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
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Website: CindyMcIntyre.com
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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 »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
Big Sur
I’ve driven the challenging Nacimiento-Fergusson Road from Fort Hunter Liggett to Big Sur two or three times before, but last weekend was the first time I’d started in Big Sur going home.
The N-F road had been closed by the Los Padres National Forest because there were complaints of too much traffic on the Pacific Coast Highway (State Hwy 1, aka Big Sur Highway) during the COVID-19 lockdown. The campgrounds had already been closed and folks were availing themselves of road pullouts or wherever they could to camp.
Read the rest of this entry »Southern Monterey County
The Los Padres National Forest re-opened the Nacimiento-Fergusson Road and I had a hankering to explore one of my favorite areas in Central Coast California.
Read the rest of this entry »Critters of Jolon
When I drive to work (as opposed to taking the bus or vanpool) I try to swing by some areas reliable for spotting elk or cool birds. I don’t always see the elk in their usual spots, but sometimes I get lucky.
This herd enjoyed a cooling rest stop in the marsh, which accounts for why their bottom parts are dark colored.
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