Wildlife

Whale in Redondo Beach

in , , ,

We went over to look for dolphins on Saturday and saw a few of them over in Redondo, but over by Knob Hill there was a whale that was caught in the surf line.  We thought it was distressed and trying to beach itself but after about 45 min playing just outside the waves it went out into deeper water.   I had a lousy lens on my camera so didn’t get a good picture of it.  That is what happens when you only leave the house with only one lens..  :(

_DSC8591
_DSC8566

The house carpeting was put in this past week, and they fixed and stained the hardwood flooring.  We asked for pictures from the salesman but of course he didn't come through with any.   He's totally useless in that department.  When we first bought the house he said that they would take weekly pictures and when they did anything noteworthy they'd take pictures for us.  Well that happened TWICE without asking for them.  Now we have to beg for a friggin picture and then its only 1 picture.  I could see if there was 5' of snow on the ground and 15 out but its nice weather now.   

Rare hummingbird!

in ,

This is the very rare red throated hummingbird that was at Phil and Bobbys house on Saturday.  There is only one like it in the world.    Bird Watching Magazine will be calling any day now to make me their staff photographer.

Spring is in the air - doves

in , ,

Spring is in the air!   Two doves were making a nest in the covered patio of the house, and the daddy flew the coup about 2 days later - so momma has been sitting on a nest 24/7 (We haven't seen her eat but I'm sure she is, but she's always on the nest).   We put out some food for her and some water right below her on a ledge but she didnt ever eat any of it - 

Well the babies were born 3 days ago - they finally peeked out this morning and we got a photo of the proud family  -

DSC_3205

Photography, dolphins, Torrance Beach

in ,

Today was a busy day- had to rebuild my moms computer that had crashed, hate when that happens.   And then I went to the beach with Janis over to Torrance Beach on the way to bringing the computer over to my moms and we saw about 15-20 dolphins jumping and surfing the waves, and having a good ole time!    It was cold (not cold for the USA standard but cold for So Cal (which means it was 53)   and here's some of the dolphins

collage

Mike was a surfer that I met along with his parents who were watching the dolphins with us.  Mike was surfing and having a good ole time and was ready to leave, but I talked him into going back out in the water to surf with the dolphins.  They didn't get too close to him but I got some good shots anyway!

mike

Katmai bears - movie "the Grizzly Man" review

in

  Saw the movie Grizzly Man that chronocles the life and death of Tim Treadwell, who went to Alaska every summer to study and "protect" the grizzly bears.  He was extremely delusional if he thought these bears needed protecting, as they were extremely capable of fending for themselves.  The movie shows some great scenery of Alaska and the Brown Grizzly, but one of the first things you learned when you go up there to observe the bears is you must stay at least 50 yrds from one bear, and 100 yrds from a bear and its cub.   And he was close enough to pet the cubs which was insane!

grizzly2

Just look at the claws on this baby cub that I photographed last year when I went up to Brooks Lodge in Katmai, Alaska.  One swat and you're decapitated.  

grizzly

Whale watching excursion off of PV

in ,

Here are some photos from the whale watching boat - saw one grey whale, but it didnt breach or anything.  We went right by the Dominator wreck, which was a freighter that thought it was going into Los Angeles Harbor in 1961 and ended up crashing right into Palos Verdes Rocky Point, and a photo of the Pt Vicente lighthouse that I kind of photoshopped up to give it a weird look.

Gray whales are here!

in ,

We went all the way up to Alaska to look for breaching whales, and didn't see any!  But then we go up to Palos Verdes 4 miles from our home and saw this gray whale breaching all the way around Palos Verdes!  It was so clear out too - could see Downtown Los Angeles from Palos Verdes, which never happens!   It rained yesterday which helped clear up the sky. 

a Panorama image from Santa Monica to Downtown Los Angeles

Alaska, Katmai Peninsula

in

I went up to Alaska this weekend - 3 day weekend so why not go 3700 miles away??  LOL

Katmai national park is an amazing place - here are a few photos I took of  the bears and the salmon - I would love to do that every 3 day weekend - just go to a different part of the country and take some photos .. 

Anchorage again! Brown bears in the Katmai Peninsula

in

I'm off to Anchorage tomorrow - going up to shoot some bears and salmon.  Hope the weather is good.   I'm pretty excited to go. Katmai Peninsula is one of the best places in the world to watch the salmon run and the grizzly bears feeding on them.  Hopefully I get some good shots and some good eagle pictures.  This is one that I took last month when I was up there on my honeymoon.