The Brown Pelicans were in big numbers on my island trip. This one happens to be flying along with our boat - how cool izhat?! It's also sporting some breeding colors.
Just a note - someone forgot to reset her cameras to standard time. This was on that late afternoon return trip to the mainland.
Tags: Pelecanus occidentalis brown pelican pelican
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I finally made a day trip to our Channel Islands National Park, a series of islands off the Southern California coast. I've wanted to go forever even though I only live a couple of hours away from the coastal access. So ... bucket list check.
From the web: The Channel Islands National Park is sometimes referred to as the "Galapagos of the North" because it is one of the richest marine biosphere reserves on the planet, offering refuge to a menagerie of rare and unusual species found nowhere else. The park is situated in the Pacific Ocean, just off the Ventura Coast, and is comprised of five islands – Anacapa, Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, San Miguel and Santa Rosa – and the waters within one nautical mile of each island.
I only spent a few hours but I did get a couple of my target species, so it was a great getaway from reality, no cell phones, no internet. The day was actually very calm and still although high winds were forecast the day following. So this is sundown on a quiet day, Santa Cruz Island in the background and a couple of drilling rigs. The specks on the horizon are birds, actually. Lots of pelicans and gulls. Dumb camera settings, I'd been trying for diving pelicans.
Tags: Channel Islands Pacific Pacific Ocean drilling rig island sea sundown
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Point Reyes National Seashore - After a nice long almost unproductive hike, I was headed back to my room. Sun was way gone. I spotted this guy at the side of the road and he gave me a few shots.
Tags: Point Reyes National Seashore Raccoon wildlife
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Gulls are so difficult to ID. Even my birdie ID group had some trouble with this one but the consensus for the adults seemed to be Western and Glaucous-winged. I was actually after the deep reddish background of the cliffs.
Tags: Glaucous-winged Gull Larus glaucescens Larus occidentalis Pacific Pacific Ocean Point Reyes National Seashore Western Gull bird gull wildlife
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Here's another one of those bulls, still in the fog, but closer. He was traveling with 3 buddies, and they were definitely headed somewhere with purpose.
Tags: Point Reyes National Seashore Tule Elk bull elk elk endemic wildlife
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