I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of quail.
California Quail striking a dramatic pose on a fence at Point Reyes.
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Sleepy Badger
This badger may look fearsome, but it’s just yawning as it wakes up for a late evening hunt.
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Wilson’s Warbler at Oakwood Meadow Trail
Wilson’s Warbler at Oakwood Meadow Trail. Honestly just getting these guys in focus feels like an accomplishment.
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Scenic Quail at Point Reyes
I’ve been working on a project to showcase California Quail in scenic vistas. I’m convinced there’s no landscape that can’t be improved by a quail standing proud. So far, this is my best result yet.
I saw the quail on a post on the side of the road in Point Reyes. I pulled off on the other side of the road and composed this shot from my car. Then I crossed the road and started working toward and to the right of the quail to be able to put it lower in the frame with the higher hills off to the left filling up the top. Just as I was getting in position, a car pulled up and parked right next to the quail, which promptly hopped off the fence. Just another reminder to get the shot, and then start working the scene.
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Blue Hour Whimbrel at Ocean Beach
There’s no better time than blue hour to photograph birds at busy urban beaches. You get an amazing variety of colors in the span of 20-30 minutes, and the number of dogs finally gets to a manageable level.
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Double Badger Surprise
I saw a badger at Point Reyes on my very first visit. I was wandering along, glanced over into the next field, thought “huh, that’s a weird rock”, looked through my viewfinder, and realized I was looking at a badger. I didn’t pay it too much mind, and kept working on photographing quail or something. I didn’t see another badger for 10 months.
I finally broke my badger drought last month when I saw two different badgers on the same day. And then again last week, I managed two badgers in the same badger hole! The one on the left is a nearly fully grown cub.
As far as I can tell there’s no real shortcut to finding badgers. I’ve seen advice like look for fresh diggings (darker dirt), but my most recent sightings have all been in fairly old holes. The main thing is spending lots of time in the field, taking a close look at all the dirt mounts, and hoping your paths happen to cross.
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Scouting Oakwood Valley Trail
I tried out Outwood Valley Trail in the Marin Headlands this weekend. The trail is at the bottom of a gulley, looping around both banks of a stream. Going clockwise from the trailhead, the trail goes uphill as Oakwood Valley Trail and then back downhill as Oakwood Meadow Trail. eBird just lists the whole loop as Oakwood Valley.
My main targets were Bewick’s Wren and Wilson’s Warbler. I saw both, but the photographic opportunities weren’t great.
I saw Bewick’s Wrens on the way up Oakwood Valley Trail. They spent most of their time in the understory on the slope above the trail, so the only shots I had were pointing almost straight up. There weren’t any obvious places for them to perch that I could use to get a good composition.
I found the Wilson’s Warblers on the way back down Oakwood Meadow Trail. Their territory was near a small clearing, so they would flit between dense understory and more open branches. Unfortunately, their favorite perches in the open section were a little far away.
I spent about 30 minutes there and didn’t come away with anything fantastic. It’s possible with more time one of them would have landed on just the right perch. On this particular visit, everything I got was pretty branchy.
These are some of the best images I was able to get (and even they were assisted by branch removal in Photoshop).
One of the warblers had something weird going on near its beak. Wilson’s Warblers of course are well known for their jaunty black caps, but this one’s cap extended all the way to the beak. There’s something weird going on with the feathers above and below the beak. I’m not sure if this warbler is somehow disfigured, or molting, or something else. There’s always something more to learn on every outing.
It felt like the warblers had their territory right near the foot path, so this might be a fairly reliable location for them. It’s just a tough spot to photograph in, what with the dense understory and steep slope up from the path.
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Otter Sand Bath
Otter taking a sand bath in Point Reyes. Photographing these fellows is tough. The minute they come out of the water, they take a nice sand bath… or it would be a nice sand bath, if they didn’t also use the bank as a latrine 🤦‍♂️.
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Tule Elk With Unshed Antlers
This was meant to be a fun photo of a tule elk poking its head above the grass. But, notice anything unusual?
I took this photo Memorial Day weekend, and the elk still has what looks like last year’s antlers. The rest of the bulls were already starting to grow new antlers in March, and they’re now sporting large racks of velvet antlers that will harden in late summer. This bull still has hardened and very worn-looking antlers, which must be a year old.
I couldn’t find any references to this happening with other elk, but there was at least one known case of a deer that didn’t shed. Biologists’ best guess was that it had some kind of endocrine disorder that caused high testosterone year-round. Normally testosterone levels drop in the winter and that prompts the antlers to shed.
