Tag Archives: nature

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

Flock of Gulls

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Flock of Gulls

Flock of Gulls. Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery, California. July 2, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

A huge flock of gulls takes to the air at the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery, California.

While photographing the elephant seals last weekend at the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery just south of the Big Sur coastline of central California, an absolutely flock of shore birds took flight above the beach. I quickly lifted the camera up from the elephant seals and photographed into the cloud of birds as it rose and turned above the beach. While other photographs in the series show an even greater density of birds, this one shows some of the individuals – at least in the larger versions on my computer screen.

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

keywords: gull, sea, seagull, shore, bird, marine, fly, flight, flock, mass, beach, ocean, sea, pacific, coast, wave, foam, wing, dense, wildlife, animal, nature, california, usa, piedras blancas, elephant seal, rookery, highway, one, 1, wild, beak, feather, central, stock

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

Two Elephant Seals Sparring

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Two Elephant Seals Sparring

Two Elephant Seals Sparring. Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery, California. July 2, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Two young elephant seals sparring at the elephant seal rookery at Piedras Blancas, California.

From what I read, these are young “sub-adult” males who “spar” during the early summer period. The real battles are apparently waged by the adult males during the birthing and breeding period. I’m no expert on elephant seal behavior, but while these “sub-adult” sparring matches seem fairly benign, I’ve seen what appeared to be rather vicious battles between older, scarred males. These two fellows had at it for a few moments, belly bumping, intertwining their heads, and generally play fighting – while the other seals nearby seemed to not pay any attention at all.

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

keywords: elephant, seal, rookery, beach, shore, piedras, blancas, california, usa, wildlife, sea, mammals, young, male, marine, mammal, spar, sparring, fight, behavior, summer, sand, water, ocean, pacific, highway, one, nature, travel, stock, animal, wild

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

Elephant Seal

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Elephant Seal

Elephant Seal. Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal Rookery, California. July 2, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

An elephant seal on a sunny afternoon on the beach at the Piedras Blanca Elephant Seal rookery along the Central California coast.

Early in the extended Fourth of July weekend we travelled down the Big Sur coastline (sorry, only a few photos of that) and stopped at the Piedras Blancas Elephant Seal rookery on the shoreline in the general vicinity of Hearst Castle. The rookery is quite amazing. Literally within yards of the highway a large group of elephant seals come ashore to do their “elephant seal thing,” and you can view them from a short distance away. (They come ashore in many other places in California but few are this accessible and many are almost completely inaccessible.) During our brief stop I had a great opportunity to put the long lens to use. This seal was, like many of the others, seemingly enjoying a nap on the warm sand in the afternoon sun.

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

keywords: elephant, seal, rookery, beach, shore, piedras, blancas, california, usa, wildlife, sea, mammals, sand, sunny, warm, rest, eyes, whiskers, snout, brown, nose, beach, pacific, coast, shore, ocean, southern, nature, stock

Photographs: Nature, Photographs: Sierra Nevada

Aspen Grove, Morning, Lee Vining Canyon

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Aspen Grove, Morning, Lee Vining Canyon

Aspen Grove, Morning, Lee Vining Canyon. Sierra Nevada, California. June 7, 2009. © Copyright G Dan Mitchell – all rights reserved.

Early morning backlight filters through the green leaves of spring aspen trees to fall on meadow grasses in Lee Vining Canyou, California.

My posting sequence has been a bit confusing lately, I’ll have to admit – I’ve gone back and forth among photographs from Seattle, the eastern Sierra, Yosemite Valley, and more. Now I’m going back to the early June Yosemite photographs to post a few that I did not get to right away. This is one in that group. This is another part of the same small aspen grove in Lee Vining that I photographed in early June when the new meadow grasses were just coming up and the trees still retained some of the new growth color. I had stopped to photograph this grove in shadowed light, looking for the soft diffused effect that this creates. I had just about finished shooting this grove when the sun began to rise above the canyon walls and the first direct light filtered among the trees.

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

keywords: early, morning, light, beam, aspen, tree, grove, forest, trunk, branch, leaf, green, grass, plant, nature, lee vining, canyon, national forest, season, spring, new, california, usa, nature, landscape, rock, boulder, shadow, filter, meadow, stock