San Simeon Elk

http://youtu.be/i1Jl6SbD6Rs

Happy New Year!

Point Reyes Elk

http://youtu.be/v15-rDc-uds

Elk were on top of Hillside beside the Road when I first sighted, and first clip diverted by Coyote thereabout too...that clip for sometime...took a lot of clips, one up towards when Elk came down to the Road and crossed...more of these Point Reyes Elk clips for sometime!...hereabout, cloudybluesunny coldcold...I paddled to work, and paddled afterwards back to the Cabin...report of Bald Eagle in Merced Canyon...

Elk Road

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-YtFS0z6oQ8

Elk weren't at the Prarie Creek Meadow, but further along the Road thereabout, sighted Elk, and was in a no stopping zone I think on Freeway, but 101 goes from many lanes to just two often, so one gets disoriented!...anyway, past Prarie Creek, near a Ranch that advertizes Elk sightings, sighted more Elk that morning on the way from Crescent City to Ft. Bragg...see clip...hereabout greycloudycold, which is what it was yesterday too, I discovered once I stepped outside to go to work!...time of season one wants to hibernate...

Elk Week: Crescent City

http://youtu.be/3lx6T13woFc

The Morning after arriving in Crescent City, I was out and about early with plans for a hike to a Wildlife Refuge just South, (bit pressed for Time, work time arriving, so will fill in this detail later), but got a bit lost, and while going along the Road sighted Elk...What luck!, I thought...vacation plan was to sight Elk at Point Reyes...I saw Elk two more times that Day, and on the way to Point Reyes, and beyond, lemesee, four or more times, and at Point Reyes too, soso, enough pics and clips for Elk Week, which I must say is the antithesis of Shark Week on tv...Elk are a bit, no, a lot like Cows...but very cool, and with Antlers, a must see...so, first post is Elk in Crescent City...hereabout, I haven't been out this Morning, but I think it's sunnyblue like yesterday, and cold...Power went out last Night, then back on about one am, which woke me up, and I tried for post, and ended up playing wow till wee hours...so sleepysleepy...and work busybusy...clip is dulldull, but Elk, with Antlers!

Crescent City

The routine on the vacation was to roll from Town to Town on one Day, and then stay put one Day...and that seems to work...I dont feel rushed to see things...would have liked more Days!...anyway, pics from when I rolled into Crescent City from Klamath Falls...only pics and clips along the way were Merlin pics and clip, posted earlier...after getting Hotel Room, I had time to go out to the Pier, and Lighthouse, the one one can only walk to at Low Tide...Crab fisherman lost his hat, which drifted out to where Pelican was floating, and too far away for pic, and too far away for the fisherman's cast of one of his Crab Nets to catch the Hat...they tie the Nets to the Railing with a heavy Rope...not very deep under Pier...when he tossed the Net, he gave the loose end to his son to hold onto...which of couse didn't happen...I thought the kid would go out with the net!...'I held it too loose, dad!"....Hat floated away, and Net and all went to the Bottom, and all the Pier folk, dad included, smiled a bit....hereabout today rainsnowy...oh, need to add a couple of those pics...brb...Coyote from Monday Morning in El Cap Meadow...Cottonwoods this Morning at Ozone Beach....back in the routine of workadays nowabout!

Hart Park Hawk

Rolled down the hill Yesterday Morning to visit my sister and her kids and grandkids with their friends for Xmas...and my sister and I had time for visit to Hart Park...sighted Hawk, Redtail on the Sycamore's from the Car...pics up...have clip too, but will post with vacation Hawk pics and clips...top pic is with the 50x, and bottom with 70-300mm on the dslr, and that pic is zoom cropped, the top is just trim cropped...cloudy in Bakersfield, rainy on roll back to the Valley, and just  enough rainsnow on the Road past Pohono Bridge, nearing Swinging Bridge, to grab Silver's front tire--I was too close to Shoulder--and strand Silver atop the Plowed Snow Berm....hmmph...tried to dig out with Kayak Oar, like for an hour and a half...Snow Plow came by twice, asking if I needed help and Tow Truck, and second time I caved, and said, ok!,,,, ranger and tow driver arrived, both very kind, and with Cable set Silver free...by then, maybe two inches of Snow on Road, so rolled back to Cabin veryvery slowly...Backyard blocked by Snow Plow Berm, which often gets piled right upside the Cabin, so parked Silver in the Parking Lot...glad to be back, warm and snug, and glad too for a fine day with my sister and family...usually I have a Snowy Xmas Pic for Xmas post, but didn't think to take pic of Silver stuck, myself with Kayak Oar...I leave this to Imaginations, and a late Merry Xmas!...Providence smiled....

