Elkhorn Slough - Part 1

At the end of our trip we spent a couple of nights in Moss Landing so that we could take one of the wildlife tours into the Elkhorn Slough.  Elkhorn Slough is a large estuary in California between Monterey and Santa Cruz which enters the ocean at the Moss Landing harbor.  Elkhorn Slough is a well known wildlife viewing area that I've wanted to visit for photography for a while.  We joined an Elkhorn Slough Safari pontoon boat wildlife tour.  Following the captain's advice, we took the seat at the rear, which he indicated was the best vantage point for photography.  Although the morning started grey and foggy, we saw a wealth of wildlife.  Since I captured many images that I was quite happy with, I've decided to break the images from this visit into a number of blog posts.

A view of the Moss Landing harbor.  The harbor is home to a mix of fishing, research and pleasure craft.

Who knew that pelicans liked to water ski!

The California Sea Lions like to haul out on the docks and boats around the harbor.  They seemed to be quite used to the people and boats sailing past.

A pelican on the calm harbor waters

One of the larger male sea lions

Pelican fly-by

It would appear that the pelican has posed a difficult question to the cormorant.

The sea otters are always busy grooming and fluffing their fur.  Not having a layer of blubber, they rely on air trapped in their fur for insulation against the cold ocean water.

There were lots and lots of sea lions hauled out on some of the docks.

"Can I rub my head and pat my face at the same time?"

A few more sea lions

Bodega Bay

Towards the end of our trip we spent a couple of days at Doran County Park Campground on Bodega Bay.  The campground is near large tidal flats that had many different birds looking for food.

There were lots of members of the sandpiper family.

A few Elegant Terns

Quite a few Great Egrets

Even a few Canada Geese

While we were in the area, we took a day trip over to visit the Point Reyes National Seashore.  These images were taken at the Tule Elk reserve at the north end of the park.

Northern California

We spent a few days in various locations in northern California.

While staying at Riley Creek I managed to get these photos of a Townsend's Warbler.

A little bit later we spent a couple of days at Union Landing State Park near Westport, California.

A pelican landing

Killdeer

Seal in a breaking wave

Raven landing

The breaking waves are especially pretty when back-lit by the late afternoon sunlight.

Colusa National Wildlife Refuge

During our trip we spent some time visiting the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge in northern California.  They were starting to get their winter residents.  Here are a few of the images captured during that visit.

A group of White-fronted Geese.

A couple of ducks, one napping and the other stretching.

A Black-necked Stilt and a Lessor Yellowlegs.

The geese all tended to be looking the same direction.

Between the sound of the shotguns of nearby hunters, and our motorhome on the refuge loop road, the geese were very skitterish.

Something definitely had their attention.

Bodie State Park

The ghost town of Bodie north of Mono Lake in California had a population of 10,000 in 1879.  Today what remains of the once thriving mining town is now a California state historical park.  The park strives to maintain the existing structures in a state of "arrested decay".

A panorama showing Bodie, the mill and mine workings.

Remains of old mining equipment.

"Arrested Decay"

The church.

Everyday items left behind, now covered in dust.

Bottles in the windows of an old house.

Remains of curtains still hanging on.

More old buildings.

Old gasoline pumps and vehicle.

The old ore processing mill with the mine workings on the hills behind.

An interesting pair of buildings.