Moon shot

 

 

Another shot of the moon, looking east from Cotati during the early morning on 21 November 2022.

Profile view

  

Although the light was dim, this profile view is helpful for identifying a young Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris).  Note the pointed snout and the dense and relatively thick eyebrow whiskers.  Photographed off Bodega Head on 20 November 2022.

In the harbor

  

A couple of quick shots from a shorebird survey in Bodega Harbor today (18 November 2022).

Above, a mixed flock, mostly Dunlin and Least Sandpipers.  (They were trying to evade a Peregrine Falcon.)

Below, a Wilson's Snipe -- it's a distant shot, but after 18 years of doing these surveys, it's the first time I've seen a Wilson's Snipe on the tidal flats.  In this area, I more often I encounter them in freshwater wetlands (for an example, see this post from last February).

 

 

Last quarter

 

 

Looking up at the moon from Cotati this morning, 17 November 2022.

Low to the ground

 

 

I've been doing lots of desk work lately, but here's a quick shot of a fly-by Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) from 11 November 2022.

Golden highlights

  

Western Meadowlark (Sturnella neglecta), Bodega Head, 12 November 2022

At the surface

 

 

Harbor Seal (Phoca vitulina) at the surface, 11 November 2022