Blacktail Deer and Owl

 http://youtu.be/X2P5C26R-2M

I have clips, some posted, of Does hereabout in the Valley gamboling this time of Season, and was charmed to see this on return from Tule Lake...a little further along the Road that evening, I sighted Owl...see clip...and Second Owl too on another Power Pole...when I first arrived at Tule Lake, a bit later than I wanted, slept in, I sighted Otters right at the beginning of the Rollabout Road...Otters submerged and didn't show, and I thought to just camp the spot a long while!...but moved on, and sighted Eagle on, I think, the very same Perch Pole that I first sighted Two Eagles on first visit...Refuge was quiet that Day, but very scenic after the Rain...many Ducks and Waterbirds, but all far out...Great Blue Heron, White Egret, Yellow Rump Warblers, and Hawks...all the Hawk pics of the vacation I'm saving for a post....and on return, when nearing where I saw Otters, I saw Four Otters!...very cool, and I have some more clips for sometime...I thought to spend a big chunk of vacation at Tule, based in Klamath Falls, but will try to go again when Lake has Ice...Town pic is Merrill, closest gas, and I grew up on a Street called Merrill, which was named after a navy admiral...dont know if Town is too!(no, after settler George Merrill)...hereabout is rainysnowyslushycold...so much so there's concern for Trees falling...and this bit from wiki on Admiral Merrill....
quote
Merrill returned to the Mediterranean in late 1919 with the rank of lieutenant commander, to serve on the staff of Rear Admiral Mark Lambert Bristol, the United States High Commissioner to Turkey and Commander of United States Naval Forces in the Eastern Mediterranean. In 1925 he commanded the gunboat Elcano (PG-38) on the Yangtze Patrol.
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hmmph!...maybe one source of my Panay obsession!

Tule Lake Snowgeese Flying

http://youtu.be/w734sz3-mB0

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While I was doing Tundra Swans clip, Snow Geese were flying overhead, and I thought to try for clip...didn't think camera would focus, but it did very well...watched Geese a long while...rainsnow hereabout today...yeseterday, shuttled over to the Village, and on return paddled out to Bobcat Meadow...quiet...while on Chapel Bridge, wondering where Kingfisher might be, Hawk, Redshoulder, Cedar, flew across the Merced to the Alders on the Chapel side...looked down to set up the tripod, and take lens cap off, and...Hawk gone!...hurts a bit when this happens!...followed to where I thought Hawk might of gone, across the Meadow, to the Cottonwoods, along the River out to Coops Meadow, and there I sighted Hawk, Redtail, Zeke...and Yesterdays clip...very cool...did hear Kingfisher, and Flicker, sighted Song Sparrow at Last Chance, and Ouzel at Ozone Beach...DownyOrHairy Woodpecker call...Blue Jay, Raven, Acorn Woodpecker...media did a bit on the Xmas Bird count...lemesee if I can link that...brb....
quote
The count began in 1900 as a National Audubon Society protest of holiday hunts that left piles of bird and animal carcasses littered across the country. It now helps scientists understand how birds react to short-term weather events and may provide clues as to how they will adapt as temperatures rise and climate changes.
http://www.wric.com/story/20409699/annual-bird-counts-give-scientists-climate-clues
unquote

didn't know that bit about the holiday hunts...brb...

