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sonoma

  1. G

    Help with loon ID - Sonoma County, CA, USA

    Hi all, I have been going back and forth on these loons I saw from shore in Bodega Bay, CA a couple of weeks ago (June 28). There were two groups of loons, both a few hundred yards out, one single loon, and then a group of 5 in a different spot. I think they are of two different species, but...
  2. The rolling hills of Sonoma County, Northern California

    The rolling hills of Sonoma County, Northern California

    Practically anyplace you stand in Sonoma County during the summer, you will have a view of our gently rolling hills covered with wild oats and dotted with oak trees just like this one... The famous San Francisco newspaper columnist, Herb Caen, once called these hills "tawny lions sleeping...
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • hills sonoma
    • Comments: 7
    • Category: Landscapes
  3. "Indian Pink"

    "Indian Pink"

    I found these gorgeous members of the "pink" (or carnation) family on a very rural back road here in Sonoma County. The color is to die for! ;o)
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • pinks silene sonoma
    • Comments: 4
    • Category: Wild Flowers, Trees, Shrubs, Fungi
  4. A Kingbird (I think...)

    A Kingbird (I think...)

    I've never seen one of these around the "wild hinterlands" before. As near as I can tell, I think it's a kingbird. :o)
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • kingbird sonoma
    • Comments: 9
    • Category: North America
  5. Vaux's Swift??? (help!)

    Vaux's Swift??? (help!)

    I know that we have either "swifts" or "martins" that return here to "the wild hinterlands" near my house every year because I read an account in one of the local newspapers that a group of ornithologists were making a trip out to see them. I know this isn't a tree...
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • sonoma swift
    • Comments: 6
    • Category: North America
  6. Brodiaea

    Brodiaea

    This member of the lily family called "Elegant Brodiaea" (we have a couple of other native varieties of Brodiaea) blooms later in the year than most of our other wildflowers here in Sonoma County.
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • brodiaea sonoma wildflower
    • Comments: 6
    • Category: Wild Flowers, Trees, Shrubs, Fungi
  7. Oregon Alligator Lizard

    Oregon Alligator Lizard

    I'd never seen an "alligator lizard" until we moved into the ole singlewide a couple of years ago -- and I was raised in Sonoma County, Northern California almost all my life! They absolutely DO bear a resemblance to alligators. We usually have just one or two around the house --...
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • alligatorlizard lizard reptile sonoma
    • Comments: 8
    • Category: Reptiles
  8. Anna's Hummingbird

    Anna's Hummingbird

    This little guy flew up and perched on a tree-branch barely 12 feet from me. He sat there for quite awhile thus allowing me to take several shots of him -- all the while being scolded by another Anna's unseen off in the brush. Every couple of seconds, he would turn his head and look in the...
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • anna's hummingbird sonoma
    • Comments: 8
    • Category: North America
  9. Flowers of the "Soap Plant"

    Flowers of the "Soap Plant"

    A tuber used by local Native Americans as detergent, scrubbers and paintbrushes, the humble "soap plant" is a very common native plant in the dry hillsides of my home here in Sonoma County, Northern California. From this angle, we can see the brownish stripes beneath the flower petals...
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • soapplant sonoma wildflowers
    • Comments: 5
    • Category: Wild Flowers, Trees, Shrubs, Fungi
  10. Tonight's sunset...

    Tonight's sunset...

    06/18/2011. At one point this evening, the entire sky was glowing bright orange from the light of this sunset. Truly breathtaking...
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • sonoma sunset
    • Comments: 9
    • Category: Landscapes
  11. A clown or a mime?

    A clown or a mime?

    I can't decide which the acorn woodpeckers (the many) that live here in the "wild hinterlands" of my native Sonoma County, Northern California, look more like! Around here, they are the most numerous of all the birds and they also make up the "advance alarm system" that warns...
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • acorn sonoma woodpecker
    • Comments: 9
    • Category: North America
  12. "Give us a kiss, then..."

    "Give us a kiss, then..."

    Mama muledeer steals a sugar from her baby. (I apologize for the poorer quality of this photo but the sun was setting and I had to take it using the optical and digital zoom. I hope the subject matter makes up for it, though...)
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • muledeer sonoma
    • Comments: 10
    • Category: Wild Mammals
  13. I found a BIG one!

    I found a BIG one!

    Believe it or not, this little oak titmouse actually flew away with this acorn in its mouth!
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • acorn sonoma titmouse
    • Comments: 6
    • Category: North America
  14. Ev'rybody Crazy 'Bout a Sharp-Dressed Bird...

    Ev'rybody Crazy 'Bout a Sharp-Dressed Bird...

    What a finely-dressed little, male housefinch! With his striped vest and his vermillion cravat... He looks especially pretty in the branches of this flowering tree. That day he was just singing his little heart out, too!
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • finch sonoma spring
    • Comments: 4
    • Category: North America
  15. Oh, GAWD! How I LUV summer!

    Oh, GAWD! How I LUV summer!

    That's what this little Western Fence Lizard seems to be saying... I have to say, I AGREE! :^D !
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • fencelizard lizard sonoma summer
    • Comments: 8
    • Category: Reptiles
  16. Young Red-Shoulder Hawk

    Young Red-Shoulder Hawk

    This little guy lives near the cemetery in Sebastopol CA where the historical society that I am a member of (and serve on the Board of Directors) holds its annual "Cemetery Walk" fundraiser on 2 nights (8 performances) each October. The Walk consists of a "soup 'n salad...
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • buteo lineatus hawk juvenile/immature redshoulder sonoma
    • Comments: 8
    • Category: North America
  17. White-tailed kite attacking red-tailed hawk

    White-tailed kite attacking red-tailed hawk

    The local white-tailed and "Maury", the local red-tailed hawk have never gotten along well. This time of year (when I'm pretty sure both have young'uns in their nests) their relationship is particularly strained. I snapped this shot in-between the kite's dive-bombs. While Maury is...
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • hawk kite sonoma
    • Comments: 10
    • Category: North America
  18. Yellow-rumped [Audubon's] Warbler

    Yellow-rumped [Audubon's] Warbler

    These guys come here to the "wild hinterlands" of Sonoma County, Northern California, in the early spring, nest and leave by mid-spring.
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • sonoma warbler yellow rumped
    • Comments: 7
    • Category: North America
  19. Cedar Waxwing in Fall

    Cedar Waxwing in Fall

    Some of these were mixed in with a flock of Western Bluebirds. They were all going bonkers for the ornamental pistachio berries... I love the colors in this photo!
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • sonoma waxwing
    • Comments: 8
    • Category: North America
  20. Bed/Red Ribbons

    Bed/Red Ribbons

    These brightly colored members of the Clarkia family grow on sunny hillsides here in Sonoma County and put on quite a "splashy" show!
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • bedribbons clarkia sonoma
    • Comments: 4
    • Category: Wild Flowers, Trees, Shrubs, Fungi
  21. The view to the south...

    The view to the south...

    Taken late on a summer afternoon, the view from my front yard looking across the next hill toward the south. A typical Sonoma County, Northern California, landscape: The tawny hills covered with dry wild oats showing one of our magnificent "valley oaks".
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • california sonoma
    • Comments: 7
    • Category: Landscapes
  22. The Fox Who Followed Me Home

    The Fox Who Followed Me Home

    You can read how it came about in my blog entry at: http://www.birdforum.net/blog.php?b=4409
    • PiscesPtah
    • Media item
    • california fox sonoma
    • Comments: 2
    • Category: Wild Mammals
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