Category Archives: wildlife

Rodent Miner

Sometimes I find myself wondering what is happening in the minds of little creatures. I was out shooting when I looked to my left and saw some earth move. It was probably only a couple of meters away from where I was standing so I looked to see if it would happen again. Sure enough, some more earth came flying out of the ground. Shortly afterwards, a little head popped out. It looked at me for a moment and then went back underground. This repeated several times. I would move the camera in its direction and it would instantly dive underground. However, since I knew where to look, I just kept the camera pointed in that direction and, when it came up again, because I didn’t move, it didn’t seem bothered. I have no idea whether it didn’t see me without moving or whether it didn’t perceive me as a threat and so carried on.

Flocking Birds Over the Bay

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San Francisco Bay is hugely popular with birds. One place that they like a lot is the area near to the airport. Birds and planes do not normally mix well but, despite the large numbers of each, they seem to coexist here okay. As the tide goes out, the mudflats that are exposed are a great feeding ground for the birds. They cover all sizes too.

At the top end of the size range are the pelicans. They like to feed in the shallows when the fish are relatively easy pickings. They do stay away from the runways so don’t seem to be a problem (although a pelican would certainly not be a good thing for an airliner). The smaller birds are less of a threat individually but they tend to flock in huge numbers.

I saw a bunch of them flying not too far from the 01 runways. Again, they stay over the mudflats so don’t present a problem. In the opposite direction, there were some rather large flocks circling over the water. While not as large as murmurations of starlings, they were some pretty big groups. They also would move in a similar way with the whole thing looking very fluid from a distance.

Orcas Close But Still Elusive

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We have had some good opportunities recently to see orcas up close. That didn’t stop us looking for them while we were on San Juan Island. The west side of the island has regular whale activity of a few species. When we showed up at the good spots, we met people telling us what had been passing by earlier. We even just missed a humpback (or gray depending on who you talked to) that had come into Friday Harbor. We did get a bit luckier when we got to San Juan State Park.

A bunch of orcas were off the coast a bit north of the area we visited. They seemed to be hanging around in one area so may have been feeding. There are two distinct groups of orcas in the area. The resident group feed on salmon while the transient group like mammals such as seals. This was the resident group apparently. Eventually they headed north away from us but, in the mean time, another part of the group came into view from the south. They transited north although sadly a bit far out for a good view.

Dogs Driving Cars

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Okay, I will freely admit that this is not going to be the most informative post. We were walking through Port Townsend and a car came by. Nothing unusual in that. However, out of the sunroof was a dog wearing goggles, presumably to protect the eyes from dust and debris while on the road. This is not the sort of thing I normally see so I thought I would share.

Hurricane Ridge Deer

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Planning our time in the Olympics meant checking the weather forecast. We wanted to go up to Hurricane Ridge but doing so on a day that was forecast for rain was not going to be very good idea. However, one of our days was showing clear skies so we headed up the mountains. The forecast was not wrong. The weather was great and there were plenty of nice overlooks to check out on the way up. Once we got to the top, I was turning in to park when I saw some people stopped ahead of me. Turns out that there are a bunch of deer that hang around up on the ridge and they don’t seem in the least bit bothered by the presence of people. One was looking to come through the parking space I was planning on using. I waited until it decided it was ready to move and then we parked the car. It headed off to join its family.

Ah, So That Is What You Look Like When Not Squashed on the Highway

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Walking along the shore in Hayward with Nancy, I saw a tail moving in the brush. It was black and white and look awfully like a skunk. Despite the fact we had been chatting as we walked up, we didn’t seem to have spooked it. We stopped and waited to see it come out. Sure enough, it walked on to the trail. However, the sound of the shutter as I took some shots made it jump and it turned right around and ran back into the brush. Nancy commented that it was the first time she had seen a skunk moving around. All of the others she has seen were on the highway. It was definitely a first for me too.

Lots of Little Birds Hang Out Together

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The marshes are usually good places for bird watching. As I was walking along the shore in Hayward, I passed a few people that were there to watch the birds. Some serious spotting scopes on tripods were a clear indication that these people meant business. Whenever they were set up somewhere, I figured I should take a look in case it was something unusual. Of course, finding out if it is something special does require you to have a clue about birds. I don’t so I didn’t know what I was looking at.

Despite that, I could still see that there were lots of birds. Many of them were hanging out on the mud flats that were just above the water level. I don’t know much about bird behavior either so whether this is a good place to feed or just somewhere to wait for the good feeding times is anyone’s guess. I just liked to see how many of them were together. Maybe there is safety in numbers for them – particularly the ones that are pretty tiny. I imagine they could be vulnerable to predators if they were on their own.

Swallows are Tricky Little Things

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Plenty of birds have made their way onto the blog over the years. One species that is not a regular feature, though, is the swallow. They have shown up once or twice but the lack of appearances is because they are bloody difficult to photograph when in flight. They are phenomenal flyers. The speed and maneuverability is just amazing but that does make them a touch more difficult to photograph. Also, they are tiny so you need a long lens to get a reasonable shot. That makes tracking them as the zip around even harder.

Along the shoreline in Hayward, there are some channels of water that can be very busy with swallows. I guess the bug population is good so they are able to feed comfortably. They make runs up and down the channel catching anything they can. The repetitive flightpaths make you think it will be easier to get a shot. It is easier – however, easier than impossible is not easy! I did waster some time trying though. I relied on the autofocus a little to see if it would let me take a shot if there was something focused. I did end up getting a few images. None of them are as clear and sharp as I would like but, after the time and number of shots involved, I was actually rather pleased to have ended up with what I had.

Biggest Tern I’ve Ever Seen

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Terns are a pretty regular sight when hanging out by the sea. They are prodigious fishers with a seemingly unending appetite. They drift across the water looking down for the next snack. Then they spot something and tuck back the wings as they hit the water hard. I am amazed how often they will dive. They either miss a lot or they can fly when very full. Normally, they don’t appear to be the biggest birds around. While I was out with Roger at Linda Mar, a tern was flying round just below us. This was by far the largest tern I have seen. It was a really big bird. I am not a bird expert so this may not be unusual but we both commented on it. A photo won’t give much impression of size sadly. However, I assure you this thing was big. Maybe he has been eating extra portions of fish!

Little Lizard – Glad I Didn’t Stand on You

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You do need to watch where you are walking. I was heading along a trail at Hayward Regional Park when I saw something move out of the corner of me eye. Turns out it was a tiny little lizard. Despite having nearly been squashed by me, he didn’t seem too perplexed. I decided to get done on his level for some shots when he didn’t run away. He still hung around. I guess he liked having his photo taken. I decided to leave him alone and continue with my walk.