Bobcats Are Special
I enjoy seeing and photographing all wildlife, but some species are more special than others to me. Bobcats are one of those species, along with wolves, bears and eagles. I’ll never get tired of photographing them.
Tag: bobcat
Bobcat Hunting Gophers
This bobcat was hunting gophers. Gophers are plentiful at Point Reyes, at least in the agricultural areas. They are an important food source for coyotes, bobcats, badgers and other predators at the Seashore. If this bobcat could talk he would probably say there is no such thing as too many gophers.
Bobcat, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California
I spotted this male bobcat hunting when I was out at Point Reyes a few days ago. I saw him miss on two attempts at what I assume were gophers. In addition to this guy, I saw four coyotes, including two that were paired up. As you can see, some areas are very green now.
Bobcat, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California
A bobcat takes a rest in a field. I’ve been seeing a lot of bobcats and coyotes at Point Reyes lately. I saw a bobcat and three coyotes last Friday. I saw this guy the previous visit. Don’t recall what else I saw that day, but I have photos of a coyote from then. I often see things, but don’t get a chance to photograph the animal so what I’ve photographed isn’t a good record of what I saw on any given day. When I started going out to Point Reyes somewhat regularly beginning last summer I didn’t see as many bobcats or coyotes as I’m seeing now. I don’t know if it’s luck lately or that I’m getting better at spotting them. Probably both, but with emphasis on the luck side of the equation.
Bobcat, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California
I went out to Point Reyes for a while today. I saw two bobcats and a coyote, not to mention the more common things like elk, deer, various hawks, a burrowing owl, and other birds. When I first saw this bobcat it was lying down in the grass. I wasn’t sure if it was a bobcat or a tabby cat. One of our two tabby cats has a face that looks just like a bobcat’s face and there are plenty of farm cats in the Seashore. Anyway, as you can see from the photo, it was definitely a bobcat. Point Reyes is a good place to spot bobcats, but they exist in suitable habitat throughout Marin County.
Bobcat, Marin County, California
I spotted this bobcat on the way to Point Reyes earlier this month. It may be the same one I photographed in August.
Another Bobcat
I decided to go out to Point Reyes National Seashore last Friday to see what was going on there. My main hope was to get a good photo of a bobcat. I don’t think I’ve been out there since late June when I was fortunate enough to see and photograph one. Not long after leaving the house I spotted something out of the corner of my eye. It was a bobcat sitting in a farm field.
Lucky me. I wanted to stop, but couldn’t. The road’s shoulders were steep and narrow and there were cars going in both directions. I drove about a quarter mile to where I could turn around and drove back. The bobcat was still sitting there. I drove past it to a spot where I could pull off the road. Some trees screened me from the bobcat. I usually don’t assemble my gear until I get to Point Reyes. My gear was all neatly stowed away and I’d have to pull the big lens out, attach the Tele-converter and camera body to it and then attach my Wimberley head to the tripod and extend its legs and attach the camera/lens to it. I also noticed I hadn’t put a flash card in the camera. (Good thing I noticed that then.) After what seemed like forever I had everything together and walked quietly along the trees to where they ended hoping the bobcat would still be there. It was. I shot several frames before the bobcat turned and looked at me. It let me shoot about 30 more frames and then decided that it didn’t like the fact that I was staring at it and not moving. It finally decided it had had enough of me and split.
It was a good day regardless of what I’d see at Point Reyes. As I drove on to Point Reyes I vowed to be ready to photograph when I left home from now on. That bobcat could have moved on while I was fumbling with my gear. Next time it could be the holy grail — a mountain lion. One was spotted near here a year ago.
