Notes To My Mother

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 ...

I love taking images of birds.  If I have a choice I would much rather capture a bird in flight, just taking off or just landing rather than sitting on a perch. I find these images more interesting than a still image.  Small birds are the hardest to catch in flight because they fly so fast and often with irregular flight patterns and because they are so small you have to be fairly close, all of which adds to the difficulty in getting decent images. Raptors are a different story since they are normally larger, have smoother flight patterns, and are often quite elegant even when sitting still.  Where I have a problem is in identifying which raptor is which.  So if I get the name wrong please correct me.  The first two images above are, I believe, of a Red Tail Hawk just coming off its perch. This is a Northern Harrier.  He seemed to have a nest near by and worked this same field every evening, flying characteristically low, hovering, and descending to the the...