Mule deer at Elk Praire

On our trip up to Redwood National and State Parks along the northern California coast, we saw quite a few Roosevelt elk (pictures to come, once they're sorted) but none in the places advertised as often having the elk. However, in the Elk Prairie of Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park we did see a trio of mule deer during our second day of looking for elk there.



The prairie itself was beautiful, a large expanse of tall dry grass with redwoods lining the edges. While I only have a few shots of these deer there, a return trip during the fall elk rut is definitely high on my list -- since I think it would be awesome to witness in this area.

Happy Easter!

A wish for a Happy Easter for all of you who celebrate this joyous holiday! May you enjoy the time spent with family and friends!

This is a beautiful Douglas iris growing wild near Limantour Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore. During our trip there a few weekends ago, the fields were just covered in these awesome blooms.


I also want to send a heartfelt thanks to all of you who voted for my image in the 2010 Defenders of Wildlife contest! Thanks so much!

Singing loud and clear

I've always hoped to get some shots of songbirds singing, and this sparrow at Limantour Beach in Point Reyes was most happy to oblige.



It sang and sang while I slowly rotated around its branch to try a few different angles, getting some of the sandstone cliffs and some of the sky as the backdrop.



Finishing up its last note:





I also wanted to remind everyone the 2010 Defenders of Wildlife Photo Contest voting period runs until Sunday, April 4 at 5pm Eastern. If you haven't already, I would like to encourage you to go to their site to vote for my image of Tomales Bay State Park, which was selected as a finalist. You can learn more about the contest and see my image in my previous post. Thanks!

I need your votes – finalist in the Defenders of Wildlife photo contest

I'm honored to have one of my images selected as a finalist in the 2010 Defenders of Wildlife photo contest. There were over 10,000 entries, and the judges have narrowed it down to just 10 images split into two categories. My image, taken in Tomales Bay State Park, was selected as a finalist in the "Wild Lands" category, and the prize winners will be determined based on your votes. The grand prize winner will be going on a week-long photo tour of Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks with expert wildlife photographer Jess Lee, who just had an image on the cover of National Geographic in March. The top 3 landscape images and top 3 wildlife images will also receive prizes, and be published in the summer edition of Defenders magazine.

Please feel free to forward this page to any of your friends, relatives, or coworkers that might be interested in voting! You can even use the "Email Post" button at the bottom of this page to do so.

Thanks for stopping by my blog, and especially for your votes in this contest!

Cheers,
Pat.

PS -- If you would like to follow my work, click on the "Subscribe to Posts" button in the upper right corner to put my feed in your reader!

Quick Post -- Western Burrowing Owl

From a February walk in Cesar Chavez Park at the Berkeley Marina.



This bird seemed particularly nervous about overhead predators, glancing skyward every few minutes.