My Friend Flicker

Seeking shade from the blistering sun and 100 degree weather near Weaverville, CA, our perching friend Flicker finds coolness and rest on a branch.

There Can Be Only One

The 2014 quickening is beginning for Roosevelt Elk at Stone Lagoon.

Prairie Creek State Park, California.

Roosevelt Elk Herd forming up for the Summer of 2014.

Calves feeding on cows. Dominant Bull chasing off young spike bulls to protect the calves.

Pressing in for milk.

 

Cow is pulling away from the calf.

 

Bull is moving the herd.

Bull Roosevelt Elk

 

 

Bull Roosevelt Elk breaking through a wall of blackberries near Elk Meadow, Orick , CA.

 

 

 

Grazing near US  Highway 101, we see the handsome Bull with his impressive cape and hardened antlers.

Looking for a Meal

Evening reconnaissance for the next meal, a Brown Pelican works the surface of Humboldt Bay seeking its next herring.

 

Searching for flashes of herring while turning into the sunlight.

Riparian Zone

Great Egret

Some folks see shallow water ways along side of a highway as a boundary however, these riparian zones are an irreplaceable ecosystem for numerous species of mammals, fish, birds, insects, and vegetation near primary waterways (streams and lagoons). A late morning walk along a zone provided glimpses at a Great Egret while stalking, fishing, and feeding.

 

 Piercing into water on a shallow trajectory.

 

 Reorienting the catch to swallow.

 

Great opening its throat while preparing to swallow.

 

 Rapid strike into shallows blows water into the air with dynamic force.