Slow down, enjoy the show…
Sometimes I think here in Silicon Valley we forget just how wonderful and beautiful this place we live in is.
With the weather having returned to winter weather and some much needed rain, I spent Saturday indoors, working on stuff, like cleaning up the photo library (lots of half-finished imports, etc) and tweaking the blog, and writing.
Today, the weather cleared up a bit, so I headed out to run a couple of errands, and while out, I decided I had to get out and go birding, just a bit. So I ended up at Calero Reservoir down in Coyote Valley, hoping maybe to find the bald eagle that’s been hanging out there (nope), or maybe the loon (nope). It’s interesting to track this area season to season — last winter we had good numbers of loons around the area, this winter, we have had close to zero, but large numbers of mergansers. Birds are so unreliable — sort of. While these kinds of variations happen every year, we also have birds that return, year after year, to the same location and many times the same tree.
I missed out on the main birds I was looking for, but heading back into Coyote Valley, I ran into an osprey with a fish.
It wasn’t exactly pleased at being watched, so it gave me two steps away from the car and flew up, grumping at me as it left. It ended up circling around me a bit, then coming down in the middle of a pasture out beyond the geese and staring at me while it ate until I left.
About that point it started raining, of course. But I saw a beautiful cloud formation across the pasture, so I grabbed my wide angle camera and started shooting. About that time I realized the rain was bouncing — it wasn’t raining, it was hailing. The things I do for you people to get interesting pictures…
By the way — geese do not like hail. Just saying.
But looking at that vista, taking those pictures, made me stop and remember, just for a minute, how beautiful this area is and how many things we have going for us here when we stop being too busy to look and explore. Those of you living in sleeping bags under your desks don’t know what you’re missing. Hopefully you’ll figure it out before it’s too late…
Of course, after a minute, I realized it was still hailing, and decided warm and dry would win out over more photography for now, and got in the car, cranked up the heater, and came home to what the NHL All-Star game…
Half Dome, Yosemite National Park in Winter
Filed under: Living in Silicon Valley, Photography, The Offline Life
Continuing to work through my photos of the Yosemite trip…..
We came in during the afternoon of the 26th, as a storm was moving in. This photo was before the storm, with some snow, but far from the fresh layer we had in the morning…
All of my photos available from Flickr here. Well, will be once I finish uploading them, but there are already some pretty good ones online.
Birdwatching trip — Point Reyes Seashore
Filed under: Birdwatching, Living in Silicon Valley, Photography, The Offline Life
Took thursday off and drove up to Point Reyes to do some exploring and birdwatching. Overall, a very fun day and successful trip with some decent photos. Stopped by Bolinas Lagoon for a quick view on the way in from the road near Audubon Canyon — low tide, mostly egrets and shorebirds, plus one group of about 20 seals hauled up and sunning.
I started out heading to the lighthouse, which was fogged in with a heavy, consistent wind, so I changed my mind and headed off to the area near the rescue boathouse overlooking Drake’s bay. On the Bay were the typical set of gulls, plus a couple of rafts (about 50 total) of mostly Surf Scoters — with a few other birds mixed in I finally resolved out to be Buffleheads and White-Winged scoters (lifer), all at great distance. Evaluating my photos later, I also found what looks to be a sea otter froclicking in amongst the scoters…
There were turkey vultures everywhere. I counted at least 30 individuals, and at one point, had eight in the sky at one time. I stopped off at one of the historic dairies to watch the vultures and a red-tailed hawk playing in the breezes and occasionally strafing cows.
After that, South beach, where I had a number of fly-overs by Brown Pelicans and Turkey Vultures, as well as one hunting Osprey.
Final stop was Drake’s Beach, where I had a pretty good smoked salmon, chipotle cream cheese and red-onion quesadilla at the cafe (good, but a bit pricey, also 45 minutes or so from the nearest deli; memo to self: pack lunch), where I got a different view of Drake’s Bay and got better views of the White-Winged Scoters. Also along the beach were two Common Loons
As well as various gulls (including a couple I think were Heerman’s but they kept their distance), and a couple of seals sitting offshore and watching the silly humans.
Laurie took one look at this photo and declared: see, loons are simply turtles with feathers, which is why they fly so badly…
The photos from the trip are here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/chuqui/sets/72157605125990295/
Species seen on the trip:
- California Quali
- Brown Pelican
- Osprey
- Marbled Godwit
- Long-Billed Curlew
- Scrub Jay
- Turkey Vulture
- Red-Winged Blackbird
- Surf Scoter
- Pigeon Guilllemot
- Various gulls
- Great Egret
- Great Blue Heron
- various swallows
- Red-Tailed hawk
- Double-crested cormorant
- White-crowned sparrow
- Song sparrow (heard)
- Chickadee (heard)
- Common Loon
- White-winged scoter (life)
- Bufflehead
- Raven
- American Crow
Also — over 30 deer, all hanging out in plain view in the middle of the day. there’s a big controversy about the deer population going on up there, and while I’m going to stay out of that, seeing so many deer along the road makes me think the population is pretty thick up there. Far too often in these cases the “bambi factor” starts kicking in.
Also seen — sea otter (probable — it MIGHT have been a seal, but I don’t think so), harbor seals, one or two dairy cows…
update: heard from a friend at the local audubon, who thought the white-winged scoters were early for migrants. He checked with the local expert up there, and he confirmed the ones I saw were overwintering, they had three there all summer.
Fireworks!
Filed under: About Chuq, Living in Silicon Valley, Photography, The Offline Life
Sat outside on the driveway again this year to watch the santa clara fireworks show from central park, and the annual “keystone kops parking circus and revenue enhancement festival” on the streets nearby.
Fortunately, this year, the wind was almost directly from the north, sending the fireworks smoke on the crowds in the park, rather than on us, so the pictures are very clear and, I think, much better than last year.
The full set is here.
Wildflowers with Ladybug: San Mateo Coastline
I’ve been focusing (ahem) so much on “big glass” photography lately I decided it was time for a change, so I loaded up the 17-85 onto the Canon, along with a 12mm extension tube, and went small. This was done in natural light, no flash, and I think it came out amazingly well.
More pictures from San Mateo Coastline, and my flickr set of flower pictures (soon to start expanding significantly)
and any purchases you made will be treated as referrals by us.
