Alameda / Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline

Just a few odds and ends from around the neighborhood over the last month or two.  Nothing too exciting, just some birds and things.

Ring-billed Gull -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

San Francisco, CA

USS Hornet, Alameda, CA

American White Pelican -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

American White Pelican -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

Great Blue Heron -- Martin Luther King, Jr. Regional Shoreline, CA

Diablo Grande Golf & Country Club

Fore!

September 21, 2014

We spent Sunday afternoon golfing in the rolling California hills near Patterson, CA.  None of us had ever played Diablo Grande, and we were pleasantly surprised.  We thought the photos online had probably been unrecognizably doctored, but that proved to not be the case.  Sure, the fairways were struggling a bit under the extreme drought conditions we're currently in, but the course was quite playable and the layout was a lot of fun.  Given the risk/reward aspects of some of the holes, I suspect this course would be fun to play on a regular basis.

Diablo Grande Golf & Country Club, Patterson, CA

Desert Cottontail

Of course, half of my interest was with the teeming wildlife.  There were many birds, especially birds of prey.  Hawks, kestrels and loggerhead shrikes were seen on just about every hole.  We saw a green heron on one of the holes, then ran into it again on a later hole.  That was a lifer for me, at least in terms of getting a photograph.  Beautiful bird.  We also saw a handful of deer and a couple of rabbits.

Colombian Black-tailed Deer -- Diablo Grande Golf & Country Club, Patterson, CA

Green Heron -- Diablo Grande Golf & Country Club, Patterson, CA

We also saw a mysterious animal on the eighteenth hole.  From a distance it looked like a skunk, but after examining the photos I'm fairly convinced it was the elusive chupacabra.

Chupacabra -- Diablo Grande Golf & Country Club, Patterson, CA

Pinnacles National Park

September 13, 2014

Soundtrack:

• Islands -- A Sleep & a Forgetting
• Opeth -- Pale Communion

If you've been camping with Pongo the picture above will look familiar even if the specific campsite doesn't.  There's Pongo's purple camping blanket where he'll spend most of the evening after he's done exploring as far as his leash will let him go.  He's got his leash wrapped around something again.  That never gets old.  He's got a big goofy grin on his face.  After the Grand Canyon trip, he's got this camping thing down.

Cattle -- San Benito County, CA

I didn't take a lot of pictures.  The pictures I did take were mostly of things Pongo finds interesting.  Well, I find the animals interesting, too.  He's really into cattle, maybe a little more than I am.

Horse -- San Benito County, CA

Pongo hasn't had a good look at a horse yet.  They're always either too far away or I can't get him to look in the right direction.  I think he's going to be a big fan of horses once he meets one.

Silly Colombian Black-tailed Deer -- Pinnacles National Park, CA

Colombian Black-tailed Deer

Pinnacles is noisy with wildlife at night.  The birds and crickets are loud in the early evening, and the crickets don't stop until the sun comes up.  Pongo woke me up in the middle of the night because of a dog barking nearby.  We got up and took a little walk.  The dog didn't start barking, and then I realized that bark sounded a little strange and it was moving.  When it started it was in the direction of some campsites, but it moved into the hills that aren't open to people.  It wasn't a dog, it was a coyote.  It even got off a few good howls at the end.  Needless to say, Pongo didn't sleep until the coyote had finished its midnight aria.

Bull -- San Benito County, CA

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve

September 7, 2014

In better light that picture above would be extraordinary, wouldn't it?  If I was a serious photographer, I'd stake that site out to get that particular shot in the right light.  I might back up a little to try to get more of the dead cypress trees into the shot.  Then again, I like the way the rocks are set up in this shot,  I might just keep it as is.

Whaler's Cove, Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

I spent the day at Point Lobos.  Love that place.  Great views.  Great wildlife.  Great trees.  It's one of the world's beautiful places.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Harbor Seal

Challenging light was the theme of the day.  Bright sunlight.  Dark clouds.  Shady trees.  You name it, I was probably dealing with it.  After battling the redwoods last week I was hoping to get off with an easy day.  No such luck.  Still, no complaints.  I don't think a rough day can be had at Point Lobos.  There's always some kind of magic in the air there.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Colombian Black-tailed Deer -- Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Colombian Black-tailed Deer

A bumped into a young buck in the cypress grove.  He was a little nervous of me at first and remained a little wary throughout our encounter, but he ended up moving closer to me and crossing the trail only a few feet in front of me.  I didn't move one way or another.  I would never approach a wild animal, mind you, but I'm never quite sure what to do when they approach me.

Colombian Black-tailed Deer -- Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

The Old Veteran -- Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

I usually stop to get some pictures of the Old Veteran tree.  It's so much cooler than the more famous Lone Cypress on Seventeen Mile Drive.  Still, it's just a tree, and not even approachable.  It sits on the side of a cliff and there two spots about ten feet apart and two people wide on the opposite side of the cove that have clear views of the tree.  That's it.  Pictures are either taken from the left spot or the right spot.  On this particular day, clouds had obscured the sun by the time I reached the old tree, which you can kind of tell from the pictures.

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Point Lobos State Natural Reserve, CA

Brown Pelican

After for struggling with the light for a few hours at Point Lobos, I decided to change up the venue with the last hour or so of sunlight available.  I drove to Pacific Grove to catch the sunset on the beach there.  The situation was a lot better.  Almost immediately after getting out of the car I saw a whale (a humpback I think) just off shore.  I also saw sea otters and a couple of flocks of brown pelicans.  I watched the sun set then drove home, listening to the Giants game on the way.  Not a bad day at all.

Pacific Grove, CA

Pacific Grove, CA

Pacific Grove, CA

The Redwood Highway

August 29, 2014

Soundtrack:

• Editors -- The Weight of Your Love
• Grizzly Bear -- Shields

Time to head home after a couple of days up North in the redwoods.  It was a short trip, too short really, but I had things I needed to do back home for the weekend.

Smith River, Redwood National Park, CA

The fog had rolled in over the night.  That made things a lot more interesting for taking pictures.  I don't think I actually nailed a good one, but I got closer than I have in the past.  I've done OK with rain as well.

Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, CA

Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, CA

Jedediah Smith Redwoods State Park, CA

The sun poked through the fog off and on as I drove down 101 in Redwood National Park.  It made for some dramatic displays of light.  I stopped a few times to try to capture the magic.

Highway 101, Redwood National Park, CA

Highway 101, Redwood National Park, CA

The Prairie Creek elk herd was hanging out near Elk Meadow.  Tourists had gathered and were again crowding the elk.  I guess this herd must be used to the constant attention.  They moved through the crowd without much hesitation.

Roosevelt Elk, Redwood National Park, CA

Roosevelt Elk, Redwood National Park, CA

Roosevelt Elk, Redwood National Park, CA

I saw another herd of roosevelt elk near Orick and a herd of tule elk a few hours South.  I stopped in Trinidad for gas and took a few more pictures of the lighthouse.  Other than that, it was a nice but uneventful trip home.

Roosevelt Elk, Redwood Highway, CA

Trinidad Memorial Lighthouse, Trinidad, CA