Peeking Sparrow, Point Reyes National Seashore

A white-crowned sparrow peeks over the branches of a coyote bush along the Abbott's Lagoon Trail in Point Reyes National Seashore last June. This shot is from a terrific early summer day spent in the park. There was a late-season rain system moving through the area that would bring rain later that day, so the sky was filled with gorgeous purple clouds and nice diffuse light.

View more photographs of sparrows in my Song Birds Gallery.

Pronghorn in the grass, Yellowstone National Park

Pronghorn were really one of the highlights of my trip to Yellowstone National Park. As I've mentioned previously on this blog, I've been fascinated by pronghorn since I was a child, and it was really a dream come true to have had the opportunity to photograph them at close range nearly every day during our week-long stay in Yellowstone. We found this handsome buck strolling through the tall grasses along the northern edge of the park near Gardiner, Montana. He was the largest of three males traveling together in a small group, and we watched them browse for a meal until the sun had on our last evening in the park (just before I took the moonrise image I posted a few days ago).

Browse more photographs of pronghorn in my Pronghorn Gallery.

Dunlin Devours Prey, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge

A dunlin in winter plumage pulls a clam from the sand at low tide and swallows it whole. This image is from a nice trip I took to the Parker River National Wildlife Refuge on Plum Island last month. I was there for the sunset, and watched a good-sized flock of sanderlings, dunlin, and plovers feeding during the very low tide. For my shots that evening, I picked a spot in the sand near where the flock was feeding, and in front of the general direction they were headed. I put the sun to my back, placed my tripod flat on the ground, made myself look as small as possible, and started to wait. Soon enough the entire flock had circled around me, and I was able to watch them feed up close. A few dunlin eventually came so close that I couldn't even keep focus on them (and my lens has an 8.5' MFD!). I always enjoy these intimate encounters with shorebirds, and it makes the drive home with wet clothes all the more worth it.



View more of my photos of dunlin.

This post submitted to World Bird Wednesday -- follow the link to check out this weeks posts!

A Full Moon Rises in Yellowstone National Park

A full moon rises over the foothills in northern Yellowstone National Park on our last evening in the park during our September trip. Prior to taking this shot we had been watching a small group of male pronghorn feeding in the fading daylight on the gravel road through the plains near Gardiner. After the sun had dropped below the horizon in the west, we began our trip out of the park for the night, and were greeted by the rising full moon while the rest of the landscape was still in the pastel colors of twilight.

View more of my landscape photography in my Landscapes Galleries.

Young bull tule elk, Point Reyes National Seashore

I finally started going through the images from my final trip to Point Reyes National Seashore before moving to Massachusetts. On many occasions I had glanced at the folder in Lightroom, but couldn't bring myself to seriously go through my last set of new images from my favorite place in the world until yesterday. My wife accompanied me for my last trip to Point Reyes two days before we left California, and we decided to start with a hike along the Tomales Point Trail with the hope of photographing some rutting tule elk. As you can see, the day greeted us with the characteristic fog of Point Reyes, and really, no weather could have been more appropriate! That park taught me to love the fog, and especially the quiet solitude that it brings, and I spent so many mornings walking this trail hoping that the fog would lift just enough for photographs.

This was my favorite shot from the day, since there is a fair amount of emotion to the pose of the bull elk -- much like we were at the time, he was sensing the wind and deciding which direction to go (of course, his decision was based simply on the availability of female elk). Otherwise, I didn't get too many images that I was very happy with from this trip. We spent a fair amount of time watching a large bull guard his harem, and were able to listen to him bugle at many rival males in the area, but the images lacked the clarity that I favor due to the amount of moisture in the air. No regrets though -- Point Reyes gave me more than my fair share of favorite photographs over the years, it was wonderful to spend one last morning in the park with my wife. Even though I'm not sure when I'll make it back, I am already looking forward to greeting the sunrise (or a thick layer of fog) the next time I'm able to be in Point Reyes!

The tule elk in Point Reyes National Seashore are fantastic photographic subjects and you can view more in my Tule Elk Gallery.