Favoritos de djparisi

This was an hour-long trailing experience. A family of three mountain lions killed a deer at one end of the riverbar. They then dragged it all the way to the other end and into the brush, where they fed on it for several days.

This observation shows the central part of the trail. At one point, one of the smaller mountain lions, assumed to be one of the nearly-grown kittens, assisted the mother lion in carrying the carcass. It left a consistent drag mark, so they were not able to lift it completely off the ground. I found it interesting that two were cooperating to carry the kill. The tracks showed evidence of bearing extra weight due to increased toe splay, push-offs in the soil, claws deployed for traction, and the position in the trail. The nail marks are thin and sharp and on a plane above the base of the toe marks in the track. Fur on the ground indicated the identity of the prey, as did drag marks presumed to be from the hooves.

According to the kind folks at the California Condor Recovery Program, this individual is an adult female that was released at Pinnacles Natl. Monument, but now spends most of her time along the Big Sur coast. She is unusual in that she is part of a trio of condors nesting in the hollow of a large redwood. It is unknown if she is the biological mother, but she has helped incubate the egg and is now helping feed the chick. This is one of the very few instances of a trio of condors working together to raise a chick.

A case of right time and place: Under a tree filled with 200 noisy Blackbirds I had heard from half a mile away, was a Great Blue Heron slowly approaching a dirt mound typical for Botta’s Pocket Gophers in the area. With one energetic strike, the Heron pulled a Gopher out of its burrow and within only 7 seconds had forced it into its throat. (Time code of Gopher grab: 11:55:50. TC of Gopher disappearance: 11:55:57.) Was the Gopher still alive at this point? The Heron stood still with its neck stretched all the way up for about a good minute, while the Gopher traveled down the neck into the Heron’s stomach…

After swallowing a whole Gopher, you’d think the Heron would go find a nice place to digest its meal. But not this one. At 12:05, ten minutes after the catch, the bird nearly grabbed another one…

i saw a group of 32 condors on my way home today. some were in the air but most were on the ground.

Interesting note on this observation; I reported thier sighting to Ventura Condor, submitting all visible numbers on birds. After their study they concluded that two separate groups of birds had combined unto this spot (several black garbage bags had attracted them) in this large group was noted a bird that had been lost from tracking for a number of years. Maybe 10?? Everyone was happy to see it.

I don’t why this cracked me up so much, but this puma sat in this position for over an hour today. She was so comfortable that she refused to budge, and her paws were sticking out like this the whole time.

I was reading plants for CPP when this I heard this bobcat in the grass behind me, 2-3m away. The picture crouched in the grass was taken then. I left immediately. An hour later I went back to finish what I was doing, and the same cat was less than 1m from the trail, and growled and hissed as I approached, so I backed away, taking the standing shot then.