Showing posts with label Marin County. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Marin County. Show all posts

Monday, April 25, 2011

Peaceful peep, Point Reyes National Seashore

Sanderling in Point Reyes National Seashore - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

A sanderling rests in the wet sand between the rocks of Drake's Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore. I always love to see shorebirds roosting like this, with their bill tucked away. It's such a pleasing shape to my eye.

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View more images of these adorable shorebirds in my Sandpipers Gallery.

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter 2011!

Happy Easter!

A wild Douglas iris bathed in warm sunrise light from the Chimney Rock area in Point Reyes National Seashore last spring to celebrate Easter! Best wishes to you and yours on this joyous holiday!

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More wildflower images in my Flowers & Plants Gallery

Friday, April 22, 2011

Happy Earth Day!

Sunrise in Point Reyes National Seashore

Happy Earth Day! I hope you all get a chance to experience the beauty of our planet today, and remember how important it is to take good care if it. Here's a colorful sunrise from January to commemorate this special day. It's taken from Limantour Road in Point Reyes National Seashore, looking towards the sandstone cliffs of Drake's Beach.

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View more coastal landscapes in my Point Reyes National Seashore Landscapes gallery.

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Tule elk in lupine, Point Reyes National Seashore

Tule elk in lupine - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Continuing the thread of my wishful thoughts of summer, here's another dive into an untouched folder from last May. This was one of one my favorite outings of the summer, and it occurred early in the season. Point Reyes was awash in wildflowers and the elk and birds seemed to be enjoying it as much as I was.

Tule elk - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

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Browse more images of Point Reyes tule elk in my Tomales Point gallery.

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Semipalmated plover, Point Reyes National Seashore

Plover at rest - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

When I have a cooperative subject, I try to remember to turn the camera vertical to get some variation into my images for the day. While shorebirds like sandpipers and plovers aren't always the best shape for taking advantage of a vertical frame due to their low height and stocky stature, it's still worth taking a look. In this situation, the apparent shallow dof I could get by using the sand in the foreground and the long distance to the dunes in the background helped to make an isolated environment for the plover, and it worked much better in the vertical for this purpose.

Semipalmated plover - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

While I enjoy a good photograph of a bird tucked into its feathers, sometimes they can lack a little something when an eye isn't clearly visible. The shot above is from just after it pulled out of its resting position to take a look around, and the frame below is from a bit earlier while I was watching this group of birds. The sun was bouncing behind clouds, giving a good mix of diffuse overcast light with a touch of sunshine every now and then too.

Pair of plovers - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

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See more of the semiplamated plovers and other species in my Plovers Gallery.

Monday, March 28, 2011

Little snowy plover, Point Reyes National Seashore

Western snowy plover in Point Reyes - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Just a quick post of this cute little snowy plover sitting in the sands of Limantour Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore. This shot is from an awesome hike I took along the beach last November, when I was able to spend time with a group of western snowy plovers, a different group of semipalmated plovers, and huge flocks of mixed sandpipers.

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Tule elk, Point Reyes National Seashore

Female tule elk in Point Reyes National Seashore - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

A tule elk cow standing on the hillsides of Tomales Point in Point Reyes National Seashore. She was part of a very large herd that surrounded my car after I pulled off the road in February. I liked the setting with that lone cypress tree in the background, and was hoping to include in a picture. I picked a spot and waited for an elk to approach for the shot I had in mind -- she didn't quite line up where I wanted, but since I was in the car, I made do with the angle I had.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

American kestrel, Point Reyes National Seashore

Here are three more shots from my wonderful encounter with this lovely kestrel in Point Reyes National Seashore last month. I posted some others a few weeks ago with the overcast sky as the backdrop, but since this particular female was so cooperative, I was able to get some shots with a more colorful setting too.

Friendly kestrel in Point Reyes - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Here's a similar pose, but with her tail feathers showing.

Kestrel in Point Reyes with tail showing - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

I'm not sure what caught her eye for this one, but it makes for an interesting pose, especially with the catchlight in her eye.

