All around

  

No matter where you are, no matter what is happening, remember that there's always something to be curious about, that beauty is always waiting to be discovered, that there's always something to be thankful for.  Remember that love is all around.

Intensity

So we were trying to get a shorebird survey done in Bodega Harbor today (23 November 2020), and we we wondering where all the shorebirds birds were, when almost all of the gulls on the east side of the harbor flushed.  I scanned to see if there was a falcon or an eagle around, and sure enough, this bird flew past me not too long afterwards:

 

 

 

Then I heard another Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) calling, and a second bird was diving on the first.  I followed them as they flew east.  One bird kept going, but the other stopped to dive on a Turkey Vulture.  They were pretty distant, but check out the angle (and intense focus!) of this falcon as it dove:

 

 

 

 

Here's a zoomed in view:

 

 

 

 

It's really hard to do a shorebird count when there's an active falcon in the area, but watching these powerful birds in flight is always impressive!

 

 

 

Forest of frost

  

The last couple of mornings have been a little chilly.  This is a small section of a tiny frost forest in Cotati, 21 November 2020.

Here be dragons

  

The shape of this cloud and the lighting made me think of a dragon on the horizon.  Do you see it?  Sunset from Bodega Head, 18 November 2020.

New Moon stroll

  

An Ensatina (Ensatina eschscholtzii) out for a New Moon stroll on 15 November 2020, just before the rain started.

Rainbow in the sky

  

Finally, some rain!  And a rainbow to go along with it.  Photographed in Cotati on 17 November 2020.

Rainbow eyes

  

When I first saw this fish's eye, all I could say was, "Who has eyes like that?"  So beautiful!  A rainbow of colors in the eyes of a sculpin.  Photographed on 16 November 2020.