Tag Archives: animal

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Bull Tule Elk, Point Reyes

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Bull Tule Elk, Point Reyes
Bull Tule Elk, Point Reyes

Bull Tule Elk, Point Reyes. Point Reyes National Seashore, California. May 30, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A bull tule elk grazes among the grassy hills near Drakes Bay, Point Reyes National Seashore.

The group of bull tule elk that I encountered at Point Reyes National Seashore on Memorial Day was large and tended to stick together very closely. Most of the photographs that I shot include multiple animals. However, this fellow paused for a moment as the others moved to the right and I had a chance to make a few photographs containing only a single elk. He was even thoughtful enough to pose in front of the rolling green hills rising above Tomales Bay in the distance!

The elk were apparently native to Point Reyes – and much of the rest of California – but were decimated in the 1800s as a result of hunting and displacement by cattle. As I understand it, a small group was reintroduced to Point Reyes in the 1970s or thereabouts. Eventually they were so successful that the herd began to expand to other areas of the park, and the area has now reached it normal carrying capacity for these animals. This specimen and the group it was part of were along the top of the rolling hills above Drakes Bay.

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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Four Tule Elk, Point Reyes

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Four Tule Elk, Point Reyes
Four Tule Elk, Point Reyes

Four Tule Elk, Point Reyes. Point Reyes National Seashore, California. May 30, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Four tule elk in the meadows at Point Reyes National Seashore.

When the day started I had no idea that I might be photographing wildlife today, much less tule elk! In fact, today was meant to be primarily a photography day. We decided to spend the day on a coastal drive, starting with breakfast in Santa Cruz and then heading north to… wherever we ended up. We had a vague idea that it might be interesting to end up at Point Reyes Station perhaps, where there was an open art studio event going on.

By mid-afternoon, that is indeed where we ended up. We stopped in town to get coffee and a snack and wander about just a bit. With no specific plan in mind we sort of decided to head on out to Point Reyes – the actual “point,” not just the general park. On the way back we took a detour down to Drakes Bay for a quick stop. As we drive back up from there to the top of the hill near the main road we saw some strange shapes in the distance behind a fence. The looked like antlers, but that didn’t seem right – this particular area is dairy country and the elk that I had heard about were in a different area of the park. But as we reached the top of the hill it became completely obvious that a small herd of tule elk were grazing right on the other side of the fence. We pulled over and I grabbed my long lens. The elk were kind enough to occasionally look up from the business of grazing and pose dramatically in the low late-afternoon light from the west.

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Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Wildlife

Flock of Snow Geese, Winter Sky

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Flock of Snow Geese, Winter Sky
Flock of Snow Geese, Winter Sky

Flock of Snow Geese, Winter Sky. Merced National Wildlife Reserve, California. February 21, 2011. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A flock of snow geese against the partly cloudy winter sky above the Merced National Wildlife Reserve, California.

Yes, yet another in the series of photographs of migratory birds above the Merced National Wildlife Reserve made on a winter evening in February. While I missed the “fly in” (though saw it happening a ways north of my position) I did watch hundreds and hundreds of birds of all types pass overhead. Every time I would start to wonder “where are the birds?” or worry about whether I would miss the fly in, another flock would appear and traverse the sky above me.

It was my good fortune – certainly little careful planning was involved! – to be out here during a brief evening window of interesting light and sky as a storm cleared. In fact, as I drove towards the Refuge I at first thought that some of the larger clouds to the west might block the evening light or even bring a bit of rain. However, as sunset approached the clouds continued to thin and I ended up with a beautiful sky full of broken clouds that were gently illuminated as the day ended.

G Dan Mitchell Photography | Flickr | Twitter | Facebook | Email
Text, photographs, and other media are © Copyright G Dan Mitchell (or others when indicated) and are not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

Photographs: Central California, Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Northern California, Photographs: Ocean & Coast, Photographs: Wildlife

Pelican Above Water

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Pelican Above Water
Pelican Above Water

Pelican Above Water. California coast. May 15, 2010. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A solo pelican coasts above the surface of the Pacific Ocean near the central California coast.

There is not too much to say about this one – since I posted a companion pelican photograph yesterday! This one is also “from the archives” – a photograph from last May that I found as I looked through last year’s raw files one last time.

(For those who are reading this in the archives, a bit more information. I frequently photograph pelicans along the California Pacific Ocean shoreline. This photograph was made from a location where I can access the top of a coastal bluff that drops almost immediately straight down to the water. The pelicans seem to make a habit of cruising up and down the tops of these bluffs on the updrafts that are created by the onshore breeze, and they fly very close to the bluff edges where I can photograph them close up.)

This photograph is not in the public domain and may not be used on websites, blogs, or in other media without advance permission from G Dan Mitchell.

G Dan Mitchell Photography
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