western king bird

 Found this western king bird cruising from perch to perch on the spring greens along a seasonal stream fluttering up and down in between each spot chasing the numerous bugs. the kingbird is part of the flycatcher family and stands its ground against certain raptors, allaboutbirds lists the redtail hawk and kestrel which coincidentally both live in this same area.

Horned Lizard

coast horned lizard

In the northern most section of san luis Obispo county a horned lizard other wise known as a horny toad is not a common sight so I relished in the encounter when an ordinary hike up a steep chapparal covered hillside was intersected by this little bugger crossing the trail right in front of me. these photos were taken last spring but a busted laptop and the daily grind kept me from keeping up with this blog. this guy is no doubt underground right now as they bury themselves and go into a hibernation state for the winter. the lizard was in a perfect location for its diet which consists almost entirely of ants this area is riddled with large red fire ants and carpenter ants along with the common army ants. 

phrynosoma coronatum

annas' hummingbird nest

 I was lucky enough to locate this annas humming bird nest nestled in a forked branch of a coast live oak tree, the nest was only a quarter of the way built but by the end of the week it was fully constructed and she was nesting in the photo above. the next week i visited briefly to find a single egg in the nest and a few days later another had shown up. the eggs incubate in the nest for 16 days before hatching. i was there a couple days after to find two dark grey babies eyes closed no feathers and motionless, sorry no photos i kept most of my visits brief so as not to disrupt nature.

 I followed the growth cycle to this point and never once heard the babies make a peep.

The twins

 The nest is approximately six feet off the ground and if not i never would have found it, it's situated next to tons of this humming bird sage which provides plenty of nectar. since this is a new nest i will keep an eye on it to see if it is reused.

Shell creek

 Right off hwy 58 in san luis obispo county lies shell creek rd. next to the avenales wildlife area. We visit this area every spring to see the abundant and numerous species of wild flowers that occur along the roadside. The variety of wildflowers that occur in the same area together is what keeps us coming back every year. However the flowers are rain dependent and with our light rainfall this year the season and multitude abreviated in comparison to wetter years.

 I got a chance to walk the dry creek bed while the kids were occupied with their mother and was briefly visited by this merlin falcon with snake of some sort gripped in its talons. I was pretty stoked on the sighting since these are only here in the winter and spring is growing long. It took a couple bites from the snake and then i think the glare from my sunglasses on my hat scared it off. It flew off toward a fence line where it was harassed by a redtail hawk trying to steal its meal, I started in that direction to try and photograph the action when i spotted this bullocks oriole shown below.

 When most all wildlife native to our area seems to be wearing camoulflage for concealment it's nice to see something so tropical looking like this bullocks oriole. The pictures dont really do justice to the fluorescent orange this oriole had. Hopefully i will be returning to shell creek road soon and hopefully these visitors will still be around as the orioles are only here in the spring and summer and then off to south america for our winter.

Cedar Waxwing

 A winter visitor to the central coast of california the cedar waxwing is a nice addition to our local avian scene. Im posting these photos a little late they were actually taken in january. It was easy to find this flock as they were quite loud and flying back and forth from the toyon bushes to a tall pine to consume their pickings. A unique bird that can survive solely on fruit but i wish they would stick around here a little longer and help thin out the mistletoe in the oakforests because they are known to eat that as well. unlike other birds who seperate the nut from the fruit they simply swallow the berries whole and pass the seeds.

getting ready to swallow whole

bombycilla cedrorum

Elk tamper

 I arrived to check my camera only to find the angle had been altered and it was pointing into the trees. I had an idea what it was, the elk around here have proven to be really curious and funny animals. you'll notice the first one is a bull elk that has shed its rack, then I think the nudger is the same one with its small antlers growing back. below are a couple older trail cam photos of the same group of elk for reference.

Grey fox 2

 this is from a camera trap set in paso robles california that included striped skunk, mule deer and domestic cow. but most noteworthy this gray fox, native to california but under increasing pressure from the introduced eastern redfox that has been competing for territory and prey. The grey fox is becoming one of my favorites.