Tag Archives: coyote

Coyote Comes To The Lake

I went to Juanita Bay in Kirkland on a sunny Saturday afternoon to have an experiment with the R3.  I wanted to try shooting something different and the bay is always a good spot for some wildlife activity.  I was standing on one of the boardwalks, chatting to a couple of photographers that had a similar idea.  We had just been discussing a bobcat one of them had seen in the area near us when I looked across and saw some movement in exactly that area.

It wasn’t a bobcat which was a shame.  However, it was a coyote.  It walked over in our direction, heading for a carcass of a fish that had apparently been there for a few days.  It stopped briefly and then turned around and headed back into the bushes.  I managed to get a few shots of it before it was out of a clear line of sight.

Tuolumne Meadow Widlife

wpid11264-C59F7557.jpgAs we were driving back past Tuolumne Meadows on the return journey through the Tioga Pass, Nancy saw something moving out in the grass. Fortunately we were very close to a pull off so we hopped out. She grabbed the binoculars and I grabbed the camera. It was a coyote strolling around on the hunt for a snack. He was heading roughly towards us which looked promising. Sadly, a family next to us decided to try their best wolf howls since they seemed to think that this would in some way help the situation.
wpid11266-C59F7567.jpgThe coyote clearly decided that a better idea was to head off in the other direction and I shared his assessment. However, before we moved on, I took a quick scan across the meadow and saw a small herd of deer. At this time of year, it doesn’t take much to work out who the males are!

Coyote Runway Standoff

wpid10728-C59F1851.jpgSonoma Valley airport (Schellville) is surrounded by fields and there is wildlife in those fields. I saw a coyote come wandering out of the field and head for the runway. An aircraft had just landed and was taxiing in at the same time. The two of them met on the runway although with more separation than the photograph suggests. I was particularly impressed by the way the coyote seemed totally unfazed by the whole thing. It stared at the plane for a while and showed no interest in getting out of the way. However, it obviously had other things it wanted to do and eventually turned and trotted off. I’ve no idea what the occupants of the plane made of the whole thing!

wpid10730-C59F1857.jpg

Coyote

wpid9944-AU0E5316.jpgA drive along the Marin headlands was about to come to an end when we spotted something unexpected. I was about to turn off on the road back towards to freeway when we saw a coyote strolling along the side of the road. A quick reverse and turn onto the other piece of road and we followed him. Interestingly, he seemed totally uninterested in us. We followed him along the road and he went where he felt and did not seem to care about the car following him. Eventually, he hopped off the road and on to the grass. This gave me an opportunity to get alongside him and get some shots that weren’t through the windshield.

wpid9940-AU0E5297.jpgWe watched him for a while and a few cars came up behind us. At first, you could see that they wondered why we were stopped until they saw the coyote at which point they, too, stopped what they were doing and watched him. We stayed for a short while and then decided to leave the guy in peace. I suspect that didn’t really work out since it only gave the people behind us an opportunity to pull up closer. I guess we did them a favor instead.

wpid9938-AU0E5292.jpg wpid9942-AU0E5311.jpg