to break up the long drive and give myself a little more time to explore along the way.  Topaz is an unincorporated community located on highway 395 just south of the Carson Valley.  The California-Nevada border goes right through the middle of the lake. It is a quiet, mostly residential area with a couple of motels, a gas station and a casino.  Waking up before sunrise is a real treat as the community has not yet begun to stir and it is such a serene scene.   To the south of town there are a number of side roads to explore that run across the valley to the east, along with a road that runs on the east side of the valley, roughly parallel to 395 for a stretch.  The picture above is a morning shot from the east side of the valley. This is an image of the valley south of Topaz, looking north at sunset.  At about this time of day the coyotes begin ca...

Here I Come! I have photographed a lot of coyotes.  Some look really healthy, some look bedraggled, in ill health with matted fur and generally appear in poor health.  For some of those who look sickly I am told they may suffer from mange.  At Point Reyes I have seen the whole gamut from really nice looking healthy creatures to scraggly, just barely getting by in locations not all that far apart from each other. The coyote featured in this post was found at a park in southern Sonoma County in November of last year (2022). This fella is among the healthiest coyotes I have seen.  To me he seems almost wolf-like in his beauty.  As I was taking pictures of him he kept coming closer and closer, seemingly undisturbed by my presence. Seeing him up close like this never fails to give me a thrill.  What a beautiful animal indeed. Having him look up at the sky while directly in front of me supports my sense that I was not a bother to him.  This pose is, in my ex...