Olympic marmot

We spent our holiday weekend on the Olympic peninsula in Washington State, and had an awesome trip filled with great views and interesting wildlife! One of the highlights off of my rather lengthy wish-list for this too short trip was to see the Olympic marmot, which is an endemic species to the peninsula. We found this wonderful specimen sunning itself along the trail in Olympic National Park, near the Obstruction Point area.



To give a little perspective on the views these guys enjoy, here's a frame with some of the Olympic range in the backdrop.



Here's a slightly different take on this pose as well, with the nearer hillside in the backdrop instead. I'm not quite sure which I like better, but I think I'm more drawn to the colors in the top frame.

This one looks tasty

A bull tule elk in Point Reyes National Seashore checking out what looks to be a delicious branch of lupine.

Separated from chaos

Harbor seals resting on offshore rocks, well away from the crashing waves behind them. Taken at MacKerricher State Park, near Fort Bragg, CA.

Show me your best side -- California Quail edition

Three different compositions of the same bird in this post, a male California quail along the trail in Tennessee Valley. This is the same bird that I posted a vertical composition of previously, who quite generously gave me a few minutes on top of his bush before realizing that only a lousy photographer was paying attention to him, and he probably should pick a different bush to woo the ladies from.

This frame is perhaps "Quail Classic" with nice posture and that standing tall kind of attitude, surely a stunning find for a female.

But this shot I think is my favorite of the bunch -- a quail with attitude! You can almost see him giving me a Z-snap and making a snarky comeback.

And lastly perhaps his right side is his better side, which he kindly gave to me while working the camera as well.

On a more serious note, a Flickr member commented on my previous post of this guy about how was I able to get such clean bokeh while shooting at only f/8. The secret to this shot is that this is on a portion of the trail that cuts along an elevated portion of the hillside in Tennessee Valley. The background is actually a separate hillside across the valley, which is probably a few hundred yards off.

Browsing tule elk in Point Reyes National Seashore

A male Tule elk along Tomales Point Trail in Point Reyes National Seashore browsing for a snack. This is one of the same bulls that started to fight as we watched them a bit later in the day.