Photos taken May 5th, 2013 *** Weekly Photo Challenge: Pattern Continue reading »
Tag Archives: Wildlife
Backyard Fence: Squirrel
Our three-legged buddy is healthy and hanging out more than ever… Photos taken April 23rd, 2013 Continue reading »
Neighborhood Wildlife: Squirrel (Three-Legged)
I often wonder what happened to his leg… I first noticed it missing a few weeks ago. Photos taken February 14th, 2013 Continue reading »
Neighborhood Wildlife: Young Buck
My son excitedly informed me yesterday afternoon that there was a boy deer on the hill behind our home. The buck was in no hurry to leave, giving me plenty of time to snap some photos. My son is sick (again), so he stayed home from school yesterday and today. Luckily, the neighborhood wildlife has … Continue reading »
Neighborhood Wildlife: Deer
A deer grazing on the hill behind our home, enjoying the warm, sunny day… Photos taken February 12th, 2013 Continue reading »
Animal Fun / Fauna / Museums
Beautiful Butterflies: California Academy of Sciences
Photos taken January 29th, 2013 Rainforests of the World California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco Continue reading »
Backyard Wildlife: Neighborhood Squirrel
Happy Sunday! Our Neighborhood Squirrel Photos taken January 19th, 2013 Continue reading »
Animal Tracks: Mountain Lion?
Large print, no claw marks… Photo taken January 5th, 2013 Sunol Regional Wilderness Continue reading »
Nature Walk: Animal Tracks
A fun activity to do a few days after a good rain is head to a nearby creek and look for animal tracks in the mud. We went on this kind of walk yesterday in the nature area near our home. As we walked to the area, I asked my son what animal footprints he … Continue reading »
Animal Fun / Fauna / Museums
Sleepy tiger + discount to the Oakland Zoo
During our Christmas Eve visit to the zoo, we mostly ran around and played, but we did check out a few animals along the way. We enjoyed watching this beautiful tiger napping (and waking up) in the warm afternoon sunshine. For anyone in the Bay Area who may be interested, I noticed this morning that … Continue reading »
Weekly Photo Challenge: Surprise
I’ve had two amazing surprises within the past week that, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to capture with my camera. Both were visitors to our backyard. The first was… a fox! He visited Thursday morning at 10:00am, and he it stayed for about five minutes, giving me a lot of time to watch what it was … Continue reading »
Deer on the Hill
It’s been a while since I’ve taken any photos of the deer that graze on the hill behind our home. You may also enjoy: The Baby Deer Another Favorite… The Coyote Continue reading »
Monarch Butterfly Nature Preserve, Natural Bridges State Beach, Santa Cruz
Within Natural Bridges State Beach, in Santa Cruz, you’ll find the Monarch Butterfly Nature Preserve, a grove of eucalyptus trees where thousands of Monarch Butterflies spend the winter each year. The butterflies may be viewed by taking a short 0.75 mile Monarch Trail loop through the Preserve, or by simply taking the short, wheel-chair accessible … Continue reading »
Backyard Birds: Sparrows
We now have both juvenile White-crowned Sparrows and juvenile Golden-crowned Sparrows visiting our yard. Now that I can see both, frequently side-by-side, I can clearly see the difference. The one I thought last week was a Golden-crowned Sparrow is definitely a White-crowned one. Here are a few photos of the fist-year Golden-crowned Sparrows who visited … Continue reading »
Acorn Woodpecker, Sunol Regional Wilderness
Wow, I can really see how this bird got its name!! There were four Acorn Woodpeckers busy pecking holes in this tree and filling them with their stash. From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology All About Birds site… “Their social lives are endlessly fascinating: they store thousands of acorns each year by jamming them into … Continue reading »
Backyard Birds: Steller’s Jay
For months, I’ve been trying to capture a photo of the jay that visits the feeder in our backyard. Finally! Continue reading »
Backyard Birds: Golden-Crowned Sparrow?