Sideways glance from female kestrel - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Sunday, February 27, 2011

Frosty sparrow, Tennessee Valley

With the extra cold weather this weekend in the Bay Area, I figured I'd take a walk in Tennessee Valley with the hope of seeing some wildlife in the frosted meadows. Unfortunately, nothing was stirring in the early morning light except for some sparrows along the trail.

Frosty sparrow

Perhaps it was singing about how cold its feet were!

Singing about the cold

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Bobcat among the branches, Tennessee Valley

Bobcat in stride, Tennessee Valley - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

When this bobcat decided to go off trail for a bit, it made the photography a little more challenging, since it was wandering through an area with a lot of dead vegetation. But I stayed patient and waiting for the moments that its head was in a clearing to try to get an unobstructed view of its eyes. It's amazing how much of the clutter in an image your mind will ignore if you can get contact with a clean set of eyes.

Lynx rufus among the branches - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

It was cruising along when it heard something in the undergrowth. It just happened to stop right in a clear line of sight for me, and even gave me a glance before continuing its walk.

Focused bobcat - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Friday, February 25, 2011

Great horned owl in Tennessee Valley

We spotted this great horned owl sitting along the trail watching the hikers go by near the lagoon in Tennessee Valley. It really blended in quite well with the rocks, so it's easy to see why it selected what could otherwise have been a conspicuous perch.

Great horned owl in Tennessee Valley - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Great horned owls seem to be pretty common in the park, and I guess that's no surprise since there are plenty of rodents in the meadows. It's a lot of fun if you plan to be walking the trail around sunset, since they really start to make a racket in both the eucalyptus trees and the willows. We even saw a pair mating as we were walking out that evening! We heard two hoots coming right after another from the same location, and as we searched for the source, it was pretty easy to find once the feathers started fluttering!

Great horned owl - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

We watched this one for a while, and pointed it out to many hikers who were curious about what my big lens was pointed at. I was happy also to get some frames of it preening. My wife laughed and said that most people would be more excited to get it with its head showing, but I like to capture their everyday behaviour as well.

Owl preening - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Thursday, February 24, 2011

Bobcat in the bushes, Tennessee Valley

Three shots from our weekend encounter with this lovely bobcat in Tennessee Valley. After finishing its meal and strolling down the trail for a bit, the bobcat decided to take a break in the bushes just off of the trail. There were a lot of branches around, but thankfully it picked a spot where I could shoot over the coyote brush to get an unobstructed view of its face.

Wild cat eye contact

They are such beautiful animals, and they seem to carry themselves as if they know it. This one looked quite regal, even with its eyes closed.

Bobcat at rest - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

The cat was eventually brought out of its restful trance by a small white dog following its master down the trail. The shot below is of it eyeing up the dog as it passed -- we were able to watch it turn its head to follow the progress of the fluffy canine. I'm not even sure that the owner knew there was a cat in the bushes, but you could tell that the cat was contemplating if it was worth taking a run at it.

Bobcat stare - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Western snowy plover, Point Reyes National Seashore

Snowy plovers are one of my favorite subjects to photograph, and Limantour Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore is a great place to find them. I took this series of images under a heavily overcast sky, but by dialing in some extra exposure, it almost looks like they were in a snowy landscape.

Western snowy plover, Point Reyes National Seashore - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

I like the attitude this bird is showing in this shot, with that foot raised while its calling out. I also thought that the straight on view is an interesting way to see them.

Calling snowy plover, Point Reyes National Seashore - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

The next two shots unfortunately didn't come out sharp, but I thought the captured behavior was interesting enough to share. In this shot it's preparing for a strike at an unseen prey item.

Looking for a snack, Point Reyes - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

And in this frame, it lunged through my plane of focus (you can see the tail feathers are sharp) to catch a small critter for lunch.

