Monday Tule Elk Blogging

 

Elk - Point Reyes  2021

Out at the Pierce Point Ranch in March for some photos. I hiked for a short distance on the trail going to the point where I saw this elk (Tule elk) looking out to sea.

Moon, Redwoods, Turkey Vulture

 

Moon, Redwoods, Turkey Vulture (San Geronimo Valley) - Marin County  2021

Taken last month with a Nikon Z5.

Nice, but how does it compare to my iconic Moonrise - Fresno shot? You be the judge.

RPM, Self-Portrait

 

RPM Motors (San Rafael) - Marin County  2021

Self-Portrait (San Rafael) - Marin County  2021

Taken back in January with an iPhone, walking around San Rafael's Canal District.

Rainbow (February)

 

Rainbow (Fairfax) - Marin County  2021

So, I had a "real" camera with me, but this iPhone panorama did the best job.

San Rafael Sightems

 

White Fence, Blue House (San Rafael) - Marin County  2021

House, Tree (San Rafael) - Marin County  2021

Walking around San Rafael while Hali's Highlander was being serviced. (First time in many months.)

iPhone photos.

Fairfax Plants

Camellia, White Fence (Fairfax) - Marin County  2021

Plants (Fairfax) - Marin County  2021

Top photo: as seen on one of my morning walks. Bottom: in front of one of the condos across the street. 

iPhone photos.

Hamilton Clouds

 

Clouds (Hamilton Wetlands) - Marin County  2021

 I stopped off at the Hamilton wetlands area on my way to Costco. I thought that there'd be some interesting birds . . . I didn't see any fancy migratory birds but did see the neat house finch (yesterday's post). Nice clouds! Nikon Z5.

Monday House Finch Blogging

 

House Finch - Marin County  2021

Sitting on a fence near the Hamilton wetlands in Marin County. Taken using an Olympus 75-300mm zoom lens.

March Parking Lots

 

Parking Lot Clouds (Target) - Marin County  2021

Parking Lot (Hamilton) - Marin County  2021

We had a nice amount of rainfall in March . . . but not enough to make up for the mostly non-rain months of January and February. 

Oak Tree, Morning

 

Oak, Clouds - Marin County  2021

Impressive tree at the end of the street. I used a Nikon Z5.

Poison Oak, Oak Branches

 

Poison Oak, Oak Branches - Marin County  2021

An iPhone photo, up the street.

Tree, Sky #10 & #11

 

Tree & Sky - Marin County  2021

Tree & Sky - Marin County  2021

February photos.

Petroglyph Camping - 2

Sunset, White Mountains - Owens Valley  1979

Creek - Owens Valley  1979

While Joe was busy taking notes and measurements I puttered about with my cameras. As sunset lingered on the snow-capped White Mountains we threw down our sleeping bags and ensolite pads on the sandy desert floor and slept at the site overnight. Late at night we were awakened by an extremely odd sound . . . running water! What? Stumbling around we saw the source: a fast-running channel of water sparkling in the beams cast by our flashlights. Obviously some irrigation mechanism upstream had triggered the water release. Getting up in the morning, the stream still running, we were thankful that we hadn’t chosen that particular dry stream bed for our sleeping bags!  

Petroglyph Camping - 1

Petroglyphs - Owens Valley  1979

 

Joe - Owens Valley  1979

Eric Ritter, in a 1983 review in the Journal of California and Great Basin Anthropology, reasons that “Even well-studied rock art sites, through reexamination and rethinking, can yield significant information. Such is the case with W. Joseph Mundy Jr.’s ‘An Analysis of the Chalfant Canyon Rock Art Site, Mono County, California.’. . . an important point in the author’s discussion is the dismissal of the hunting magic hypothesis owing to the absence of game portrayals, game trails, etc. . . . Overall the author’s site analysis is thorough and sensible.”

***

In 1979 I accompanied my brother Joe north from Los Angeles to the rock art site he was engaged in researching, bringing along my Nikon-F 35mm and Mamiya RB67 medium-format cameras. I’m not sure if I knew at the time that the area was called “Chalfant Canyon.” Traveling north from Bishop on highway 6, it seemed then just a series of cliffs located down a nondescript road. Idly viewing the cliffs, the rock art gradually came into focus: abstract and figurative motifs in a variety of configurations.

I'm thinking that we probably discussed the "hunting magic hypothesis" and such, but I don't remember exactly. While Joe was busy taking notes and measurements I puttered about with my cameras admiring the rock art and the spaciousness of the overall desert scene.