Once-in-a-Lifetime Shot
A pair of bald eagles was perched in clear view of the road as I drove to work in southern Monterey County, California this week. I parked and grabbed my Canon PowerShot and waited for the moon to align between the trees, using the car as a blind. After about 20 minutes the moon was still high and the eagles had not left, so I got out of the car and crossed the road with my camera on a tripod. I was able to align the moon perfectly. The birds stayed long enough for this 34-second clip before flying off. You can see the moon creeping across the frame. It’s about a 1000 mm zoom through heat waves so it’s not very sharp, but still a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I just wish I had my Nikon D750 with me.
There were some acorn woodpeckers that played around while the eagles sat, and you can hear the eagles call out to each other, too.
After the eagles flew away, an acorn woodpecker spent a lot of time preening on the tree, giving the moon time to crawl across the sky as it set. The time lapse is sped up so you can see the moon’s journey.
Photos and text copyrighted by Cindy McIntyre
Feel free to reblog or share
Website: CindyMcIntyre.com
Online gallery: Smugmug and Fine Art America
Join my Facebook Page
Spring
Spring comes early in Paso Robles, California. Sometimes summer comes early, too. This year, at least, summer had the decency to wait until the Summer Solstice.
Summer means 90-plus temps during the day (the coast just over the “mountains” is generally 20-30 degrees cooler). We will get streaks of 100-plus days in July or August, too. Even though we didn’t get much rain this winter (and what did fall came in one 8-inch burst) nature goes on with its business. Here are some images of Spring 2021.
Read the rest of this entry »The Grand Show is Eternal
“This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapor is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.” — John Muir
Point Bouchon/Brandt’s Cormorants
Point Bouchon is owned by PG&E and visitors are allowed to hike there during certain times of the day. You must sign in and out. If you were allowed to hike far enough, you’d encounter the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Plant. There are signs all over the nearby area warning that sirens may indicate an emergency. This is one of the most beautiful parts of the California Coast, and not as populated, making it even more of a treasure.
Read the rest of this entry »Atascadero Lake in January 2021
I’ve not been very good at keeping up my blog lately. So much to do, so little time. So I’m just going to post a gallery of photos from the beginning of this year in an attempt to catch up. These are birds from Atascadero Lake, California.
Read the rest of this entry »Double Rainbow
You might have heard, but we had a really intense winter storm this week. It rained for at least 48 hours straight from early morning Wednesday through early morning Friday, and then off-and-on showers. Very un-California-like weather. They called it an “atmospheric river.” We needed the rain, but it’s better spaced out from October to April. Even with nearly five inches in Paso Robles, and a foot in Cambria right on the coast, we are still behind our normal rain totals for this point of the rainy season.
So just as I had quit telework, I was going to pick up my Talley Farms produce box down the street when I saw a sliver of this rainbow from my yard. Of course, I chased it, looking for just the best spot to see both ends. Fortunately, it lasted for at least an hour, giving me a chance to find this place, just down from where I live.
Read the rest of this entry »2021 Begins with Birds
I didn’t realize the above photo of the gnatcatcher at Morro Bay would be so popular on the Birding California Facebook page. Last count it had 1200 reactions and 83 comments. It’s reminiscent of the Angry Bluebird that was popular several years ago. This little fluffball was uncharacteristically cooperative, as they are generally in constant motion catching, well, gnats.
Read the rest of this entry »Even the surfers wouldn’t ride the waves
A huge storm far offshore generated HUGE waves that we don’t often see here in Central Coast California. I went out to Morro Rock on Sunday and then to Estero Bluffs just to the north and marveled at the beauty and power of the ocean. Enjoy these images!
Read the rest of this entry »A Saunter at Pinnacles
“I don’t like either the word [hike] or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains – not ‘hike!’ Do you know the origin of that word saunter? It’s a beautiful word. Away back in the middle ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going they would reply, ‘A la sainte terre’, ‘To the Holy Land.’ And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not ‘hike’ through them.”
― John Muir
Autumn Coastal Birds & Scenery
I’ve stayed close to home since my big trip north (which I have still yet to post, my bad!). Here are some autumn birds and scenery in Central Coast California.
Cindy McIntyre's Blog 