California Dreams

I always wanted to see wild elks. I spent hours looking for them at Yosemite National Park, but I never saw one. Finally, a few years ago I found out that there is a small herd of elks about an hour drive from San Francisco in a place called Point Reyes National Seashore. That same weekend I drove to Point Reyes and I was not disappointed, with all the wildlife I saw there it was almost like going to the Safari in Africa.

Last weekend I visited Point Reyes again and this time I found the famous cypress tree tunnel. I'm not sure how I managed to miss it during the previous two times I have been there. To a photographer the tree tunnel is a must! It is located on the main road, near Point Reyes beach north, just look for a sign that says: "North Historic Operation Center". As it was almost the middle of the day the sun was not in the best position but, I did my best. My first priority was to photograph the elks during sunset so I knew this was my only chance to capture the tunnel. After enjoying the tunnel for about half an hour, I drove directly to the lighthouse and elephant seal overlook.

The elephant seals were laying far away on the beach but I was delighted to see a group of dolphins approaching. The first sign for dolphins was a flock of birds (pelicans, seagulls and cormorants) aggregated in the water before me. A quick look around and I spotted a group of dolphins swimming in circles, some of them were mothers with calves. After looking at the photos, and with the help of Point Reyes staff, we identified them as Harbor Porpoises.

Not to far from them, while walking towards the Historic Lifeboat Station, I saw some colorful birds. At first I mistook them for puffins, but a closer look reveled they were Surf Scoters. These large ducks were the perfect ending for this part of the park.

Driving away from the elephant seal overlook I looked for the Black-tailed deer. They are very easy to spot at Point Reyes and always a delight to look at. After spotting the first deer it is very easy to spot the rest of them and it is also a good practice for finding other animals in the bush,

Birds of prey are also very easy to spot at the side of the road. They will usually stand on poles and road signs. Mostly I saw turkey vultures and red tailed hawks but a few times I was fortunate enough to see the peregrine falcon and burrowing owl. After practicing on spotting deer and birds of prey while driving I caught in the corner of my eye a Black-tailed jackrabbit.

The jackrabbit was sitting in the grass, near a farm house. By the time I processed my thoughts I already passed it with my car. I pulled back and took a quick photo, I was worried that a bird of prey will spot it because of me so I quickly drove away and continued my way to the Tule elk reserve.

I didn't have to look too far to see the elks, a big herd was standing on the side of the road. There was one bull, about 20 females, 4 calves and a few adolescents males. The sun was beginning to set and the light was perfect for taking photos. Howling coyotes added a soundtrack to the wild atmosphere.

After spending two or three hours with the elks I decided to take advantage on the remaining light and look for animals on my way back home. Driving back, every few minutes, I saw a brush rabbit grazing. Later, I was greeted by the California quail, standing on a pole a few miles after the elk's exit gate.

Last but not least, after practicing on spotting wildlife the whole day, I saw the Great horned owl standing at the top of a tree. This owl, unlike the frightened rabbits, was not impressed by the car. He flew directly above my head, from the tree to the field across.

As I drove out of the park I saw a small but colorful rainbow hiding in the blue-purple skies, it was a beautiful sunset and a perfect day, I can't wait for my next visit at Point Reyes.

Eversunny in Everglades

For my birthday, I took a break from the snow and went to Florida! Visiting Everglades National Park was definitely the highlight of my trip. I saw so many animals there: alligators, crocodiles, manatees, dolphins and birds, lots of birds. I also got the best present ever, a private tour with captain Dave Hunt. We got up before sunrise and drove all the way to Flamingo, Everglades National Park. 

It was pouring rain as we drove through the park and we were worried that we might have to cancel the trip. When we arrived to Flamingo, I put on my rain jacket and went down to the marina to look for manatees. Standing in the rain, I was looking at the muddy water and a manatee raised its head high above the water. This was the first sign that this was going to be a perfect day.

Just a minute later, the rain stopped, we got on the boat and sailed out of the marina, through the mangrove forest to the bay. As soon as we were out, we were met by two bubbly dolphins, who were playing alongside our boat. As we were on a very tight schedule, dictated by the tides, we had to leave them and sail to the crocodile sanctuary.

