adventures in nature

Latest

2015 Nov 04 – bobcats, hauntings and happy Samhain

It was a tough day for our track and sign study, due to very high winds on the coasts of Mendocino and Sonoma counties that scoured the pages of our sand clear – but luckily the animals seemed to accommodate us by showing themselves in person.

IMG_1499 v1BOBCAT / Sonoma County CA

IMG_1500 v1bobcat / Lynx rufus

This Bobcat showed itself just outside the “Mirkwood of Sonoma County” – seriously, best analogy I can provide for this area. I can’t even begin to describe in words the experience that I had last night, nearby to where this photo was taken, at what turned out to be a “haunted” house that I stayed in, unintentionally. Very, very, strange happenings. Yes, I wrote “haunted house.”

20151103_164121Enter ye who dare … into Sonoma County’s “Mirkwood”!!!!!

It was extremely weird and uncomfortable. But perfect for the season, I suppose.

Happy Samhain and Halloween to all, this is the week of the celebration of the coming of the dark time of year, when the days are short and the nights are long … and when the veil between the living and the dead is slight! November 7th is officially the “cross-quarter” day, equi-distant between the Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice – though it is officially celebrated on Nov 1st.

IMG_1505 v1bobcat / Lynx rufus

IMG_1512 v1bobcat / Lynx rufus

Beautiful animal!

Posted by  |  November 4, 2015 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

2015 Nov 04 – red crossbills

a flock of red crossbills made an appearance on the southern border of Mendocino County in CA on this day – interesting to see the way the flock moved, very distinctive.

colors – amazing.

a rare visitor here …

IMG_1408 v1-2

females are yellow and the males are red – the flock was composed of about 30 birds, slightly more males than females.

IMG_1415 v1

Posted by  |  November 4, 2015 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

2015 Nov 04 – ferruginous hawks have arrived!

These pictures are dedicated to LB and West County Hawk Watch – much love and respect for your passion, dedication, mentoring, generosity, trust and expertise. One of the first FEHA’s that I ever saw was with Larry, and to this day, every time I see one, I think of you my friend.

These birds have arrived to take up residence for the winter from their summer breeding grounds in the plains, and I am always excited to see them – largest of our native hawks.

IMG_1470 v1juvenile Ferruginous Hawk(s) / Mendocino County CA

IMG_1466 v1

IMG_1447 v1

Posted by  |  November 4, 2015 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

2015 Oct 28 – It’s that time …

The owls are back in their autumn cycle, starting to claim their territories.

IMG_1402 v1-2GREAT-horned Owl / Wildcat Canyon Regional Park , East Bay CA

Posted by  |  November 4, 2015 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment

glacier skies

the skies near Fallen Leaf Lake – the clouds took on a glacial color / Lake Tahoe area CA

Posted by  |  October 22, 2015 | Categories: Uncategorized | 2 Comments

tree lovers

these two pine trees have grown together into a “hug” – it was really fascinating to see (and pretty darn adorable)

Jefferey Pines / Lake Tahoe NV

Posted by  |  October 22, 2015 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

2015 Oct 11 – the voles are back! (and a tropical kingbird)

We are seeing quite a bit of vole sign once again in the Bay Area, which is a good for most animals around here, except of course for the voles, really – they are one of the top items on the menu for many many animals. It’s interesting that they’ve rebounded right now in the worst part of the drought here in California. We noticed a severe drop in their numbers about two or three years ago (which is a normal part of their cycle), but it’s a good sign that they’ve returned. Now we just need some water.

These small rodents that resemble mice move mostly above ground, and they tend to create “runs” as they utilize the same pathways over and over. These runs create little tunnels in the grass and sometimes recessed runways in the ground.

a “vole’s-eye view” of a vole tunnel in the grass / Sonoma County CA

overhead view of vole grass tunnel or “run” (on right), clear area on left has vole scats

vole scats

re-purposed gopher hole – voles have excavated this old gopher hole to use as shelter

There seems to be a very marked decrease in the frequency of raptor sightings the last two years in this area, by my observation – and though it’s difficult to determine why this might be, certainly the vole population crash coupled with the severe drought must be a one-two punch that all predators on the landscape are experiencing.

Bring on the rains, el Nino!!!

