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Point Reyes : March 6-8, 2024

March 6: Sonoma Coast

F-18's at Lemoore NAS	cIMG_9340.JPG	cIMG_9341.JPG	Goat Rock
Arched Rock	9363 (3-stop HDR)

March 7: Bodega Bay

Bodega Bay was to be the site of a nuclear power plant in the 1960's, but construction was halted after concerns about its proximity to the San Andreas Fault. While some sites suggest the "Hole in the Head" has a natural origin, it was dug by PG&E during early site construction and has since filled with rainwater.

cIMG_9372.JPG	pIMG_9375.JPG	cIMG_9377.JPG	Hole in the Head
Ranchman's Tiger Moth caterpillar (Arctia virginalis)	Western Scrub-Jay	pIMG_9399.JPG	Turkey Vulture
Belted Kingfisher	pIMG_9415.JPG	Surf Scoter	Clark's Grebe (?)
pIMG_9423.JPG	Marbled Godwit	Ruddy Duck	pIMG_9428.JPG
Common Merganser (female)	pIMG_9431.JPG	Common Merganser (male)	pIMG_9439.JPG

March 7: Point Reyes National Seashore

The elephant seal pups on Drakes Beach are weaned and a couple of months old. They are tagged with pink flipper tags at Point Reyes. Their mothers have already returned to sea, and they'll head out as well soon.

Elephant Seal pup	pIMG_9443.JPG	A large bull	cIMG_9454.JPG
Killdeer	pIMG_9460.JPG	cIMG_9467.JPG	pIMG_9472.JPG
Red-tailed Hawk	pIMG_9481.JPG	pIMG_9485.JPG	pIMG_9490.JPG
pIMG_9492.JPG	cIMG_9495.JPG	pIMG_9500.JPG	cIMG_9501.JPG
pIMG_9504.JPG	pIMG_9508.JPG	cIMG_9511.JPG	pIMG_9516.JPG
pIMG_9518.JPG	Drakes Beach	Tule Elk	pIMG_9532.JPG
pIMG_9537.JPG	pIMG_9539.JPG	Cypress Tree Tunnel	Great Horned Owl
Bishop Pine	KPH Radio building	pIMG_9553.JPG	pIMG_9555.JPG
Harbor Seal	Elephant Seal Overlook (3 stop HDR)	cIMG_9572.JPG	pIMG_9573.JPG
pIMG_9576.JPG	cIMG_9578.JPG	cIMG_9581.JPG	Point Reyes Lifeboat Station
cIMG_9586.JPG	cIMG_9590.JPG	pIMG_9598.JPG	pIMG_9603.JPG
Point Reyes Lighthouse	pIMG_9618.JPG	9632 (3 stop HDR)	pIMG_9633.JPG
9644 (3 stop HDR)	pIMG_9653.JPG	pIMG_9655.JPG	9665 (3 stop HDR)

March 8: Point Reyes National Seashore

Another stop by Drakes Beach, then hiked the Abbots Lagoon trail. Another hiker said the dunes separating the lagoon from the ocean washed out in the last week or so, and the lagoon had drained down several feet since.

Bufflehead (female)	cIMG_9685.JPG	Motel Inverness	Morning dew
pIMG_9693.JPG	San Andreas Fault	Cooper's Hawk	pIMG_9715.JPG
pIMG_9720.JPG	pIMG_9733.JPG	pIMG_9735.JPG	pIMG_9740.JPG
cIMG_9745.JPG	pIMG_9746.JPG	Coyote	cIMG_9763.JPG
cIMG_9766.JPG	cIMG_9770.JPG	cIMG_9777.JPG	cIMG_9779.JPG
cIMG_9780.JPG	pIMG_9782.JPG	pIMG_9794.JPG	pIMG_9797.JPG
Great Egret	Common Raven	cIMG_9817.JPG	Northern Harrier
Canada Geese	cIMG_9829.JPG	pIMG_9833.JPG	pIMG_9836.JPG
cIMG_9840.JPG	Dark morph Red-tailed Hawk (?)	cIMG_9844.JPG	pIMG_9854.JPG
California Quail	pIMG_9862.JPG	cIMG_9869.JPG	cIMG_9871.JPG
Double Crested Cormorant	pIMG_9882.JPG	Carrion Beetle (Heterosilpha ramosa)	Red-breasted Merganser
pIMG_9900.JPG	cIMG_9902.JPG	cIMG_9904.JPG	Predaceous Diving Beetle
Velella	Northern Harrier (Gray Ghost)	Snowy Plovers	pIMG_9945.JPG
pIMG_9952.JPG	pIMG_9963.JPG	Some sandpipers with the plovers	pIMG_9968.JPG
pIMG_9975.JPG	pIMG_9979.JPG	pIMG_9985.JPG	Back at home in the water
Great Blue Heron	pIMG_9999.JPG	pIMG_0003.JPG	Striped Skunk
pIMG_0021.JPG	Montezuma Slough and Grizzly Bay	Sunset behind Mt. Diablo