Mourning Dove, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California
This mourning dove let me get quite close. The coloring of these birds, with their black eyes, teal orbital rings and tans and grays of their bodies, is subtle, but beautiful.
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Acorn Woodpecker, Marin County, California
This acorn woodpecker and its mate nested in this tree cavity next to my friend Jeff’s garage in Inverness this past spring. Jeff kept an eye on the nest, but never saw any young. That’s the way it goes sometimes.
They are colorful birds. Their habit of storing acorn nuts in the holes they create in trees, fences and anything else made of wood can make them unpopular when they decide to store their nuts in the wood siding of a house.
My Jackrabbit Friend
A couple of months ago I spent some time photographing birds in our garden. It didn’t take long before I noticed that a jackrabbit spent a lot of time there. I had never noticed it before, but when you spend hours in one spot, without moving, you start to see things that you wouldn’t see otherwise. I think it was a young jackrabbit because it loved to run back and forth across the garden, apparently full of pent-up energy. I remember acting like that myself on occasion, but that was a long time ago. My furry friend seemed very healthy. It had no ticks in its ears as rabbits often do. I haven’t spent any time in the garden photographing lately. I hope my little friend is still there.
Tule Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore
As I mentioned in a recent post, the elk at Tomales Point are kept there by a fence that runs across the peninsula from Tomales Bay to the ocean. However, occasionally they will go around the end of the fence. I’ve seen bulls outside the enclosure, but never a cow. Here is a bull that was inside a corral at the Kehoe Ranch on October 31. Twenty minutes later when I came back from the Pierce Point Ranch area the bull was gone. The gate was open. I assume that’s how the bull got in. Later, I realized that I should have told the people at the Kehoe Ranch and/or the Park Service that the bull was in the Kehoe corral. Maybe it was an opportunity to get the animal back into the enclosure.
Tule Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore
I saw this bull on my last trip to Point Reyes. He was in the elk enclosure at Pierce Point. I think the rut was over, but he was with a half dozen females.
Tule Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore
This cow elk was spotted feeding near the former Pierce Point Ranch which is located on the Tomales Point Peninsula. The Tomales Point Peninsula is where elk were re-introduced to the Seashore in about 1975. They are restricted by a fence that was erected just before the re-introduction. It runs across the peninsula from Tomales Bay to the ocean. The fence was installed to keep the elk out of the ranches on the Seashore.
Hawks and Fall Migration, Point Reyes National Seashore
When fall comes around and I think of Point Reyes, two things come to mind — the elk rut and the hawk migration. This red-tail let me get fairly close.