I need help identifying this bird. It’s been visiting our yard in the San Francisco East Bay for about a month now. At first, I thought it was an immature White-crowned Sparrow, but now I’m thinking it’s an immature Golden-crowned Sparrow. With Project FeederWatch coming up, I want to make sure I have the right … Continue reading »
Backyard Birds: California Towhee
Now that the weather is cooling down, the bird activity in our backyard seems to be picking up. Continue reading »
Werewolves and Vampires?
While attending Boo at the Zoo over the weekend, we looked for “spooky” animals. Werewolves? Vampires? Unfortunately, we didn’t find anything truly frightening at the Oakland Zoo, but did see this gorgeous hyena (I bet he’d get pretty scary if anyone tried to take that bone away from him!!) and a bunch of cute bats… … Continue reading »
Boo at the Zoo, 2012
Yesterday we attended the annual Boo at the Zoo event at the Oakland Zoo. Kids wear their Halloween costumes and participate in a bunch of fun activities. It was a hot day today (back into the 80′s), so I talked my son out of wearing his thick, black ninja costume. The highlight for my … Continue reading »
Butterfly, The Fen, Yosemite Valley
Quite a few of these beautiful butterflies were fluttering around “The Fen” in Yosemite Valley on Saturday morning. Haven’t heard of “The Fen”? It’s one of my favorite little spots in Yosemite Valley. It’s a short boardwalk trail through a marsh. If you follow the trail from the Happy Isles shuttle stop to the Nature … Continue reading »
Project FeederWatch
As I wrote the other day (Let’s Count Stars!), we enjoy participating in citizen science projects. It’s a fun way to contribute to scientific research and learn about science at the same time. I wrote earlier in the week about participating in the Great World Wide Star Count. Perhaps stargazing isn’t your thing, but you’d … Continue reading »
Silent Saturday: Monterey Bay Coastal Trail
Photos taken last weekend during a walk along the Pacific Grove section of the Monterey Bay Coastal Trail. My husband took our son on a bike ride, so I could have some much-needed time to myself… Also from our day in Monterey… Going on a Bug Hunt Cyclo-Cross, Monterey Style Weekly Photo Challenge: Solitary Continue reading »
The Hungry Owl Project
I have to preface this post by stating that we live on the edge of our city, on the border where the houses meet the open grasslands and oak forests beyond. We love living here because of the views and the wildlife that visit us. However, we’re not fond of one visitor… the rats. No … Continue reading »
Backyard Wildlife: Mourning Doves
For at least eight summers now, we’ve had a pair mourning dove visiting our backyard. Every year, they have a child. Last year, my son and I were able to watch the parents teach the baby to fly. So cute! They showed up just a week ago with their child from this summer. I’m sad … Continue reading »
Great Hike: Saddlebag Lake to the Conness Lakes
Now this was a super-fun hike. How many hikes begin with a ride across a lake on a water taxi?? This was a first for our son… he’s never been on a boat! The views from the lake were gorgeous. My husband and I love hiking above the 10,000 foot level (the trail starts at … Continue reading »
Update… Backyard Squirrel
It’s been a few months since I last posted about the squirrel who visits our backyard. He has not been successful at raiding the bird feeders since I last wrote, but he’s still thinking about it! Here’s my post from May … Backyard Wildlife… The Squirrel Continue reading »
Black and White Striped Beetle
Check out this insect we saw on Thursday while walking on the Kule Loklo Trail in Point Reyes. Anyone know what it is? Continue reading »
Hummingbird!
Taken July 24th, 2012, at the Botanical Garden at UC Berkeley Continue reading »
Backyard Wildlife: Black-Headed Grosbeak
We have a new bird visiting our yard this week. And it’s a pretty one… a female Black-Headed Grosbeak. Apparently this bird has a beautiful voice. I hope to hear it one of these days! *** Related: Attract Wildlife to Your Home – Create a Backyard Wildlife Habitat Continue reading »