quote

Prior to the turn of the century, people engaged in a holiday tradition known as the Christmas "Side Hunt": They would choose sides and go afield with their guns; whoever brought in the biggest pile of feathered (and furred) quarry won.
Conservation was in its beginning stages around the turn of the 20th century, and many observers and scientists were becoming concerned about declining bird populations. Beginning on Christmas Day 1900, ornithologist Frank Chapman, an early officer in the then budding Audubon Society, proposed a new holiday tradition-a "Christmas Bird Census"-that would count birds in the holidays rather than hunt them.
http://birds.audubon.org/history-christmas-bird-count

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Winter Hawk

http://youtu.be/EzHCb11xaHY

Tundra Swans

http://youtu.be/N6fnUsSCG_M

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For the the most part, the Rollabout Road of Tule Lake has the Lake on one side, and Farm Fields on the other, and it is right by the Water, until towards the Far Side...coming over a little Knoll thereabout, I finally that Day saw Waterbrirds gathered close together...Waterbirds were scattered all over the Lake for the most part, but this Little Bay is a good spot...Tundra Swans a new bird, for me, sorta...I think I've seen Swans before, with pics, but haven't taken good note...hereabout today cold blueblue...shuttled over to the Village, paddled back through Bobcat Meadow, and sat awhile at Ozone Beach...sighted Hawk, Redshoulder, Cedar, while having Breakfast at Last Chance...scurried out with tripod and camera...pics clip...near Creek, sighted Pileated, pics clip, at the Woodpecker Tree in Bobcat Meadow, Acorn Woodpeckers, and Acorns at Lower Falls and Cabin...pics and clips...heard Redtail call while at Ozone...Kingfisher flyby in the Meadow near the River...and at the Supply Room, missed Ringtail Cat, and friends all got pics...hmmph...did get pics of Three Raccoons at the Back Dock...pics clips for sometime...Ouzel at Ozone...Flicker, Raven, Blue Jay, DownyOrHairy call...and Deer by Cabin...

Bald Eagle

http://youtu.be/Jn48kfnMH54

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Eagle pic and clip from Tule Lake...I saw Two Eagles that Day, or One Eagle twice...'usually the Lake is frozen'  I learned in the Visitor Center...and with no Ice to perch on, this may be why I didn't see as many Eagles as before...sunny blueblue  cold hereabout today...paddled over to Swinging Bridge and return...Ouzel, DowneyOrHairy Woodpecker, Redshoulder Hawk call (Cedar), Raven, Blue Jay, Yellow Rump Warbler, Flicker call...all at Ozone Beach...quiet walk...more Tule Lake pics, clips, and report tomorrowmorrow...oh...Bobcat track all the way from Swinging Bridge to the Cabin...and friend reports Bobcat with Two by Lower Falls, and while talking with friend at work in the Supply Room, 'Ring Tail Cat is looking at me...'... above the Desk behind some screening, under the Stairs, Ring Tail!...I scurried to Locker for camera, but on return, no luck...friend did get very cool pic with phone camera!...capturing Ring Tail is waiting on Rangers, as this is their purview, and theirs alone, I gather...meanwhile, I cant get Supplies without diverting to looksee for Ring Tail Cat!, camera at ready!

hmmph
http://www.webpronews.com/mars-rover-opportunity-completes-walkabout-of-matijevic-hill-2012-12

Sacramento

http://youtu.be/S2-oQd4PJfc

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Pics and clip from Sacramento Wildlife Refuge....snowrain cloudy cool hereabout today...was Raining at SWR too...didn't think to see Rabbit at the beginning of rollabout, like last three visits, but One Rabbit oblidge, and later Raccoon with One...I just made one rollabout, too rainy for walk, and wanted to reach Tule Lake...just One Eagle, pic up in earlier post...and not as many Waterbirds, and Cranes, but I think Cranes and Snow Geese were somewhere in the Fields...did see Flocks in Sky beside 99, and Snowgeese browsing Field...vacation was a bit like playing golf...SWR the first green!...when doing clip, I dwelled on Mallards...I could barely see Mallards, but the 50x latched on, and this being like first clip with my new camera, I was just lost in wonder of what it can do!