The sanctuary is a huge, muddy swamp area, which is flooded during the high tide and exposed when the tide is low. We arrived at the low tide, when the mud becomes a feeding ground for birds. We saw some very rare birds for the area, such as the Long Billed Curlew.

Action was all around us and some of the most interesting photos I took were of animals that caught their prey. On one occasion, on the right side of the boat a crocodile just hit the water and on the left a raccoon caught a crab and ran with it to the forest.  

I also really like this photo of a Wilson's Plover, who looks very pleased with the huge shrimp he just caught. The plover was straggling with the shrimp for a while, so I was able to get some nice photos of the scene. 

A very disturbing sight was of what appeared to be an eel holding on to legs of white ibis. The ibis was laying flat on the ground with its wings spread and was surrounded by other curios birds. The Asian swamp eels are invasive species in Florida and are causing damage to the local wildlife population. The scene was unpleasant and also far away from the boat, so I prefer to just share an unrelated photo of two juveniles of white ibis.

The swamp was a fertile ground for reflection photos, like this photo of a Willet walking between the puddles. 

It was time for us to take a break. We stopped the boat next to a flock of Royal Terns. Dave brought freshly baked banana bread and star fruits from his garden. These, with the combination of ice cold water, were absolutely perfect. 

After the short break, we headed towards the open area of the bay, where we looked for land patches that the birds are going to occupy when the other parts of the park are flooded at high tide. We were eagerly waiting for the Roseate Spoonbills and the Black Skimmers, but, unfortunately, while several flocks of skimmers have passed near our boat, none of them landed in areas that our boat could reach.

We then left the skimmers and went to look for the dolphins. We found a school of about 20 dolphins, playing and hunting in the mud. The dolphins were in very shallow water, less than one meter deep, where they have developed a unique way of catching fish: one of the dolphins will circle the fish while using his fin to raise mud from the bottom. The stressed fish try to escape, jumping out of the water, above the mud barrier, right into the open mouths of the awaiting dolphins. We saw them repeat the drill several times, but getting a good photo of fish and dolphins together proved challenging. I did, however, get some nice photos of the dolphins. 

After a wonderful time with the dolphins we sailed to the mangrove forest and from there back to the marine. In the marina I spotted five manatees, three adults and two cubs, all swimming just a few centimeters away from the edge of the platform. Around the area, there were quite a few nests of osprey who appeared to have very little fear of humans, one of the nests was directly above the canoe rental. Also near the marina, across the bridge, you can usually find the American crocodile bathing in the sun.

As I anticipated, the Everglades were the gem of our visit, I can't imagine going to south Florida without visiting the them. Birding with Dave was a wonderful adventure and I can't wait to go back. 

More photos from this trip to Everglades:

Reddish Egret 

Blue Heron 

Great Egret

Great Blue Heron

Anhinga

Black Vulture

Alligator

Peregrine Falcon

Snowy Egret 

Wood Stork

Beach Mode

It was a beautiful day today at Jones Beach. I went looking for Snowy Owls and found a wonderful state park an hour away from the city. For this little journey I recruited my husband and two of my friends. At first, we were all dedicated on finding the snowy owl but soon enough we surrendered to the ocean. It was the perfect day to be outside; blue sky, white clouds and yellow sun.

Jones Beach is very suitable for snowy owl as the sand dunes resemble the arctic tundras. There were a lot of birders out looking for the owls but it seems that no one was able to spot them. A day before we came a woman spotted one owl between field 1 and field 2 on the west end of the park. In the lack of owls I took some photos of my friends on the white sand beach.

In the park we saw many other birds; Snow Bunting, Song Sparrow, Canada Goose, Mallard Duck, Northern Mockingbird, Brant, some small calidris species and fearless seagulls.

I have so many photos of seagulls that I stopped photographing them but today I took a few photos of seagulls flying during sunset.

It was a spectacular sunset and a great day! Now I'm preparing my gear for the snow blizzard that will hit the city tomorrow so stay tuned. In the meanwhile I wish you all goodnight, stay warm and I leave you with one last photo from the beach.