With a bellow that freezes the entire beach, this guy comes ashore. It’s a sound that demands respect, and raises the apprehension level a notch. There’s no doubt as to who the alpha is around here.
For more information on the rookery, see www.elephantseal.org
Morro Rock (aka “The Gibraltar of the Pacific”) is a landmark feature on the central California coast. Formed around 23 million years ago as the plug of a now extinct volcano, it rises 581 feet from sea level. In 1542 Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo, a Portuguese explorer, named the rock as ‘El Morro’, which means ‘the crown shaped hill’ in Spanish. The rock was an important navigational aid for mariners for over 300 years, and at least two tribes consider it a sacred site. Today it stands guard over the entrance to the sheltered bay of it’s namesake city, Morro Bay (pop. 14,950). Morro Rock was designated a California Historical Landmark in 1968.
Easily the most skittish of the animals on the lake, this guy will flee in panic if a human comes outside, even on the far side of the lake. Up until now the only shots I have been able to get of him have been thru window glass from inside the house.
But no more! I got him! I saw him coming and managed to sneak into hiding and wait until he stalked by right in front of me.
He is a Great Blue Heron (Wikipedia) and frequently hunts around the edge of our lake. I have been trying to get an up-close out of doors shot of this guy for like 9 years now. With an average life span of 15 years in the wild, it’s possible that this could be the very same guy who has been frustrating me all of this time.
Redemption.
After all the brutal cold, ice, and snow around here, this big guy (click on the picture for a larger image) showed up today on the first sunny afternoon. He is a Red Shoulder Hawk, hungry and paying close attention to where his next meal may come from. Funny thing how the forest gets real quiet and empty when he’s around. I’ve seen him get squirrels, snakes, fish from the lake, and of course, other birds. Now if only that list included Canadian Geese. In spite of his predatory behavior, he is one of my favorite animals. If I could come back as a bird, he is what I would be.
There is something hidden in this photograph. Can you see it.
Maybe this will help a little bit.
He’s a Red Shoulder Hawk.
As I walked closer to him, he turned his back to me. Maybe instinct telling him he had even more effective camouflage that way?
We have a Great Blue Heron who visits us frequently. Big Blue struts slowly along the edge of the water, spearing anything he can with that sharp beak of his. Mostly he just takes small minnow sized prey. But I have seen him get a small fish probably about 7 to 8 inches long, and then really struggle to control it and swallow it afterward.
He is very skittish. A human coming outdoors anywhere around the lake will put him up into the air. When truely startled or challenged by another bird, he is the loudest animal on the lake. The noise he makes I can only compare to the sound of someone banging bamboo sticks together very rapidly.
Because of his timidity with respect to humans, I had to take this shot from inside the house thru window glass and screen. Thus it’s photographically not really up to the quality I try for – pale, washed out, and slightly soft (diffusion effect of the screen I suspect). But I couldn’t just not show him to you. So I will apologize for the quality of the photo, and hope maybe someday I can catch a shot of him from outside the house.
In my last missive I mentioned the frogs on the lake. Every year they make their presence known again earlier, and in colder weather, than we ever would have supposed.
True to form, on February 24th I started hearing the small noises that the baby frogs make as they begin to sound off around the lake. Also true to form, it was 35 degrees the next two days, and I could not believe those little frogs were surviving in that cold. But survive they do. Even thrive. Every year.
By the middle of the summer, they will be so loud that they are the dominant sound out here at night. Even with the air conditioning on, and everything closed up tight, you can still hear them from inside the house.
The picture shows a fully grown adult frog in our garden. It was taken last fall when he was sluggish and allowed me to get close to him. He is about 6 inches long. For scale, that is a full size pine cone off to his left.
As I said before, you would certainly never know frogs are in any kind of environmental trouble if you were listening at this lake in the summer. I only wish they were doing as well everywhere else.
The Great Egret (Casmerodius albus) is distinguished from the Snowy Egret by its greater size (wingspan can be over 50 inches), and its yellow bill. While Great Egrets spend the winter from South Carolina southward, they can be found as far north as Massachusetts in the summer. Their nests, made up of reeds and sticks, are often high up in trees and may harbor as many as five or six eggs. In the breeding season, both males and females exhibit long back plumes that were once valued in the feather trade.
Egrets are excellent fishermen who stand motionless in the water waiting for fish, although snakes, frogs, or some insects may be added to their diet.
This Great Egret’s photograph was taken in mid February 2008 at Sebastian Inlet, Florida, USA.
For more information about Sebastian Inlet State Park in Florida, please visit: Sebastian Inlet State Park
Sometimes you don’t have to drive thousands of miles to see the beauty of nature.
When this guy comes down to the lake, everybody else goes into hiding. He rules the roost around here!
The Red Shoulder Hawk has been a fixture around the lake for all the years we’ve been here. Almost every day you can hear him screeching as he flies overhead. Sometimes he lands in the trees around the lake edge, and watches for something vulnerable to show itself. I have seen him dive bomb the water from the tree branches, and take a small fish. I have also seen him grab and carry across the lake a fully grown ground squirrel. One time I watched him circling in a tight 60 wide foot circle 25 feet above the lake surface for a dozen turns, before diving at something in the water. That time he came up empty.
He is a magnificent bird. When viewed from front on, he is the most muscular bird I have ever seen. Powerful looking. And very self confident. He is not very flighty when it comes to me photographing him. As long as I stay a certain distance away, and don’t spook the potential food in his lake, he allows me to follow him around with my tripod and camera. He turns a watchful eye on me sometimes, but doesn’t fly away unless I violate the terms we have established.
