lightningspam-photography

There was a decent sized pod of dolphins in these perfect glassy conditions so we spent some time with them before continuing on in search of orcas.

Big male CA122C traveling alone after feeding on a kill subsurface (possibly an elephant seal). While we didn’t see them it’s likely the rest of his family was nearby as males seldom leave their mother’s pod.

Reunited with the CA140Bs after three and a half years! This is matriarch CA140B Louise’s dorsal fin which has a notch that makes her pretty easy to identify. This family of four is now a family of five with the addition of a new calf from Louise.

One of the most unique looking Humpback flukes I’ve personally seen! This whale is a clear survivor of an Orca attack with all those rake marks from their teeth on it.

Stormy days (a rare thing here) mean a chance for rainbows and this one was incredibly bright thanks to bright sun rays illuminating the backside of a downpour.

Another cloud post because it’s so rare we get big puffy ones.

Just some cloud appreciation to start off the year.

At the same time in the other direction the setting sun was obscured by smoke from a large wildfire making it a giant red orb.

I love getting the moon at sunset when the sky is just a bit darker and the moon starting to become illuminated making it really pop in the sky.

The moon during sunset yesterday. It’s rare that I can capture so much detail on it with my camera + lens combo.

While it’s fun to share the maybe lesser seen/less common animals I don’t want to ignore those we probably often overlook either. Like this bird here - a Red-Shouldered Hawk. They can be found along the western coastline of California from about the middle of the state to the Pacific Ocean as well as a vast area of the eastern United States from Florida up into Maine a little and over to roughly the middle of the country.

The first owl I’ve photographed in California! Great Horned Owls are one of the most widespread owl but are seldom seen due to being nocturnal and having great camouflage that hides them while they rest during the day. I got lucky spotting this one late at night while looking for bioluminescence. It was just a vague silhouette to my naked eye but luckily it stayed still enough for me to get a few long exposure shots before it flew off to hunt.

After many days of fighting the fire by American firefighters, Canadian firefighters, Mexican Firefighters and even South African firefighters the blaze has reached 87% contained. This photo is from when it barely had 14% containment. That plane is one of the huge DC 10 tankers that made many passes to drop fire retardant to protect the communities the fire threatened.

A couple more photos of this silly bird for all to enjoy.

This odd North American population is the result of caged birds being released into the wild and the birds being able to sustain a population despite the unnatural environment for them.

This is a shot I got just last night (10/12/24) over the ocean shortly before it set!

Something a little different this time - a video! Showing still images of these animals is fun but sometimes I don’t feel it quite does them justice. Short beaked common dolphins are certainly one of those as they tend to fly out of the water like popcorn. This day the water was incredibly flat offering a clear view of them underwater as one launches itself airborne. Listen to that smack as it hits the water!