Monday Heron Blogging

Heron - Lake Lagunitas  2026

Bird is often to be found in the same spot. We spend some time eyeing one another.

Monday Robin and Western Bluebird Blogging

Robin (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Western Bluebird (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

As seen during our early morning walks.

Monday Dog Blogging

Dog Napping #1 (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Dog Napping #2 (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

My old gym was the 24 Hour Fitness gym at Larkspur Landing (long since closed). Got some nice photos there!

These photos were taken just outside my current gym in Fairfax. Sometimes the dog is not napping!

Dog Not Napping (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Monday Sheep Blogging (1997)

Sheep - Humboldt County  1997

So maybe this was taken in Nevada. Photo is on the same roll of film as scenes from Reno and Virginia City in Nevada. But also locations in Truckee in California. And a few pix taken in Humboldt County!

Going to have to go with Humboldt County, I think. Photo has a northern California look to it.

Monday Heerman's Gull Blogging

Heerman's Gulls - Point Reyes  2026

Heerman's Gulls - Point Reyes 2026

Heerman's gulls were featured in an earlier 2018 post. Very picturesque.

Monday Sooty Shearwaters Blogging

Sooty Shearwaters - Point Reyes  2026

One of the most widespread and numerous of all pelagic seabirds, the Sooty Shearwater is an unassuming, dark brown bird with silvery flashes in the underwing. With stiff wingbeats they fly low over the ocean ("shearing" the water), using wind power to glide long distances. 

Watching the ocean from a headland or taking a pelagic birding trip are good ways to see Sooty Shearwaters. Populations are larger in the Pacific than the Atlantic, and huge flocks can sometimes be seen from shore along the California coast in fall.

Photo above (with a Nikon Z7II / 24-200mm lens) shows the flock (indeed, quite huge) as seen from a hill overlooking the ocean. Below, a crop showing individual birds.

Sooty Shearwaters - Point Reyes  2026

Monday Skunk Blogging

Skunk in Campground - Point Reyes  2026

As seen during this year's Coast Camp backpack. I was sitting in my campground chair when this individual wandered through. My getting up to take a photo led to a swift departure past the campground food box and into the poison oak.

Campground Chair - Point Reyes  2026

Monday Raccoon Blogging

Raccoon - Lake Lagunitas  2026

Early Sunday morning. Scampered away from the photographer and climbed up a tree.

I used an Olympus camera with a telephoto lens. Nice pose!

Monday Goat Blogging

Goats (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

They were back at the beginning of last June . . . busy, hard at work.

Monday Marmot Blogging (1985)

Marmot - Yosemite  1985

Looking for some food that the backpackers had foolishly left out. Alas, the backpackers had actually not left any food out.

(High altitude Yosemite backpack trip.)

Monday Finch Blogging

House Finch (Female) - Lake Lagunitas  2026

Lesser Goldfinch - Lake Lagunitas  2026

I posted a photo of a male house finch back in 2021.

I posted a photo of a goldfinch in 2025. (A goldfinch as opposed to a Lesser Goldfinch.)

Monday Cow Blogging

Cow (San Geronimo Valley) - Marin County  2026

Cow was interested in the photographer. Taken as I was making my way out to the Limantour area of Point Reyes last July.

Monday Deer and Coyote Blogging

Deer - Lake Lagunitas  2026

Coyote - Lake Lagunitas  2026

Top: an iPhone shot taken looking out of the car window.

Next: Coyote studiously ignoring me while I'm taking the photo using a Nikon Z7II.

Monday Cow Blogging

Cows (San Geronimo Valley) - Marin County  2026

Overcast morning . . . taken on my way out to Point Reyes using a Nikon Z7II.

I like how the cows on the edges are facing towards the center! Usually they're all facing in the same direction.

Monday Red-Shouldered Hawk Blogging

Hawk (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Hawk (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Very noisy, especially the one on top. Might have been young and wanting to be fed.

Monday River Otter Blogging

River Otter - Point Reyes  2026

River Otter - Point Reyes  2026

Seen first while swimming underneath the trail bridge between the upper and lower lagoons. Then he - or she - got up on land, thought for a while, then went back into the water.

Monday Caspian Tern Blogging

Caspian Terns - Point Reyes  2026

Caspian Terns - Point Reyes  2026

"The regal Caspian Tern is the largest tern in the world, easily recognized by its brilliant red fish-knife of a bill and deep, raspy call. Found all over the world, the Caspian favors both freshwater and saltwater environments. It feeds mostly on fish, captured in nimble aerial dives."

I didn't see them diving for fish, but I was able to see them swooping around the Abbotts Lagoon area.

Caspian Terns - Point Reyes  2026

Monday Spotted Towhee Blogging

Spotted Towhee (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Spotted Towhee (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2026

Very vocal! Lots of them this season.

Monday Wood Duck Blogging

Wood Ducks - Lake Lagunitas  2026

Wood Duck - Lake Lagunitas  2026

I've been seeing them on a pretty regular basis recently.  

Both photos taken with a Nikon Z7II, 24-200 zoom lens. Substantially cropped.

Monday Pigeon Blogging

Pigeon (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

Pigeon (Fairfax) - Marin County  2026

"The band-tailed pigeon (Patagioenas fasciata) is a pigeon native to the Americas, and one of the largest pigeons in this region. It is largely gray, but with a thin white collar on the nape and a purple-gray breast.

"The genus Patagioenas is the most closely related living genus to the extinct passenger pigeon, and as a species of this genus, the band-tailed pigeon has been investigated for the potential use in efforts to bring back the passenger pigeon species."

Morning walk sightems.