CHINA CAMP PARK AND HAWK HILL

We spent a very rainy Saturday afternoon in China Camp State Park and spotted a Red-Shouldered Hawk.  Due to the rain we ended up heading indoors to a local market we discovered on the way back home.  China Camp is a beautiful seaside park full of beaches and trails.  We will definitely return on a sunnier day.

Sunday was all about the Marin Headlands.  We put some time in on Hawk Hill, and ended up seeing very little.  We have an unconfirmed Vireo sighting, but nothing to add to the list.  On our way back down we stopped at the visitor center and spotted a Bobcat and a large number of deer.

Upon exiting the headlands we ended up spotting a Red-Tailed Hawk at the entrance to the 5 minute tunnel.  It put on a bit of a show for us by fanning out it's back tail feathers, making it very easy to identify.

On our drive home we stopped at the Corte Madera marsh and added a few unique shorebirds to the big year list.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

We spent the day birding at Pt. Reyes National Seashore.  We saw deer and the famous Tule Elk, but not that many birds.  The highlight of the day was a Golden Eagle sighting (unconfirmed), and a brown Pelican sighting (confirmed).  Having spent most of my life in Canada, I never get tired of seeing Pelicans in California.  They're such a unique, prehistoric looking bird.

I spoke to a Park Ranger about the best locations to see Burrowing Owls.  He very reluctantly told me they might be seen at the Drakes Beach Road Junction.  We didn't make it out there today, and I'm not entirely sure if the ranger was actually trying to send us in the wrong direction or not.  He really seemed generally irritated about me trying to find them.  I'm assuming he was probably trying to keep bird-nuts away from the owls ? 

When we jumped out of the car to get a good view of the Tule Elk today we found someone's iphone.
We contacted one of the owners friends, and are currently trying to return it to them.

Overall it was a satisfactory first day of birding, but a great way to spend New Year's day.

BIG YEAR

Well, you heard it here first.  In 2013 I will attempt a BIG YEAR !
I'm limiting myself to Marin County, which has a species list of roughly 485 birds.

Marin County is home to a wide range of birds, and my plan is to see as many of them as I possibly can.

Rich Stallcup is the current county record holder.
In 1998 he spotted a grand total of 362 birds in Marin.
Sadly, Rich passed away earlier this month.
He was a legend amongst local and international birders.
You can read all about his legacy here.


I'll be recording all my sightings on eBird.

There's so many birds in Northern California that I've never seen before.
Hopefully, before the year is over I'll have spotted a Burrowing Owl and a California Condor.
I'm planning to spend January 1st at the Pt. Reyes National Seashore.

Happy Birding !

BABY COYOTE

We found this coyote pup last week while out hiking.  No sign of the mother or other pups, but I'm sure they were close by.  The pup scrambled to try and get away from us, but since the gaps in the fence were too small it couldn't find a way to escape.  Eventually it managed to squeeze it's way through the fence and run off down the hill :)

MORE DEER

DEER

While out for a lunch time hike, we spotted two fawns.  It didn't take long for their mother to show up and guide them into the woods.  There's a lot of fawns in the area right now.  Spring has definitely arrived.

BABY SKUNKS

I spotted this family of baby skunks on my drive home from work.  I think there was 5 of them in total.  They seemed to be having a great time playing together.

MORE MARIN COUNTY SNAKES

FREEDOM CHIPS

For Freedom.

MARIN COUNTY SNAKES

I recently discovered that Marin County is home to a large variety of snakes.  Almost all of them are non-venomous with the exception of the western Rattlesnake.  On a few recent hikes I've been lucky (or unlucky, depending on how you feel about snakes) to spot two snakes.  I believe they are the Rubber Boa, and the Gopher Snake.  Both of these snakes are non-venomous, and like all snakes will only strike for self defense.

ADVENTURE TIME !

I was lucky to find one of these deluxe 10" Finn action figures left at Toys R Us. He comes with the gold sword and his signature backpack. The paint job on this figure is really nice. His face can rotate to 4 different expressions. If you're a fan of Adventure Time, you gotta get one of these !

SPIDER

I spotted this guy while at the gym this morning. It's about the size of the palm of your hand. Yes, there are some really big spiders in California. Sorry for posting this Gio !

REALLY BAD MOVIE

Was this supposed to be a comedy ? A drama ? An action/romance movie ?
I think it wanted to be all of these things but achieved none of the above.
Bad movie.... so bad.

MOVIES

Movies we recently enjoyed:

TOYS IN CEREAL

In America, you can still get toys inside your cereal !

ONLY IN AMERICA

*Nilla is available in Canada too, but it tastes different.

HAPPY NEW YEAR !

It's the last day of 2011 and I'm writing this post from San Rafael, California. We recently made a big decision to leave Canada and move down south. We've settled in an area called Marin County, which is just outside of San Francisco. It's a beautiful place that's a mix of suburbia and nature. Over the past month we've had a chance to explore some of the nearby parks and we've seen all kinds of wildlife. There's Deer, Raccoons, Bobcats, Coyotes, and Wild Turkeys to name a few. I know we've made the right decision.

2012 is going to be a good one :)

Happy New Year !

YAMA

In late 2010 we lost Yama to feline lymphoma. Natsuko and I got her from the Surrey BCSPCA when we were both newlyweds and she was still a kitten. Losing her was devastating. She was our child.

I would like to thank Dr. Galloway, Dr. Millar, and all the staff at the Steveston Veterinary hospital for helping us through a very difficult time.

I would also like to thank Dr. Heseltine, Dr. Lang, and all the staff at Canada West Veterinary Specialists for providing the best possible care to Yama during her final days.

I've been neglecting this blog, because I felt like I had to write something about Yama, but couldn't. I'm unable to put into words how much she meant to us. It's been over a year now and our emotions are still very raw when we think about her. So instead of doing her any injustice, this is all I will write about that.

RIP - DAN WHELDON

Dan, I was lucky to have had the chance to meet you. You were way too young to die.

KANEDA

It's moments like this that remind me why I got into this industry in the first place. Here's a photo of me with Cam Clarke. Cam was the voice of Kaneda in Katsuhiro Otomo's anime classic, AKIRA.