Tag: point reyes national seashore

Black-tailed Deer

Blacktail Doe and Fawns, Point Reyes National Seashore

Look for fawns throughout the Seashore.
It’s Fawn Time!

Now is a great time to be at Point Reyes.  There are lots of elk calves to see and some deer fawns as well.  I mentioned in an earlier post that I think the heavy winter rains helped increase elk births. I think the same can be said for deer and most other critters.

One thing that I am always amazed at is how fast people drive in the Seashore as they rush to get to some particular location to start enjoying nature.  If they would slow down and scan the fields they would see all kinds of nature’s creations, such as coyotes, bobcats, badgers, elk, deer etc.  Plus, less wildlife would be killed by vehicles.   As Glenn Frey used to sing, “take it easy.”

Other Bird

California Quail, Point Reyes National Seashore

A male California quail perches on an old post.
Bad Hair Day

I was in the Seashore several days ago. It was nice most of the day, but later the wind came up and then the fog rolled in.  Nearby Inverness was predicted to have sunny weather all day and when I left Inverness it was still sunny.  Memo to self:  Don’t rely on the Inverness weather report for what it’s like inside the Seashore.

Tule Elk

Elk Calf; Point Reyes National Seashore

This elk calf spent over an hour by itself exploring a stock pond near Pierce Point Ranch.
A young elk calf wades into a stock pond near Pierce Point Ranch.

I was out at Point Reyes yesterday and it was the first time this year I saw elk calves in the elk reserve/enclosure at Tomales Point.   I saw elk calves at Drakes Beach about a month ago.  The elk in the reserve seem to be about a month behind the Drakes Beach herd in mating and giving birth.

It seemed like there were more cows with calves than I’ve seen in years.  If true,  it could be because of the heavy winter rains.  I’ll be interested in seeing if the elk count shows more calves this year.

I saw this little guy wade into the pond.  I watched him for about an hour and I finally left.  His mom came to the pond a few times.  She called and seemed to want him to follow her, but he ignored her.  He roamed all over the pond; drinking water occasionally.

If you look closely you can see a lump on the bridge of his nose.  A cyst?  I don’t know.  Hopefully, it’s nothing serious.

Coyote

Song Dogs; Point Reyes National Seashore

A pair of coyotes sing a song understood only by coyotes.
Song Dog Serenade

Hearing a howl or two from coyotes is usually all you get.  But in this case I was treated to several minutes of singing.  Hearing coyotes howl is one of the best sounds in nature.   Other favorites of mine include the calls of wolves; the bugling of bull elk during the rut; the call of a loon on a lake; and the honking of Canada geese as they fly in formation  overhead.

Tule Elk

Elk Calves; Point Reyes National Seashore

Elk calves spotted near Drakes Beach.

I’m biased in favor of predators. That’s why when I’m at Point Reyes I’m always looking for bobcats and coyotes.  If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll spot a badger.  If I’m super lucky, maybe some day I”ll spot a mountain lion.  (I keep looking, but they’re not likely to be in the open areas I frequent.)

Anyway, on the last few drives to Point Reyes I’ve thought to myself that it’s that time of year that I ought to look for elk calves and deer fawns.  By the time I get there though, I have forgotten about them because of my obsession with predators.   Yesterday, I decided I’d better remember to look for them before it’s too late to see them when they are still small.  Luckily, there were some along Drakes Beach Road.  I also saw two cow elk away from the herd which made me think they may have very young calves hidden nearby.  I didn’t see any fawns.  Maybe next time.

Badger

Handicapped Badger, Point Reyes National Seashore

I was out at Point Reyes yesterday and it was kind of slow.  I saw a couple of coyotes, but wasn’t able to get a good photo of either of them.  I didn’t see any bobcats.  I did see a mature bald eagle, but it was flying  too far away for a good photo.  Things picked up in the mid-afternoon, however, when I spotted this badger.  It was actively hunting gophers.  The light was OK, but not great, because of strong side-lighting.  I opened up the shadow on its left side (right side for viewer) to bring out detail in its fur.

American Badger Digging Up Gophers in Point Reyes National Seashore

What you see is the full image.  However, as I was working on the photo in Photoshop I cropped it a bit to remove some of the little hillock in front of the badger.  Then I needed to remove some of the photo on the other three sides for a better composition.  As I was doing that I thought the animal’s right eye (left eye from viewer’s standpoint) looked odd.  So, I magnified the photo.  It then became clear that the badger had a serious eye problem.  I assume it’s completely blind in its right eye.

To make the eye visible at the relatively small image size required by my blog, I had to do a severe crop.

Badger at Point Reyes National Seashore
One-eyed Badger

I’m always touched by animals that have injuries or handicaps.  I hope this badger manages to live a normal life span.  I don’t know how its eye came to be the way it is.  It reminds me that I saw another badger at Point Reyes six years ago that looked completely blind in the same eye.  It was a female with two cubs.  Her eye was completely white, but not recessed looking like this eye.  I suppose it could be the same badger, but it could also be another.  I’ve started to wonder if eye problems are not that rare for badgers for some reason.

Bobcat

Bobcats; Comparing Point Reyes National Seashore and Yellowstone National Park

Bobcat, Point Reyes National Seashore
A bobcat moves through grass hunting for gophers at Point Reyes National Seashore.

I go to Point Reyes National Seashore (PRNS) often.  It’s rare that I go and not see at least one bobcat.  I also spend a month or so almost every year in Yellowstone National Park (YNP).   Yet, I’ve never seen a bobcat there in spite of the fact that they do exist.  I’ve often wondered why.

According to my most recent copy (2013) of the annual “Yellowstone Resources and Issues Handbook,”  bobcat numbers in Yellowstone are “unknown, but generally widespread.”  It says their habitat is in rocky areas and conifer forests.  It goes on to say that they are rarely seen, with most reported sightings being in rocky areas and near rivers.  I’ve seen a few online photos of them along the Madison River in winter.  Given the lack of stated population numbers, I assume they haven’t been studied much in Yellowstone, if at all.  I’m not aware of any bobcat study in PRNS either.  I assume PRNS doesn’t know how many bobcats there are in PRNS, let alone what their habitat preferences are.

In any event, why do I see bobcats regularly in PRNS and never in YNP?  I can only speculate.  My best guess is that it has to do with where the bobcat finds itself in the predator pecking order in each place.  In YNP the bobcat has to worry about grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, coyotes and mountain lions.  In PRNS it’s just coyotes and a very, very few mountain lions.  This may cause them to stick to the forests and other good cover in YNP without the same pressure to do so in PRNS.  If so, this reminds me of what I found last spring photographing pumas (aka mountain lions) in Patagonia’s Torres del Paine National Park (TDPNP) and adjacent private land. There are no bears or wolves in TDPNP.  There is a coyote-like predator there called the culpeo, but coyote-sized animals are no threat to a mountain lion.  While mountain lions in YNP stay in good cover, in TDPNP they feel no need to hide.  I saw 18 pumas in a week in TDPNP and all of them were in open areas – like the bobcats in PRNS.