Other Bird

White-crowned Sparrow, Point Reyes National Seashore

Photo of white-crowned sparrow.
Chimney Rock Sparrow

I was out at Point Reyes yesterday afternoon.  The afternoons go by pretty quickly this time of year. I should be getting there at first light.  I saw a coyote and a bobcat, but neither rewarded me with a very good photo.  The bobcat decided to see how low he could lie in the grass and the coyote chose to walk in an area that didn’t provide a very good background.    I was hopeful of seeing a badger, but had no luck there as usual.

The more common wildlife like elk, deer and birds often save the day.  So it was yesterday.  There were a lot of white-crowned sparrows near the Chimney Rock parking lot.  This guy, and some of his kin, took turns posing for me for a while.

Coyote

Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore

Photo of a coyote.
On the Hunt

In my last post I mentioned that I saw a coyote on the H Ranch.  It was hunting for rodents.  It didn’t catch any rodents while I was there, but it did eat something that looked like it came from a cow dropping.

Coyotes cover a lot of territory each day.  You never know where you’ll see one at Point Reyes, but when you drive by the H Ranch (before Abbott’s Lagoon) look carefully.  You have a good chance of seeing one there.

Tule Elk

What’s Wrong With This Bull Elk?

Photo of bull tule elk.
Bull Elk Exhibiting Hair Loss

I was at Point Reyes yesterday afternoon.  It was my first time out there in quite a while.  There’s been enough rain that most ground cover has turned a nice, rich green.  I saw a coyote on the H Ranch which is a fairly common place to spot a coyote, and Handsome Bob, the bobcat I so named because he has such a striking coat of spots, was in his accustomed place just outside the tule elk reserve.  (For a post about Handsome Bob click here.)  There were a number of elk on the D Ranch (by Drake’s Bay).  The bulls were in one group before the ranch complex and the cows and calves were in another group past the ranch complex.  At the elk reserve on the Tomales Peninsula some bulls were with the cows and they were acting like the rut is still on there.

This big bull (7×8 points) was in his accustomed place for late afternoons which is just past the Kehoe Ranch complex in the swale on the right side of the road.  He’s one of about 5 bull elk that somehow got out of the reserve some time in the past several years.  He seems to be alone every time I see him.  The other four seem to stay together.

Yesterday was the first time I noticed that there is something wrong with his coat.  My guess is that he has mange/scabies, but I’m no expert.  I did a quick google search and found that elk do get mange.  For a study done regarding mange at the National Elk Refuge (NER) at Jackson Hole, click here.  Mange is caused by a mite that burrows very deep into the skin.  It can cause death due to hair loss and hypothermia.  The NER report states that bulls die of it at a much higher rate than cows and it was thought that the higher mortality rate was due to the debilitated state bulls are in at the start of winter due to the fall rut.  The report also states that if hair loss extends from the neck to more than one quarter the length of the back the case is considered severe.

Mange is spread by contact. I have no idea to what extent the elk herd at Point Reyes has a mange problem, but since this bull is outside the reserve and doesn’t even seem to spend time with the other four bulls, his case wouldn’t seem to be cause for concern for the rest of the herd.  I also have no idea what his prognosis is or how he got the mange (if that’s what it is)  given his solitary habits.  At least he doesn’t have to deal with cold winters like the elk at the National Elk Refuge.

Uncategorized

Featured Artist at Riverfront Art Gallery

Photo depicting a portion of my show at the Riverfront Art Glallery.
Part of My Show, Riverfront Art Gallery

I usually post something at least every seven days, but I’ve fallen a little behind this time.  The reason is I’ve been putting together an exhibit at the Riverfront Art Gallery in Petaluma.  About a quarter of my show is depicted in the above photo.

The show is titled “Wildlife as Art” and is comprised of about two dozen of my favorite images from Alaska, Yellowstone and nearby Point Reyes National Seashore.  Most of the prints are on canvas with gallery wrap-style framing.

There will be a reception tomorrow, November 10, from 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.   I hope you can make it, but, if not, stop by later.    The show runs through January 6th.

A word about the Riverfront Art Gallery.  It’s located at 132 Petaluma Boulevard North in Petaluma, CA.   The gallery is the creation of two local photographers, Lance Kuehne and Jerrie Jerne Morago, who wanted to open a high-end art gallery in Petaluma that would feature some of the best artists in the North San Francisco Bay Area.  The gallery has been open for a little over five years and has  been voted best art gallery in Sonoma County for the past five years.

The gallery operates as a co-op with about 20 members of which I am one.  For more info on the gallery click here.

Landscape

Another View of the Sierras from Bishop

This photo is a view of the Sierras with rabbit brush in the foreground. This photo was taken from Bishop, California.
The Sierras with a Foreground of Rabbit Brush

Here is another photo of the Sierras from Bishop.  It was taken at the same spot, but a short time after the image in the previous post.  The light has changed a bit and I’ve gone from a wide angle perspective (32mm) to a short telephoto perspective (70mm).  I tried other focal lengths, such as 85mm and 105mm, and they placed more emphasis on the size of the mountains.  I also didn’t like the fact that the trees were emphasized too much at those higher focal lengths.   The previous photo gave greater emphasis to the rabbit brush foreground.  I was a bit taken by the rabbit brush when I was shooting, but I think I like this image the most.   The foreground, midground and background seem more balanced.

Landscape

Eastern Sierras

This photo depicts a view of the Sierras with rabbit brush in the foreground.
The Sierras in the Fall

I took a trip to the Eastern Sierras recently to shoot fall colors.  I had planned to go since some time in the summer, but I learned of a three-day weekend trip being led by Dave Henry, one of Canon’s Explorers of Light, which was scheduled for the time I planned to be there.  Dave has led photo trips to the Eastern Sierras for over thirty years.  He used to be a photojournalist for the Sacramento Bee and has been writing a column for the Bee on fall colors in the Eastern Sierra for many years.  The price for the three day weekend was only $295.  Canon provided one of its reps, John Bell, for the weekend.  John brought every body and lens you could ever want for the trip.  It sounded pretty good to me so I signed up.

It was a great trip.  However, based on a quick trip through the photos I shot, I like this photo of the Sierras with the rabbit brush foreground more than the many yellow-leaved aspens I photographed.

Brown Bear

Bad, Bad Leroy Brown (Bear); Lake Clark National Park

Photo of large male brown bear.
“The Other Boars just Call Him Sir!”

When I look at this boar I think of Jim Croce’s great song, “Bad, Bad Leroy Brown.”  This guy was the biggest male brown bear I saw in my week at Silver Salmon Creek.  Note the size of his shoulders and chest compared to the boar that was following the sow and cub in my last post.  He has an old scar above his right eye.