We also saw a Tropical Kingbird today, which is a very rare visitor to this area (a type of flycatcher). The pictures were taken through a lot of fog, but we had good views of the bird hunting and perched for five minutes at least. Our friend Moss made the ID, based on the notched tail (differentiating it from a Western Kingbird). Nice sighting!

IMG_1298 v1

IMG_1300 v1

Posted by  |  October 12, 2015 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

2015 Oct 11 golden eagle, dark morph red-tail, and vultures

I was driving down a road in Sonoma County today and noticed a large kettle of turkey vultures flying above an agricultural area – probably numbering almost 40 birds! It was somewhat unusual, and certainly not something I’ve seen yet this year. I pulled over to take another look, knowing that often golden eagles will “hitch” a ride along with a group of vultures. As I was counting the vultures, boom!

Eagle!

IMG_1380 v1Golden Eagle in a kettle of Turkey Vultures / Sonoma County CA

I followed the kettle, which conveniently for me also was following the road in my direction! I made a number of stops as I followed it, and during my final stop the Eagle was kind enough to turn around and do a fly-over for me.

IMG_1339 v1juvenile Golden Eagle / Sonoma County CA

Such a beautiful bird –  as I observed it I noticed that it lacked any under-wing white patches, but its uniform feather coloring and uniform-length flight feathers indicated that it was probably a first-year hatch bird. It appears it has lost one of its left secondary feathers, which initially made me think perhaps it was older and undergoing a molt, but I still think this bird is a hatch year bird (meaning it hatched this spring).

IMG_1355 v1

As it glided back past me and rejoined the group of vultures, a dark morph Red-Tailed Hawk took exception to its presence and launched after the Eagle from its perch among a grove of eucalyptus trees, screaming loudly as it flapped quickly towards the larger bird …

 IMG_1367 v1vocalizing adult dark morph Red-Tailed Hawk / Sonoma County CA

IMG_1369 v1adult dark morph Red-Tailed Hawk / Sonoma County CA

The Red-Tail launched into the kettle and did a few dives at the Eagle, but they were half-hearted attempts – more bark than bite. The kettle of vultures, with the Eagle still flying in it, slowly floated away from the Red-Tail’s territory as it retreated back to a perch in the trees.

Here in the West, especially towards the coast it seems, we have more frequent occurrence of “dark morph” Red-Tails (they have a very diverse variety of feather patterns and tones), and often I’ve seen people mistake these birds for Eagles. To the untrained eye, this is totally understandable. But when you see the two together, there is little doubt about the ID. Golden Eagles are quite a bit larger, have distinctly different plumage when observed closely, different wing shapes, and different shapes/silhouettes when viewed from below. Turkey Vultures are only slightly smaller than Eagles, and both can hold their wings in a slight dihedral shape when soaring – to the naked eye they can appear very similar – but upon viewing them with binoculars, they also have very different silhouettes and feather colors, and an experienced observer can distinguish the two from each other even without binoculars.

IMG_1372 v1“bird on a mission” – adult dark morph Red-Tailed Hawk / Sonoma County CA

IMG_1322 v1nice comparison of a Turkey Vulture (left) and a juvenile (but full-size) Golden Eagle (right) /Sonoma County CA

It was really fun to see all the Vultures, the Eagle and the dark Red-Tail on this beautiful NorCal “summer” day.

IMG_1361 v1juvenile Golden Eagle / Sonoma County CA

Posted by  |  October 12, 2015 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

2015 Oct 07 – hawk hill merlin, ravens and red-tails

beautiful day up on hawk hill, filled with friends, hazy blue skies, and a good number of migrating birds and butterflies.

IMG_1278 v1RED-TAILED HAWK / hawk hill, marin county ca

as i arrived there we had a great look at a merlin that flew not too far overhead (a merlin is a type of small falcon, larger than a kestrel but smaller than a peregrine falcon) – it appeared to be a juvenile. they are fairly uncommon here in the bay area, but they pass through during migration time from their breeding grounds to the north – and in the time of short days we get a boost in the population as some choose to spend the winter here.

