“A good snapshot keeps a moment from running away.” ― Eudora Welty
Hawk she/he is calling its mate., originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.
Via Flickr:
Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
I think this is a Red-Tailed Hawk He or she is part of a pair.
It was really exciting seeing this one and trying to get “in flight’ shots!
Nikon D300s| Nikkor 80-200mm| f4| /2500 sec| ISO 500| Manual Mode| Hand-held
San Francisco, Cypress Tree, Red-Tailed Hawk, Nature, Wildlife
The Bistro 4 gallery has been updated with more great photographs by members of The Bistro. A Nikon users group in the flickr community.
Like this marvelous photograph titled “Eyes of a Predator” by Jesse Cox
To view all the 2011 Bistro Galleries go here: At the front page just scroll down the page to see the Galleries. I’m curating through July 10th. Come back again!
Copyright © Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
Descending Vista Point one morning I rounded a bend in the trail and stopped dead in my tracks. There 25ft away was this little fawn (see photo above). It’s mother was on the other side of the trail in the trees waiting for the fawn to cross the trail. Startled by hikers coming up the trail it had stopped then I happened along. It looked at me and headed in the opposite direction of its mother. Then timidly it crept up to this tree and watched me and its mother. It’s mother was not happy; she pranced and paced back and forth with worry. I wasn’t sure what I should do…wait and hope the mother crossed, or the fawn crossed, or just move on. I took a few quick photos. We hikers looked at each other wondering what would happen next then the Mother bounded up the hill the wrong way! Then the fawn sped down the hill into the bushes the wrong way! I continued down the mountain all the while hoping they’d reunite.
An anxious Doe!
I hiked a lot of miles in June. My elevation gained totals are incredible. The total floored me again when I added it up. I took a lot of neat wildlife and flower photographs while hiking in this park during the month of June, but these two photos are my favorites.
Just seven more weeks until the big hike to Yosemite’s Cloud’s Rest. I still am on track for successfully completing that hike.
JUNE Hiking Report
*6/2/2011- 8.15 miles, 2,170ft, 3h10m PG&E trail out & back
6/7/2011- 10 miles, 2,549 ft, 4h 33m Rhus Ridge to Black Mt Trail out & Back
6/10-12/2011- about 11 miles, at various parks and site around Sonoma Coastal area. Many parks were closed due to budget cuts so we had to drive to other locations to do any hiking.
6/16/2011- 8.15miles, 1,962ft, 3h 5m, PG&E out & back to Vista Point
**6/19/2011- 6.2miles, 2,197 ft, 3h, Mission Peak- Peak Trail the steep route
6/21/2011- 8.15miles, 1,962ft, 3h3m, PG&E trail out & back
6/25/2011-6.45 miles, 2,236 ft, 3h24m, Horse Heaven trail up, Peak Trail down- time to the top 2h4m
6/29/2011- 2.4m, 2,100ft, 1h20 mins. Horse Heaven Trail out & back
June Total Feet Climbed
15,676ft
June total Miles Hiked
60.5
*6/2/2011 total ft is average of 3 measurements
2123ft, 1962ft & 2427ft.
6/16/2011 time to Vista Point 1h34m! Fastest yet, even stopping to take photos!!!
** 6/19/2011 started ascent at 320Ft, Vineyard Drive
6/21/2011- start time 6:37a.m. Time @ Vista Point 8:13a.m. =1h40m
Nikon D300s| Nikkor 18-200mm VR| Induro CT213 Tripod
I bought the Garmin Edge 500 GPS unit to use while hiking. I like knowing all the details, and how far I’ve hiked. This little unit tells me everything I want to know. I doubt I’ll use all the features of this unit. It’s packed with them! I used it for the first time this morning. I plugged it into my Garmin Connect account a few minutes ago, et Voila! Look at all these details, and a map of my hike!
Hike to Vista Point O&B by dmzajac2004 at Garmin Connect – Details.
Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
Saturday, after a short hike Downhill Dali and I decided to kill some time before sunset by re-visiting a place we’d discovered Friday night that have a pair of Hawks living there. We both wanted to get more “in flight” shots. We think the pair are nesting. I don’t know for sure what type of hawk this is. Is it a Redtail?
I was thrilled to get this shot of him/her landing.
Nikon D300s| Nikkor 80-200 mm @200mm | f4| 1/2500sec| ISO 500| Manual Mode| Hand-Held
Common Night Snake, originally uploaded by dmzajac2004-.
Via Flickr:
Copyright © 2011 Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.
This is the other snake I mentioned seeing while hiking down from Black Mountain last week.
I think this is a Night Snake. Please correct me if I’m wrong! Not the best photo I know the background isn’t great, but he picked his spot well didn’t he.
I’m seeing snakes on nearly every hike these days. While up in the Sonoma area last week-end I nearly stepped on a large Gopher Snake…and Thurs. I saw Kingsnake sunbathing in the middle of the trail. Signs of Summer!
Nikon D300s| Nikkor 18-200mmVR| f8| 1/6 sec| ISO 200| Manual Mode| Hand-Held
This morning I rose early to hit the trail. The PG&E trail in Rancho San Antonio Open Space Preserve. I needed a good hike since we didn’t do nearly as much hiking as I had hoped to do last week-end.
Getting out in the country early in the morning is wonderful for so many reasons; it’s cool; there is usually no problem finding parking; there is hardly any one else around; and the wildlife is out and about. That was the case this morning;
Here’s what I saw this morning while on the way up to Vista Point.
A widdle wabbit!
A Junco surveying the land.
The flowers have changed and will soon be plump and juicy berries!
Oh, we startled each other. He was curious about my shutter clicks and would look at me each time I clicked. After 3 clicks he thought it was safe and began to munch on these leaves. I let him graze a bit then moved which scared him up the hillside.
Just after I rounded the bend in the trail I nearly stepped on this guy.
My sunny day companion…
Lilies…I saw only one other plant of these while going up today. I don’t think they fit here. Are they indigenous or not?
It was warm by 7:30a.m. I’m glad I got started early. Here’s Vista Point!
There isn’t much here, the power tower, a sign, and a bench you can’t see on the other side of the tower, the view was hazy this morning too, but I made it here in my best time yet. 1h34m!
The trip down was interesting and had wildlife too. A King Snake, and fawn and its Mother, and …well I’ll save that until next time.
Total miles hiked- 8.2
Total time – 3h5m
Total Elevation gain- 2.170ft
Circadianreflections Blog 
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