Posts Tagged "wildlife"

Bald Eagles, Crater Lake and More

Posted by Kathy on Feb 18, 2013

Bald Eagle at the Tule Lake Reserve

BALD EAGLES AND WILDLIFE AT THE KLAMATH BASIN NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES

Recently Randy and I headed to the far northern part of California to photograph Bald Eagles. The eagles winter at the Klamath Basin National Wildlife Refuge primarily at the Tule Lake Refuge and the Lower Klamath Refuge. We had joined a Meetup, Bay Area Photography Events, for this adventure. A link to a gallery of my images from the adventure is at the bottom of this post.

Visiting and Photographing Yellowstone National Park

Posted by Kathy on Jan 3, 2013

Yellowstone National Park

In 1872 the United States established the first national park in the world, Yellowstone National Park. The main reason for the park’s establishment was to protect and preserve the geysers. But the area was also home to an incredible array of wildlife including grizzly bears, bison, elk and wolves. Unfortunately those wolves eventually vanished and by the 1970s, there was no evidence of a wolf population in Yellowstone. In 1995 66 wolves were reintroduced to Yellowstone, coming from grey wolf populations in Alberta, Canada. This was highly controversial, and still is. Photographing those wolves was instrumental in our desire to visit Yellowstone.

Randy, Kathy and Chris at Yellowstone’s North Gate

Photo Adventure – Merced National Wildlife Reserve

Posted by Kathy on Jan 22, 2012

Randy and I have been off on several photo adventures lately and I thought it would be nice to start a regular series of posts about one-day and overnight photo adventures that are close to the San Francisco Bay Area. My post about New Idria Mine and Ghost Town was a good start to that series.

Our second 2012 photo adventure was a trip to Merced National Wildlife Reserve (MNWR). The reserve is between Los Banos and Merced on Sandy Mush Road. I had seen the sign for Sandy Mush Road in the past, while driving up Hwy 59 to go to Yosemite, and had always wondered what was down the road. I mean, Sandy Mush, sounds interesting doesn’t it? If you go plan on staying overnight either in Los Banos or Merced and visit the reserve in the afternoon (including sunset) and early morning. Both towns are approximately 30 to 45 minutes away and have plenty of motels and restaurants. Take water and snacks to the reserve, there are no facilities there to buy food or drink.

Welcome to the Merced National Wildlife Refuge

The Sacred Monkey Forest of Padangtegal

Posted by Kathy on Jul 8, 2011

Komodo Above Water; Dragons, Eagles and More

Posted by Kathy on May 23, 2011

This is a beautiful area. The sunrises and sunsets are great. Huge cumulous clouds turn pink and orange. The ocean varies in color from deep blue to a brilliant aqua in the shallows. I did do some snorkeling (when I forgot my dive belt and again when I attempted some over-under shots) and really enjoyed cruising over the reef with brightly colored fish and healthy coral. I would have liked to do more but there was the danger of komodo dragons coming into the water. And the currents could be dangerous to snorkelers also.