Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore
Coyote Crossing Ranch Pasture
Here’s a coyote crossing a ranch pasture in Point Reyes National Seashore. I took one out-of-the-ordinary step in my workflow. What did I do?
Tag: coyote
Some of My Favorite Images from 2018
Back in late 2007 a photographer by the name of Jim Goldstein invited other photographers to do blogs showing their 10 best photographs of that year and to send him a link to their blogs which he would then add to a list of the blogs of all who were participating. It was a great service to all who appreciated good photography. It gave me a handy list of photographers (mostly nature photographers) so I could easily look at what they were doing and how my work compared to theirs. I participated a couple of times, but somehow forgot about it. I saw a notice about it recently and decided to participate again.
2018 for me was highlighted by a trip to Tanzania hosted by the African Wildlife Foundation (Craig Sholley) and Nature’s Best Photography (Jeff Vanuga). They hired Thomson Safaris to deliver all the necessary services such as camps, food, drivers etc. All three were superb. I also made my regular trips to Point Reyes National Seashore, which is a short drive from my home.
Jim Goldstein used to ask that you list your 10 “best” photos. The limit of 10 was not strictly followed by most and Jim seems to have de-emphasized it nowadays. Picking what you think are your “best” photos is not easy. So, below is a list of “some” of my “favorite” photos of 2018 in no particular order.
Finally, Jim’s list of links won’t be out until about the second week in January and when it comes out I’ll insert a link here. here it is: https://www.jmg-galleries.com/blog/2019/01/08/photos-2018-jmggalleries-blog-readers/
For now, you can go to his blog touting the 2018 round and linking to all the previous rounds all the way back to 2007 by clicking here. Thanks Jim!
Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore
Leopard, Serengeti National Park
Bobcat with Damaged Eye, Point Reyes National Seashore
Wildebeest Crossing Mara River, Serengeti National Park
Two Cheetahs Rest, Serengeti National Park
Mother Elephants and Calves, Serengeti National Park, Tanzania
Bobcat, Point Reyes National Seashore
Bobcat, Point Reyes National Seashore
Male African Lion, Serengeti National Park
Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore
Elephants, Tarangire National Park
Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore
Male Lion, Serengeti National Park
Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore
Badger, Point Reyes National Seashore
Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore
Coyote, Point Reyes National Seashore
A coyote moves through a silage field on a dairy farm in Point Reyes National Seashore.
The Park Service allows silage growing on national park lands at Point Reyes. Not only that, but the Park Service allows beef ranchers and dairy farmers to live on the park lands year round, with their cattle, at discounted rents.
Silage mowing is a bit like hay mowing, except while hay is mowed when dry in the summer, silage is mowed when green in the spring. That’s when ground-nesting and near-ground nesting birds such as northern harriers, mallards, and various sparrow species are nesting in the silage fields. Mowing kills the nestlings and some adults. Ravens have learned to follow the mowers. They get all the injured and dead birds and rodents they can eat.
Neither the Park Service nor the dairies/ranches seem to care about the carnage even though killing the birds would appear to violate the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
A Coyote “Mousing” at Point Reyes National Seashore
I never get bored watching wildlife. One f the things I always enjoy is seeing a coyote perform the “mousing” leap to try to catch a rodent. Here are some photos I took in June of a coyote at Point Reyes doing that.
A coyote spots a rodent.
The coyote begins its jump.
It hits the apex of its jump.
Descending snout first.
Did the coyote get its rodent?
No, it missed. However, in my experience coyotes are more successful at catching rodents than bobcats. I’ve wondered why and whether it’s because they grab rodents with their pointed snouts which fit in rodent holes nicely. Bobcats have flatter faces and have to use their paws which may not fit in the small rodent burrows as well. I don’t know for sure, it’s just a guess.
Blacktail Deer, Point Reyes
Blacktail Buck at Sundown
I was out at Point Reyes recently. Thistle and other vegetation that I’ll call “weeds” are growing tall, making it harder to spot bobcats. I only saw one and he wasn’t having any of me. I shot some video of a coyote who was in a field that had just been mowed to get rid of thistle and other weeds (not silage mowing), but the midday sun was harsh. As the day was nearing its end I decided to go to the elk enclosure at Pierce Point. I was there a bit photographing cow elk and yearlings in nice light. After a while the light was fading and I decided to head home. Shortly after leaving the elk enclosure I saw this blacktail buck. He was bleeding a bit on the upper inside of his left foreleg. I don’t know what that was from.
The sun was disappearing fast when I took this photo and I had to shoot at a much higher ISO than I like, but when I have a nice subject I just keep shooting and worry about the noise in the image later.
Blacktail Doe and Fawns, Point Reyes National Seashore
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.”
Song Dogs; Point Reyes National Seashore
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.
