Sharing our Space with Nature

My house was built in 1901, back before they put in the freeways and strip malls that now surround the neighborhood. The animals and plants that lived where my home now stands have long moved away and my house has seen generations upon generations of visitors over these past 100+ years. Newer homes and buildings in the area have nearly eliminated all of the open space around me, so I make an extra effort to make my yard welcoming to the wildlife that has no where else to go. When I moved in, I removed the concrete covering the backyard as soon as I could and planted flowering and fruiting plants, and I put out feeders and sources of water. It's a small, but very pleasant yard and I have frequent visits from birds and squirrels. I have also many times seen an opossum in the yard, hunting for snails and rotting fruit from the backyard trees..

Most of the time, the wildlife stays out in the yard, but occasionally I get a few unexpected house guests. A couple of times in the late afternoon, when I leave the back door of the house open to let in a breeze a hummingbird has lost its way and flow into my living room, confused by the ceiling light there. They eventually were coaxed back out by shutting off the living room light and turning on and off a sequence of lights that leads them back to the door. The same trick often works with the wayward bee or moth.


Another guest that finds the kitchen especially interesting is the Virginia Opossum. They will sometimes try to sneak in if I leave the door open in the evening to feast on the cat food inside. My guess is they have done this on several occasions, but I've only caught them a couple of times when they didn't escape quickly enough.

Opossums love to eat just about everything, but they're particularly fond of cat food and sweets. Last year, when my basement door wasn't latching properly, a set of opossum triplets moved into the basement for a rainy week. I have a projector and some chairs set up down there for watching movies. One evening I was down there alone in the dark watching a movie and I saw three little figures crawl down a ledge one by one, pass right by me feet, and make their way to the open door. I later found that they had devoured a full tub of peanut butter cups that was inadvertently left down there.  They are also very fond of popcorn.

In spite of the mischief these creatures may get in to, we are truly lucky that they come to stay in our neighborhoods and live with us in harmony. They are a reminder that there still exist wild and natural places and creatures all around us.

"In wildness is the preservation of the world."
--Henry David Thoreau

Just the Kids

Just the Kids


It's Egret baby season again! Starting in April, Snowy Egrets, Great Egrets and Black-Crowned Night Heron begin building nests in the Baylands wildlife sanctuary on San Francisco Bay. What few palm trees and eucalyptus are available become crowded like a New York City apartment building as birds pack in their nests near one of the prime fishing spots in the area.

Eggs are laid and young birds begin to emerge: first, the Night Herons, followed in a few weeks by the first round of Snowy Egrets. The babies continue to hatch into the summer months and the earlier-born fledglings test their wings for the first flight.

As summer winds down, the birds quietly disappear from the area, seeking out better hunting grounds and possibly a little peace and quiet, but they are guaranteed to return again next spring.

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DC Nature Photography : CafePress.com

Wild Coyote on DC Nature Photography : CafePress.com

This coyote was out hunting at dusk at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge, which is a great refuge in California to observe migratory birds in the fall and winter. This coyote was standing at the side of the auto trail and didn't mind my car pulling up near it. I watch for several minutes as she looked for prey coming out after sunset. There are lots of ground squirrels and bunnies in this refuge and I'm sure they keep the coyotes busy!

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DC Nature Photography : CafePress.com: "Smiling Bunny
This bunny really is smiling. Why is he smiling? Because I was taking his picture, of course!"

This bunny had just woken up from a nap at a wildlife refuge in Merced and was enjoying a good stretch. After the stretch, he took a dust bath.

You can order Smiling Bunny gifts, including T-Shirts, magnets and tote bags at the DC Nature Photography CafePress online shop.

The Snow Goose

The Snow Goose is a medium-sized goose that breeds in the Alaskan tundra and winters in the warmer areas of the United States. The adults are usually white with black-tipped wings and the young are grayish or “blue”. There is also a blue morph version of the adult goose that has grayish feathers. The feet and bill are pink and there is a black line or “smile” on the sides of the bill.

