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(377 views)
For an unforgettable wildlife experience, I highly recommend the Elkhorn Slough Safari in Moss Landing. We saw over one hundred sea otters, almost eighty harbor seals and dozens of sea lions very up close and personal.
This photo shows a raft of about eighty sea otters. Raft is the official label for a bunch of otters hanging out together, looking like a raft.
In addition to sea mammals, I also photographed sixteen species of birds. The trip was two hours of wildlife bliss. There were a few . . . |
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This photo shows just part of a very large raft of otters we saw in the Elkhorn Slough. The older individuals had light faces, and such cute faces they were.
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This was the second killdeer nest I'd found. The first one was on gravel and this one on flowerbed mulch. Both times the nests were easily overlooked and the eggs hard to spot.
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Here is an older otter, recognized by the light colored fur on its face. It is grooming itself after eating. Otters must have one of the cutest faces in the animal kingdom
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This is one otter trying to persuade another otter to share its meal. It wasn't very successful.
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A lone individual popped up out of the water after a dive for food. We suspected he has a clam grasped in his paws. Otters love shellfish.
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The otter balanced his "plate" on his stomach while enjoying that last little morsel.
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A shell was almost the size of the otter's head, but was no match for its appetite.
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A capybara peeking coyly from behind its giant palm frond.
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(371 views)
This killdeer tried to lure me away from her nest and eggs fluttering her wings as if injured. Ironically, the only reason I knew her nest was nearby was because of the mother killdeer's behavior. She faked being hurt and then looked back to see if I was buying it.
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This Capybara needs a good brushing.
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Two Macaws preening one another. A very intimate, gentle moment in a birds' life.
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To our left as we exited the harbor and entered the slough, we saw an old pier covered with sea lions. We slowly motored past them. It was quite satisfying to be at their level and so close to them. I feel like I ended up with a family portrait instead of a wildlife photo.
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(371 views)
Sea Otters appeared to spend a great deal of their time grooming themselves. They use their bodies as tables, so have to keep food scraps washed off. While they clean, they also push and sometimes blow air bubbles into their fur. The extra air trapped in their fur contributes to their buoyancy and increases insulation.
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Catching the afternoon sun, the master of the grasses rests in its domain.
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Sea Lions swam in and out of sunlight and shade beneath the wharf in Santa Cruz.
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King of the mountain and he knows it.
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A large group of pelicans were perched on the fish processing equipment.
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(370 views)
Here is another otter grooming or maybe he is thinking "oh, not another boatload of paparazzi!"
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(370 views)
It was beautiful day in Santa Cruz and I had been photographing the sea lions when this pelican landed a few feet away on the pier railing.
If there was ever a compelling visual argument for birds being the modern descendants of dinosaurs, it's the pelican. I could easily imagine them flying just out of reach above the snapping jaws of some aquatic sea monster.
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The pelican glides effortlessly over the surface of the sea.
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This is a close-up of the same Pelican I posted yesterday,
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The fisherman hadn't noticed that a pelican had just landed next to him on the pier.
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(368 views)
A very large, old Leopard Tortoise sunned itself that afternoon.
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Prehistoric looking pelicans sun and preen in the winter sun.
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