Monday Coho Salmon Blogging

Salmon - Marin County  2021

Salmon - Marin County  2021

"Adult coho in the Lagunitas Creek Watershed are approximately 24 inches long. They enter Tomales and begin the incredible metamorphosis of changing color and shape as they prepare to journey upstream. Males turn bright red and grow a hooked jaw, called a kype. Females are dark red without the hooked jaw. The female’s tail (caudal fin) often looks white, as scales are scraped off during nest digging and fungus begins to grow as their bodies decompose."

We parked in the Leo Cronin Salmon Viewing Area parking lot and walked down the dirt road in the rain. Recent heavy rainfall meant that the creek was pretty muddy. It took a while to spot them, but Hali eventually saw them darting back and forth!

I used an Olympus E-M1II and a 14-150mm zoom lens for these photos.

Lagunitas Creek - Marin County  2021

Moon & Contrail

 

Moon, Contrail - Marin County  2022

7:19 AM. Alas, not the Wolf Moon . . . taken the day after in the hills above our house.

Dominican University

 

Statue (Dominican) - Marin County  2022

Columns, Leaves (Dominican) - Marin County  2022

We stopped here while driving back from the art supply store in order to get in some steps. Nice place.

Redwoods, Creek

 

Redwoods, Creek (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2021

Nikon Z7II, 1/13th second shutter speed, slow enough to slightly blur the water. ISO is 6400! Noise seems OK even going up to 200% in Photoshop.

Reeds - 1

 

Reeds, Reflections (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2021

Reeds, Reflections (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2021

Nikon Z7II photos.

Lake, Ripples / Maple Leaves

 

Lake, Ripples (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2021

Maple Leaves (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2021

Top photo taken with my Nikon Z5, the bottom one with a rented high megapixel Nikon Z7II. Very difficult to see any difference when downsized for the blog.

Bon Tempe Lake - Fog

 

Fog (Bon Tempe Lake) - Marin County  2021

Bon Tempe is located directly below Lake Lagunitas. Taken with a Nikon Z7II that I had rented for a few days in November. 

Monday Dog Blogging

 

Dogs, Runner - Marin County  2021

Exuberant dogs accompanying their owner, running back down the fire road. Shooting into the sun using a Nikon Z5.

Sunrise View

 

Sunrise View - Marin County  2021

Photo from last October. Taken in the same spot as last Sunday's photo.

Twenty-Eight Degrees

 

Ice (Fairfax) - Marin County  2022

Outside Temperature (Fairfax) - Marin County  2022

January 2, 2022. An unusually low temperature: I was able to pick up some ice out of a puddle across the street. 

(Twenty-eight degrees Fahrenheit is the same as -2 degrees Celsius.)

November Leaves - 3

 

Leaves, Pine Needles - Marin County  2021

Using a school building's wall as a backdrop. Taken with a Nikon Z5.

November Leaves - 2

 

Leaves, Branches (Fairfax) - Marin County  2021

Leaves, Steps (Fairfax) - Marin County  2021

Same tree as yesterday.

November Leaves - 1

Leaves (Fairfax) - Marin County  2021

Leaves (Fairfax) - Marin County  2021

Leaves from the same backyard tree.

December Rain

 

Downspout - Marin County  2021

Runners - Marin County  2021

So, last quarter's rainfall was quite good! These photos were taken on a few of my early morning walks in December.

We'll see about the coming months. The forecast isn't promising.

Monday Scrub Jay Blogging

Scrub Jay (San Geronimo Valley) - Marin County  2021

 Walking around the old golf course. I used a Nikon Z5 and a 24-200mm zoom lens.

Sunrise View

 

Sunrise View (Fairfax) - Marin County  2021

December photo. Taken from a vantage point on the trail that loops around in back of the school.

October Leaves - 2

 

Leaves - Marin County  2021

Leaves in Rain - Marin County  2021

Back yard and front courtyard photos.

October Leaves - 1

 

October Leaves - Marin County  2021

October Leaves - Marin County  2021

Top photo is of a tree across the street (Nikon Z5). Next is a very colorful tree in the common area in back of our house (iPhone 7 Plus).

Scrub Oak, Fence

 

Scrub Oak (San Geronimo Valley) - Marin County  2021

Fence Posts, Wire (San Geronimo Valley) - Marin County  2021

The Nikon Z7II used for these photos has way more megapixels than my Z5. Unfortunately, the difference can't be seen on photos necessarily downsized for the blog.

Serpentinite, Fog

 

Serpentinite, Fog (San Geronimo Valley) - Marin County  2021

Coyote Bush, Oaks, Redwoods, Fog (San Geronimo Valley) - Marin County  2021

Another set of photos taken with a rented Nikon Z7II. I'm starting to like the lower image.

Lake Lagunitas - October, 2021 - 2

 

Reeds, Reflections (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2021

Leaves, Pine Needles (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2021

Photos taken with an Olympus E-M1II and a 25mm lens. My regular rain combo, brought just in case.

Monday Horse Blogging

 

Horse - Marin County  2021

Horse - Marin County  2021

Scenes over at the Baywood Equestrian Center, hikeable from our house. 

Lake Lagunitas - October, 2021 - 1

 

Trees, Reflections (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2021

Ferns (Lake Lagunitas) - Marin County  2021

We had some heavy rainfall in October. By the time I reached the trail around the lake the rain had stopped but there were still some nice sightems.

Impala

 

Impala (Fairfax) - Marin County  2021

Impala (Fairfax) - Marin County  2021

Walking around Fairfax in the early morning.

Limantour Beach

 

Beach, Ocean, Sky - Point Reyes  2021

Beach, Ocean, Sky - Point Reyes  2021

Photos taken around 10:00 AM. I would have thought that there would be more people. Hm.

Bishop Pine

 

Bishop Pine - Point Reyes  2021

So, I drove from Abbotts Lagoon over to the Limantour Beach parking lot. Then down to the beach to get some ocean shots.

Abbotts Lagoon - 2

 

Abbotts Lagoon - Point Reyes  2021

The lower lagoon, pelicans in the distance.

Abbotts Lagoon - 1

 

Abbotts Lagoon, Clouds - Point Reyes  2021

Pond - Point Reyes  2021

Photos taken using a Nikon Z7II and a 24-200mm lens.

Driving Out to Point Reyes

Dirt Road - Marin County  2021

Horse Art - Marin County  2021

Sightems seen on the drive from Fairfax to Point Reyes.

Monday Gull Blogging

Gulls - Point Reyes  2021

Gull - Point Reyes  2021

Two photos taken during a visit to Limantour Beach. This was last November, when I had rented a Nikon Z7II: I wanted to compare photos from it with my current Nikon Z5. I was using Nikon's 24-200mm zoom lens.

Top photo is a pretty severe crop. Also, I'm pretty sure that there are birds other than gulls in the group.