After Mendocino, we spent a day at Point Reyes National Seashore. At Tomales Point, there is a herd of Tule Elk. The herd was started in 1978 with eight females and two males, and now numbers over 300 today, 3/10ths of the surviving California population.
Down the road from our vacation house was a nature walk in a state park. This Osprey flew in, landed and then left after about twenty minutes.
While in California, I saw my first White-tailed Kite. I had difficulty taking photographs, but it was a life bird for me none the less. The bird had great hovering abilities and stayed north of the Peregrines territory.
A mile from the house we rented, a group of Harbor Seals would sun during the day. One small group of seals was wonderfully playful as the tide came in.
Two young Peregrine Falcons were spending time on the cliff below the house we rented on the Pacific coast. The larger of the two was always crying, while the smaller was quiet as can be. It was just amazing to wake up to the sound of a Peregrine in the morning.
I’ve been on vacation for the last week, spending time in Northern California. My sister and brother-in-law rented a house about 15 miles north of Mendocino for the first part of the trip. The house had views up and down the Pacific coast and had a large Cormorant rookery on a large rock out in the ocean in front of the house.