IMG_1185 v1MERLIN / hawk hill, marin county ca

the humans congregated on top of the hill with their scopes and binos, calling out every moving bird within a couple of miles. it’s a rather bizarre experience, to see all these people perched on the high hill for hours at a time every day for three months of the year, but wonderful that so many committed volunteers take their time to do this. as everyone was focused afar, two resident ravens, a male and female pair, landed very close by to watch the watchers.

IMG_1226 v1RAVENS with golden gate in background / hawk hill, marin county ca

RAVENS with golden gate in background / hawk hill, marin county ca

we chuckled as we realized that i was watching the birds, who were watching the other people, who were watching the other birds! these two hung around for quite a while, intrigued by the activity of the people (and likely looking for some dropped food as well). occasionally they would come very close to each other, making quiet croaking noises as one of them would groom the other’s face area. it was so endearing. and at such close quarters, in the bright sun, i could really see the intelligence in their eyes. amazing, beautiful animals.

IMG_1241 v1RAVENS grooming – or perhaps a literal “peck on the cheek?”

IMG_1244 v1-2RAVENS / hawk hill, marin county ca

IMG_1233 v1RAVEN / hawk hill, marin county ca

we saw a lot of accipiters today, as expected, but were also treated to a number of ferruginous hawks, several merlins, and some late-in-the-day peregrines. after most people had packed up for the day and i was leaving the hill, a red-tail floated overhead to hunt the area and allowed for some really fun pictures …

IMG_1267 v1RED-TAILED HAWK / hawk hill, marin county ca

IMG_1270 v1-2RED-TAILED HAWK / hawk hill, marin county ca

IMG_1276 v1RED-TAILED HAWK / hawk hill, marin county ca

the colors on this bird are amazing, and for an adult it has a very light eye (iris). so beautiful. thank you, my good friend!

as always happens when one packs up to leave, birds start showing themselves and tempting you to stay. as i started down the trail, one last juvenile northern harrier tried to keep me on the hill.

IMG_1286 v1juvenile NORTHERN HARRIER (aka MARSH HAWK) / hawk hill, marin county ca

 

 

 

Posted by  |  October 8, 2015 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

20150927 eclipse of the full harvest moon

Alright, I’m launching into it …

… I am tired of hearing about the “super moon.”

The fact is, the the moon is sometimes a bit closer and sometimes a bit further from us on Earth when it’s full, but to the human eye, it’s generally imperceptible! It’s sad to me that when the media describes the majesty of the natural world, that is around us EVERY DAY AND NIGHT, they feel the need to add superlatives just so people take a second from their day to pay attention to it. That speaks volumes about our culture as a whole, actually, not just the media. I am happy, however, to see people out and trying to see it this evening. That is a positive aspect to the media’s strange “super moon” PR blitz the last few years.

Though I must say sometimes I feel like the person who knew the band before they were famous, but now everyone is going to the show because they were “discovered” and it’s the cool thing to do – and it’s so crowded I can only sit in the back of the venue and there’s a bunch of drunk people singing along, spilling beer on everything, and generally ruining the experience. I can totally understand why artists get depressed when their art is embraced by larger masses who don’t appreciate it for what it is, but rather because it makes them part of a social scene etc.

[that comment was also partially prompted by a shot that I framed tonight after hiking to a somewhat remote area to photograph the rising eclipsed full moon, where I spend a lot of time and it’s typically just me out there with the owls and the coyotes – but tonight, just as the moon appeared, some people on the top of a distant peak that was serving as the foreground for the photo turned on extremely bright headlamps as I was about to take the shots- ha! ah jeez].

So “big media,” you can stick your “super moon” where the sun don’t shine (wait, what? yeah!), and I’ll go ahead and enjoy the Moon however She comes. Guess what? The moon is full every 28 days or so – and it is always a spectacular sight. And in between? Also spectacular. Crescent new moon – half moon – whatever. They are all super in my eyes.

Whew. Ok, sorry, I’m done.

These shots below were taken while the moon was still fully eclipsed, not long after it finally rose above the clouds that obscured its initial rise …

IMG_1144 v1

IMG_1161 v1

An eclipsed moon is always an eerie yet beautiful sight, and it always feels like my eyes are “thirsty” for light when I view it. It’s a strange sensation. There comes a sense of relief when that first light reappears on the edge of the moon as it moves out of totality.

 

Posted by  |  September 28, 2015 | Categories: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | 2 Comments