Wildlife – Page 9 – Circadianreflections Blog

June Hiking Report

July 5, 2011July 5, 2011Posted in California, hikes, Nature, Nikon, Photography, WildlifeTagged California, hiking, Nature, Nikon D300S, Outdoors, Photography, Recreation, Santa Clara County, Wildlife1 Comment

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!

A Mule Deer- Female — Photography By Deborah M. Zajac. All Rights Reserved.

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

Summer Solstice Hike

My morning hike up to Vista Point this morning was lovely. There were butterflies flitting around the wildflowers lining the trail, and about 2 miles from the top there was a plant with several butterflies warming their wings. I think the flowers are Globe Gilia, and the butterflies Variable Checkerspots.

"Summer is the time when one sheds one's tensions with one's clo — Photo by Deborah M. Zajac

This one must have been cold. It didn’t move when I approached it. It was right in the middle of the trail.

and further up the trail was this lizard warming itself in the morning sun.

Summer temperatures have arrived in Silicon Valley. The last two days it’s been hot. This morning at 6:30am it was warm. The canopy felt wonderfully cool this morning.

The view from Vista Point was marred by fog and smog laying across the valley like a veil, but above it you can see the Diablo Mountain Range. Over there on the right are Mt. Allison, and Mission Peak rising above the haze, and in the valley below are the large hangers of Moffet Field Naval Station.

I walked over to the bench today, and looked back. I loved the blue sky and Moon looking down on me.

Total miles hiked- 8.2

Total elevation gained- 1,962ft

Total time to Vista Point 40minutes

Total time of hike- 3h3m-

Nikon D90| Nikkor 18-200mmVR

On Radio Road

March 21, 2011March 21, 2011Posted in Birds, California, Nature, Nikon, Photography, WildlifeTagged Aquatic birds;, Birds, California, California Reserves;, Nature, Nikon, Photography, Redwood Shores, Wildlife2 Comments

These birds make me smile! They have such a friendly face, but their walk is awkward…. and….stilted. Probably because they’re trying not to disturb the water as they hunt for food.

“The Black-necked Stilt forages by probing and gleaning primarily in mudflats and lakeshores, but also in very shallow waters near shores; it seeks out a range of aquatic invertebrates – mainly crustaceans and other arthropods, and mollusks – and small fish, tadpoles and very rarely plant seeds. Its mainstay food varies according to availability; inland birds usually feed mainly on aquatic insects and their larvae, while coastal populations mostly eat other aquatic invertebrates. For feeding areas they prefer coastal estuaries, salt ponds, lakeshores, alkali flats and even flooded fields. For roosting and resting needs, this bird selects alkali flats (even flooded ones), lake shores, and islands surrounded by shallow water.” ~ Wikipedia

For this shoot I met photographer, and friend Marianne Bush out at Radio Road which is part of Redwood Shores Reserves. After we shot around the lagoon for a while we walked over to a channel that feeds the lagoon where Marianne had spied a Bufflehead while we were driving in. An aquatic bird in the Sea Duck family that has been on my list for sometime. The Bufflehead was no longer there, but we did see this little duck below. Both Marianne and I were very excited because neither one of us had seen this bird before. Marianne being the much more experienced birder had an idea of what breed it might be. When we left we were both anxious to get into our bird books to see if we could identify it.

Marianne was able to ID it faster than I did. She wrote to tell me we had seen a Blue Winged Teal! Very uncommon on the West Coast. You can image how thrilled we both were. A month later looking at this photo I can still feel that thrill of excitement one gets when seeing a new species for the first time.

A Point Lobos Day

May 9, 2010May 9, 2010Posted in CaliforniaTagged California, Coastal Views, hikes, Landmarks, WildlifeLeave a comment

I went to Point Lobos with a Meet-up friend. We hiked around the perimeter of the park taking the North Shore Trail. We ended our day here after 5 hours of hiking at Bird Island.

We saw sea lions, otters, Cormorants, gulls of all types, a Black-crowned Night Heron, and wonderful seascapes.

We had hoped to get a nice sunset set from Bixby Bridge but the sun wasn’t setting there exactly so we moved further north to Rocky Point. We had a lovely dinner in the restaurant. Unfortunately the fog bank rolled in and marred the sunset, but did not dampen the mood or ruin the day in any way.

Here are a few shots from the day.

Nikon D300s with Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8 AF-S

Nikon D90 with Nikkor 70-300mm VR AF-S

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