Brown Creeper

http://youtu.be/4-yvlCQu7Mg

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Brown Creeper pic and clip from Yesterday's Xmas Bird Count walkabout...group I was with paddled about the Suburbs, then from the Village to Lower Falls, return along Rocky Slope to Village, out to A Rooms and Sugar Pine Bridge, to Stables, to Siberia, and return to Village...sighted 19 species...Creeper was my sighting of the Day...lemesee if I can recall...Raven, Acorn Woodpecker, Ruby Crowned Kinglet, Golden Crowned Kinglet, Chickadee, Junco, Yellow Rump Warbler, Western Blue Bird, Stellar's Blue Jay, Red Breasted Sap Sucker, Nuttal's Woodpecker, Downy Woodpecker, Brown Creeper, Starling, Red Shoulder Hawk, Ouzel, Black Phoebe, Northern Flicker, and one more Little Bird I can't recall, or Kingfisher I heard at First Light back at Creek's End, along with Ouzel, or maybe we didn't count Ouzel, or Kingfisher, as sighted too in other group's area that walked around about Last Chance... they saw Three Red Shoulder junvenles..bit jealous of that, and walked back to Ozone Beach my own self this morning to looksee..and Hawk, Cedar, perched on the Snag behind the Rooms by the Path...pic up...drizzly cool this morning, yesterday, cold cloudy...our walk was quietquiet, and the others too...this year audobon is putting the compilations on line....before, a pamphlet came in the mail...will link, but this won't happen likely until next Fall...oh, sighted Coyote in the A Meadow, Young Bucks along Rocky Slope, Does and Bucks in the Oak Grove, and crossing River at Chapel Bridge...Grey Squirrel, and maybe Chickaree...pics and clips...group areas ranged from El Portal all the way to BadgerBadger..Bald Eagle wasn't sighted, but has been about last Week, and I heard Eagle, I thought, by Sugar Pine Bridge on walk Tuesday before Vacation, that's three weeks back..was uncertain of my hearing, but the recent sighting confirm Eagle is about...'near Swinging Bridge'. one report...that's right hereabout, and would be very cool to get Eagle pic by the Creek or Ozone Beach...oh, first sighting of the Day for me was Mama Doe and Two Fawns, and Buck, at Creek's End--still too Dark for pics...a fine Day...and report Grey Fox captured one Night in Bear Trap, and released a couple days back...Bear Traps hereabout are large horizontal cylanders on wheels...46 has expired, sad to hear...

Corrizo Plain Say's Phoebe

Say's Phoebe a new bird, for me...back in Valley last Night...rollabout in the Morning at Corrizo...pics and clips and report for sometime...very long Day, but back in time for Christmas Bird Count tomorrowmorrow...yesterday, sunnyhazycloudy cool...bit of Snow when I got to Valley, slushy then, but all icy Today, so glad not to come back on icy Road...cold hereabout...shuttled over to the Village for Mail, walked back...quiet...another walkabout in the afternoon, back to the Creek through the Woods...Mama Doe and Two Fawns, and Doe, and Buck, by the Rooms...all as a group, I mean, and often together...nearby were Young Bucks...pics and clips that I want to put together with pics and clips of Black Tail Deer Group at Point Lobos...seeing Critters I am familiar with in the Valley in far flung Locals has a kinda family feel to it...like one is at Home, even though far away...people too I meet, on the Trails, or in the Motels, Hotels, Restaurants, insomuch they take interest in Nature, and do the kinda work I do in remarkably scenic places....very cool vacation...

back to the Valley
maybe some snow tomorrow
a fine vacation

Zebras

 http://youtu.be/2h4wMGmbtk8

hmmph...

Point Lobos California Thrasher

: http://youtu.be/6JXGusLKpnY

a new bird, for me!....clips, pics, and report for sometime...sunny blue with puff clouds cool...a fine Day at Point Lobos!