Every fall, the Snow Goose embarks on a long trip. On the west coast of the United States, the snow goose leaves its nesting site in Alaska, to travel in huge flocks over thousands of miles south to the warmer weather of the Central California Valley. There it spends the winter resting in wetlands and feeding on winter grains planted by farmers. The Central Valley used to be covered in vast wetlands and hosted millions of geese, ducks and swans, but early in the last century farming took over the area and the wetlands were drained to make the area suitable for planting crops. Today only a small fraction of the area is still natural wetlands. Thankfully, people realized the impact farming was having on the environment and worked out a compromise. In the spring and summer, the fields support California’s agricultural demands, hosting rice, cotton, tomatoes, onions and other crops. In the fall, farmers harvest the crops and burn the waste. The fields are then either planted with winter grains or flooded with irrigation water to support the migrating waterfowl that continue their annual migration south. Due to these restoration efforts, we can continue to witness the awesome sights and sounds of masses of snow geese taking flight at once over the Central Valley.

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San Luis NWR, Early November

Not all of my field trips are that productive. Sometimes I head out at the wrong time of the day or the wrong time of the year.

In early November, I was anticipting the arrival of the migrating waterfowl that visit the Central California valley. The fields that are farmed in the area were once vast wetlands and provided a winter home to huge flocks of geese, ducks, swans and other migrating birds. Then farmers drained the wetlands and farmed the land, reducing the habitat for the birds. Fortunately, conservationists and farmers have reached a compromise and now farmers turn their fields back over to the birds after the harvest. After the harvest, they cut down their fields of rice and corn and plant winter grain crops to feed the migrating birds and flood the fields, providing food and habitat for the winter visitors.

Last year I saw large flocks of snow geese and colorful ducks in the area and was hoping to find them again, but I started out a little too early in the season this time. No huge flocks greeted me at the San Luis refuge, but I did see several Red-Tailed Hawks waiting at their posts on the power poles.

A shy Belted Kingfisher watched the drainage ditch near the entrance but never came too close to my car.

Mysterious streams of silk floated on the warm air and caught in the trees, grass and power poles. They may have been from young spiders heading to new homes.

The tule elk, regular residents of this refuge, were no where in sight this time. They may have been resting in the shade on this warm November afternoon. Here's a shot of one from early October.

Even the Great Blue Herons, which hunt year-roud for frogs and fish along the irrigation ditches were playing hard to find. Here's one from early October.

I guess everyone was taking the afternoon off. Too bad, too, since the weather was perfect. Well, at least I had last month's photos to look through. Better luck next time.

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Sharing our Space with Nature

My house was built in 1901, back before they put in the freeways and strip malls that now surround my neighborhood. The animals and plants that lived where my home now stands have long moved away and my house has seen generations on generations of visitors over these past 100+ years. Newer homes and buildings in the area have nearly eliminated all of the open space around me, so I make an extra effort to make my yard welcoming to the wildlife that has no where else to go. When I moved in, I removed the concrete covering the backyard as soon as I could and planted flowering and fruiting plants, and I put out feeders and sources of water. It's a small, but very pleasant yard and I have frequent visits from birds and squirrels. I have also many times seen an opossum in the yard, hunting for snails and rotting fruit.

Most of the time, the wildlife stays in the yard, but occasionally I get a few unexpected house guests. A couple of times in the late afternoon, when I leave the back door of the house open to let in a breeze a hummingbird has lost its way and flow into my living room, confused by the ceiling light there. They eventually were coaxed back out by shutting off the living room light and turning on and off a sequence of lights that leads them back to the door. The same trick often works with a bee or moth.

Another guest that finds the kitchen especially interesting is the Virginia Opossum. They sneak in if I leave the door open in the evening to feast on the cat food there. My guess is they have done this on several occasions, but I've only caught them a couple of times when they didn't escape quickly enough.

Opossums love to eat just about everything, but they're particularly fond of cat food and sweets. Last year, when my basement door wasn't latching properly, a set of triplets moved into the basement for a rainy week. I have a projector and some chair set up down there so we can watch movies. One evening I was down there alone in the dark watching a movie and I saw three little figures crawl down a ledge one by one, pass right by me feet, and make their way to the open door. I later found that they had devoured a full tub of peanut butter cups that was inadvertently left down there.

In spite of the mischief these creatures may get in to, we are truly lucky that they come to stay in our neighborhoods and live with us in harmony. They are our reminder that there are still wild and natural places and things in this world.


"In wildness is the preservation of the world."
--Henry David Thoreau