This site is dedicated to wildlife and landscape photography.
This site is dedicated to wildlife and landscape photography.
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.
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.
I spotted this coyote on my last visit to Point Reyes. Until I saw him, it had been quite a while since I last saw one there.
I spotted this bobcat on the way to Point Reyes earlier this month. It may be the same one I photographed in August.
I find hummers to be amazing birds because of their size, speed and maneuverability. According to Hummingbird World, their nests are about the size of half of an English walnut shell. The outer part of their nests is made up of moss and plant fibers. Sometimes it is shingled with lichen. The rest is comprised of plant down and spider web material. Eggs measure one-half inch in length.
A couple of years ago I was on the road to Pierce Point when all of the sudden the road became full of rabbits. They seemed unusually small to me at the time and I couldn’t believe how many there were. If I researched what they were then I’ve forgotten. Well, just the other day I saw a few more of these small rabbits and I was able to photograph them. Here’s a photo of one of them.
Now that I had photographed one I had to find out what it was. That was easy thanks to Google. These small rabbits are brush rabbits. The name sure fits given where I found them. If they look like cottontails to you that’s because they are a type of cottontail. They are different in two ways though. First, they don’t have any white on their tails. Second, they are noticeably smaller than other cottontails. As I photographed them I noticed that they didn’t stay in the little opening where I photographed them for very long. I think that those that do stay longer tend to live shorter lives.
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.