Abbotts Lagoon Quail

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5VbSP9UMWk&list=UUjXAk71lLu-S_lc4tVafvrQ&index=1

Tomales Bay Blue Heron

http://youtu.be/Ftz5n0zLGc8

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remember the Panay...12/12/37

Point Reyes Kestrel

 http://youtu.be/Rs8gld-NwR4

Bobcat

http://youtu.be/KDEZeU98TtA

Pic, from clip....and clip is just snip of long clips...Bobcat was out in an Open Field, bit past Mendecino...just glimpsed as I rolled by, but I know Bobcat!...found a turnout, and walked back with 50x and tripod, but Bobcat sighted me, and trotted off.... I was able to sight again, taking most of the clips from inside Silver...sunny blueblue with just a little haze, an unusual day for hereabout this time of year...more pics and clips and report of the Day for sometime...

Kingfisher

http://youtu.be/n1jmfWYyYso

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Bridge Railings were in the way, trying to take clip from Silver out Window...see clip...so, rolled off the Little Bridge near the Ten Mile River, and took the gizmo with back to attach to the Railing...but no luck...Kingfisher flew off, laughing, and back and forth a few times, laughing...did get a glimpse clip of Mergansers, for sometime...clips and pics and Today's report for sometime...sunny hazy blue cool...hiked to the Pygmy Forest....and when I arrived, met another hiker who was snacking...and learned they did volunteer work a summer or two back at Le Conte...'oh, did you meet W.?"...'Yes!'...so, a fine talkabout about mutual friend, who I missed in Klamath Falls...

Kites

http://youtu.be/j_RjhaSWskw

When I reached the Coast, after the ordeal of Seasick Road, sighted Hawks, Redtails, soaring overhead, riding the Wind...pulled over, and grabbed the tripod and 50x...one Redtail still about, and got some knockdown clips...for sometime...when I reached Fort Bragg, sighted Two Kites cartwheeling...didn't want to miss pics, so grabbed the dslr with 300mm...whishwish I'd grabbedd the 50X, which quickly is now the goto camera!...imagine the pics up as clip!...anyway, after the quick, and too farawayblurry pics, I did get clips of single Kite--short bit up of very long, too long to post tonight, clips--with 50X....maybe tomorrowmorrow I will see Kites together again!...pics and clips and report of the Day for sometime...sunny hazy cool...everyday since the first rainyday, has been sunnyhazy, and very tough for pics...

Lighthouse

http://youtu.be/wcbHwVPb6QY

Out and about from Sunrise to Sunset...pics, clips, and report for sometime...pic is one of the Lighthouses in Crescent City, the one way out there...the 50x makes me a bit giddy everytime it latches onto Critters way out there...I stand by my opinion that a 300mm lens is best...but these long lens point and shoots, canon's the longest at the moment I believe, make my opinion, along with my digi-spotting scope, kinda irrevelant!..must see clip!

Merlin

http://youtu.be/07rZn534Ri4

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Hawk, Merlin, a new bird, for me....and sad sighting, as Merlin injured beside the Road near Rogue River, and Merlin hobbled off through a Wire Fence, top of which I used to steady 50x for clip glimpse...I was sorta lost by Rogue River, the Town, and not sure what Road this is...in fact, missed the whole long Rogue River roll somehow...exited 140 at Gold Hill and should have picked up the Scenic Route earlier, and then took wrong turn, twice, the same wrong turn twice!, in Rogue River...hmmph...Road Signage in the North is problematic...very cool Hawk, injured in collison with Motorcar likely...maybe will be okay...edited misspell, rogue for rouge...eesh..

I was looking up Ariadne last night, because I'd happend on this bit, a prophesy of Merlin--Ariadne search was an offshoot of Absalom search...I wander about in the labyrinth, too!

quote

 The tail of Scorpio shall produce lightning, and Cancer quarrel with the Sun. Virgo shall mount upon the back of Sagittarius, and darken her virgin flowers. The chariot of the moon shall disorder the zodiac, and the Pleiades break forth into weeping. No offices of Janus shall hereafter return, but his gate being shut shall lie hid in the chinks of Ariadne. The seas shall rise up in the twinkling of an eye, and the dust of the ancients shall be restored. The winds shall fight together with a dreadful blast, and their sound shall reach the stars.
http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/History_of_the_Kings_of_Britain/Book_7

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hmmph...and the media dotes on the Mayans!