Snowy plover with prey, Point Reyes - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Female American Kestrel, Point Reyes National Seashore

Female American Kestrel - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

I had an amazing trip to Point Reyes National Seashore on Saturday. When I went to sleep the night before, the forecast was calling for 30% chance of rain, but by the time I woke up at 5:25 am, it had been increased to 50%. I was too excited about actually getting out in the morning to be deterred, but I quickly thought it might have been a mistake as it started pouring just as I was driving into the park. Thankfully though, the worst of the rain lasted for only the first hour after sunrise, and a nice overcast sky was left behind for the rest of the morning.

American Kestrel in Point Reyes National Seashore - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

While I didn't really see any wildlife while it was raining, I saw a lot of species after it stopped. I guess it was the first time that it was dry for a few days, and the animals were ready to find a meal. I found this lovely female kestrel on a fence post along Pierce Point Road as I was driving back from the Tule Elk Reserve on Tomales Point. I love to see these small and gorgeous birds of prey, but I've never really had a good look at one, since they always fly off long before I get close, and certainly before I can get my lens on one. This particular bird was feeling generous though, and gave me at least 5 good minutes of her time before heading off to a fencepost that was further back in the landscape.

Kestrel showing talons - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

What a treat to get to photograph this lovely bird at such close range! This post has a selection of shots from the perch she took where I had the sky as a backdrop, and I have a few others to put up in another post with a green hillside as the background.

Submitted to the World Bird Wednesday blog meme -- follow the link to check out this week's submissions!

Monday, February 21, 2011

My wife's first bobcat encounter, Tennessee Valley

Bobcat in Tennessee Valley - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

After many hikes in the Bay Area looking for bobcats, my wife finally had her first encounter yesterday! I've been fortunate to see them on a handful of occasions, but only ever on trips that I had taken alone (including a brief view of one in Point Reyes National Seashore on Saturday). My wife has really wanted to see one, and she finally got her chance in Tennessee Valley. We had a fantastic encounter, including watching it finish eating a rodent then take a pounce at another, as well as cleaning itself after the meal and wandering through the brush. A nice first experience for sure! Strangely enough, her first sight of one in the wild came on the 1st anniversary of my first bobcat sighting. Since she was quite excited about seeing this beautiful cat, I let her pick which image I should post first. She thought this one was funny with the cat sticking its tongue out at us :)

Sunday, February 20, 2011

Female tule elk, Point Reyes National Seashore

Tule elk in Point Reyes National Seashore - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Yesterday was one of the best trips to Point Reyes National Seashore I've had in a while. The park never ceases to surprise me, and even though the day started slow with a lot of rain for the first hour after sunrise, I left the park later that afternoon with a ton of images to sort through. One of the highlights of the trip was spending some time in the middle of a very large herd of tule elk up on Tomales Point. I've had great experiences with the elk before, but never in a group this large. Perhaps in the winter some of the smaller herds form together into a larger one. Anyway, this is one of my favorite shots from my first glance though the trip. There's just something about the way this beautiful female is glancing out of the frame that just pulls me in.

Monday, February 14, 2011

Snuggle up to your Sweetheart -- Happy Valentine's Day!

I figured the most appropriate thing to post for today is a pair of pintails. Here's a male and female snuggling up together on the water. Hope you all have a fun Valentine's!

Nothern pintail couple - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

This lucky duck has her choice of suitors, since all the drakes are lining up to impress her!

Pintail hen has choice of drakes - Pat Ulrich Wildlife Photography

Saturday, February 12, 2011

Sunrise over Point Reyes National Seashore

Sunrise on Limantour Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore

Landscapes are certainly not my strength, although I'm making an effort to get better at them. It can be tricky though since I almost always have my wildlife lens (ie, 200-500mm zoom) on the camera to make sure that I'm ready if an interesting animal appears. But even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while, and it was hard to pass up an opportunity to shoot the gorgeous sunrise light falling on the sandstone cliffs of Drake's Beach in Point Reyes National Seashore in early January. This particular sunrise was one of the most amazing I've ever seen, since most of the park had a fog bank hovering above it, except for the area I was in.

Here's a second view, taken a few minutes earlier from the parking lot area (looking in the opposite direction).

Sunrise over fog, Point Reyes National Seashore