Roosevelt Elk Bachelors hang with the cow herd during early summer months. Late in the summer these fellows get run off by the Bulls when fighting begins to determine supremacy in the herd and the genes that will succeed in the next generation .
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All posts for the month June, 2014
High above the Lagoon a Buzzard perches to oil its wings in warm afternoon’s last light.
Old trees mean great perches.
A closer look gives us insights to the details of its wrinkled head and powerful hardened beak.
Location: Old State Highway US 101
Coopers Hawk surveys the marshy drainage area alongside Minot Creek from its prominent perch. Minot Creek, Klamath, California.
Some of California’s rugged coastline is nearly unreachable by foot, however from U.S. Highway 101 the summer visitor to the State Redwood Forests can get a glimpse.
First summer June rain provided the conditions the Great Blue Heron seeks for hunting on an island field on Woodley Island in Humboldt Bay, near Eureka, California.
The newest generation of Osprey are taking wing around Humboldt Bay. Part of the beauty which comes with newness of each generation is they do not spook at the sight of an observer.
English Sparrow (sometimes called a House Sparrow).
Several of these sparrows frequented branches of this tree in mid-day light and breezes. It’s as if this male posed for a classic photo of his breed.
More visits to the “watering hole” (leaking fire hydrant) has confirmed the theory that several breeds of song birds (including English Sparrows) are relying on this fresh water source near Humboldt Bay, California.
Redwood Creek cuts through a vast Redwood Forest in Northern California’s Humboldt County near the township of Orick, CA. The last two miles of Redwood Creek meanders through farm and pasture lands as it ultimately empties into the Pacific Ocean. The high earthen dikes protecting the fields from high water flows and flooding in the winter are dotted with wild flowers, grasses, and thistles. American Goldfinch’s like the one pictured here are making a morning feast out of the purple centers of thistle flowers being careful to avoid the barbs and thorns that would do instant damage to birds and humans alike.
Food is so abundant on this blossoming thistle bush, our solo Goldfinch was joined by another hungry Goldfinch in the warm morning rays of sunshine.
Out in the open, this young American Bittern fishes the shallows. Our unsuspecting bottom fish mistakenly felt the cover of sea grasses would effectively camouflage it from predators. Clearly that was not the case today. Our shore fishing Bittern found its morning meal.
Fine details distinct to the Cedar Waxwing include its cap, mask, flashes of red atop its wings, and yellow band across tips of talk feathers. What a glorious day for a bird bath!
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