For the second year in a row, at least that i've noticed, this osprey has visited this snag at lake nacimiento to feast on the lakes fine bass and other fare. An osprey can dive down as far as three feet to catch a live fish, this spotted bass got a little to close to the surface and became lunch.
An ospreys' diet consists mainly of live fish and they are far more common in northern regions but this one found a honey hole in central california. While I was observing this one a juvenile eagle showed up and attempted to take the bass for itself. sorry no photos other than the aftermath of the unsuccesful eagle soaring overhead.
females
I'm not gonna include a lot of info about these animals simply because there is a dedicated group of individuals who donate their time and efforts to cataloging the ongoings and schedules of this group of elephant seals in san simeon california. The group refer to themselves as friends of the elephant seals and their website is elephantseal.org. Another interesting site is noaa.com where they tag and track seals with gps tags, the title is tagging of pacific pelagics.
male
mirounga angustirostris
young males
seasoned vet
The best time to witness the births taking place is in january at the elphant seal viewing area in san simeon ca. on highway 1. check on elephantseal.org for full schedule
Depending on your geographical location here in the u.s. these may be referred to as boar, feral hogs, wild hogs, or as i say simply wild pigs. They are an introduced species that has adapted well and populated to staggering numbers, and in many cases has become a nuissance animal to the agriculture industry and private landowners alike. They first showed up on our continent in the 1500's brought by spanish explorers as part of their native diet, and later planted in certain as a game animal for sport.
note the large tusks
Although not a native to our land they are still an admirable animal both adaptable and fierce. You will not find one when they are bedded down unless you accidentally stumble upon there hidden spot and its usually in thick cover, but you can spot them sometimes in the early mornings along roadways when they dont mind being spotted as they root through the ground to locate food for their highly varied diet. Eating just about everything you can shake a stick they have a distinct advantage over native animals and often compete for food with them . With sharp tusks a head hard as a rock and weight that can top 400 pounds combined with strength in numbers they usually stand a pretty good chance. Pigs can cover a 10 mile distance in a day searching for food usually close to a water source used for wallowing, hogs do not contain sweat glands so they use water as a cooling method.
tree rub
In order to find pigs you'll have to read the signs they leave behind which are usually very unsubtle. After wallowing they use nearby trees to remove the mud and get a good scratch sometimes scraping their tusks deep into the bark see below.
tusk scars in bark
The below photo shows one of the factors of why pigs are hunted down to reduce their numbers, farmers will show up in the morning to this sight in their crops and turn to trapping and hunting to protect their livelihood Even with population control efforts pigs populate so rapidly and constantly they will be a permanent part of our ecosystem whether they are liked or not.
