The ponds of spring and early summer are alive with insects, amphibians and reptiles. Here are a few from yesterday’s pond survey. The California red-legged frog is listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and is classified as Threatened. http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile.action?spcode=D02D Each pond has tadpoles, sometimes just tree frog and other times tadpoles of red-legged [...]
Archive for the ‘wildlife’ Category
Springtime Ponds
Posted in Endangered species, wildlife management, wildlife, amphibians, California Tiger Salamander, California red-legged frog, California newt, insects, Threatened species, tagged California tiger salamander larvae, California red-legged frog on May 25, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
Spring is Here and Reptiles are Out
Posted in photography, reptiles, snakes, Threatened species, wildlife, tagged lizards, snakes, Wildlife photography on May 4, 2012 | 1 Comment »
Spent Saturday looking for reptiles and I found quite a few. Here are some of my photos. Western fence lizards were out sunning themselves on the many rock piles. A few snakes were circulating. I found one whipsnake. The Alameda whipsnake is listed by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service as threatened. http://ecos.fws.gov/speciesProfile/profile/speciesProfile.action?spcode=C04A I [...]
Friendly Bobcat
Posted in bobcats on April 21, 2012 | Leave a Comment »
On the way home from the ranch yesterday, I came upon a bobcat that didn’t seem to mind me hanging around. I took quite a few photos. Here are a few of the best.
The Kite and the Harrier
Posted in raptors, tagged black shouldered kite, northern harrier on December 13, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
While sitting in my barrel blind on Saturday, a black-shouldered kite caught my eye. It was flying fast and low. Right behind the kite was a harrier (marsh hawk) in hot pursuit. As I wondered what was going on, the kite turned skyward, flying vertical. As it did so, it released prey from its grasp and the potential meal dropped towards the [...]
Happy Turkey Day
Posted in wildlife, tagged strutting gobbler on November 24, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
First Rut for this Buck?
Posted in deer, Rut behavior, wildlife, tagged Wildliife behavior on November 21, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
First time?
The difference between a Coyote Track and a Mountain Lion Track
Posted in animal tracks, Coyotes, Mountain lions, tagged animal tracks on October 13, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Came upon a mountain lion track while hiking near Del Valle Reservoir last week. It had been raining and the ground was nearly saturated, good conditions for seeing tracks. I was looking at a variety of tracks when I came upon a set of mountain lions prints. I photographed one the clearest tracks with my [...]
Red Dragonfly
Posted in insects, photography, wildlife, tagged Dragonfly on May 21, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Over the years, I’ve noticed a pure red dragonfly at our ranch ponds. It’s so colorful, that with camera in hand, you must attempt to photograph it. Yesterday, I sat by one of our ponds, photographing pond life and the red dragonfly appeared. I was lucky enough to get a couple good photos. Curious about [...]
Swainson’s Hawk in Flight
Posted in birds, birds of prey, raptors, wildlife, tagged Red-tailed hawk, Swainson's Hawk on May 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Last week we were out in the Altamont and came upon a pair of Swainson’s hawks. From nearly a half mile away, I snapped a few photos with my 200mm Nikon lens. They came out OK, so here they are. You can see the charactaristics of the Swainson’s hawk quite well. For comparison purposes, here’s a [...]
