Wilder Ranch~

I wish I could travel back in time to the mid-1800’s and live at Wilder Ranch. You are looking at the original ranch buildings which are now a museum.

The Wilder’s bought the property as a dairy farm in the late 1800’s.

The ranch covers 7000 acres of pristine coastal and marine habitat in Northern California’s Santa Cruz County.

The good news is, the Wilder family sold the property to the state in the 1960’s and it is now a protected marine and wildlife sanctuary and state park.

As you can see, it is a rich habitat, home to 1000’s of birds. I was amazed by the number of bird species I saw and photographed here.

The ranch has some 34 miles of hiking trails, all with stunning views of the coast and coastal valleys.

It is also a diverse marine environment with otters, seals and whales. Even Blue Whales are here, attracted by the mile deep Monterey Trench, the deepest marine canyon off the west coast of North America.

Camping is prohibited to protect the wildlife, but you can spend as many days as you like exploring the ranch on foot. I recommend visiting in winter when the whales are swimming by!

Cheers to you from stunning Wilder Ranch~

Birds of the Far South (pt. I)~

Mar13

There are lots of birdies in the southern hemisphere! They can fly where humans (and boats) flounder.

This osprey was the furthest north of all the birds pictured here. Ospreys are the most widely distributed bird in the world after peregrine falcons, and can be found on every continent except Antarctica. This guy was in Peru.

Magellanic Oystercatchers live on the tip of South America in Argentina, Chile, and The Falkland, Sandwich, and South Georgia Islands.

Peruvian Pelican’s are a near threatened species and are twice the size of their Brown Pelican cousins.

They can be found off the coasts of northern and southern Chile and Argentina. Standing next to them, they reached my shoulder!

These Brown Pelicans live as far south as the northern coast of Chile, which is where their territories overlap with Peruvian Pelicans whose distribution continues to the south.

This juvenile Black Crowned Night Heron,

was busy catching and swallowing a snake!

Cheers to you from the incredible birds of the southern hemisphere, and stay tuned for more, even further south~

Awestruck~

Apr1

by Dubrovnik!

George Bernard Shaw called the city “paradise on earth,”

and it is easy to see why.

Dubrovnik is a 12th Century masterpiece sitting on the jewel like Adriatic Sea.

The old city is surrounded by towering medieval walls, looming up to 80 feet over the city.

The walls can be walked in entirety,

offerring incredible views over the old city and the sea.

Game of Thrones was filmed here,

because the city retains a magical sense of unique ancientness.

Cheers to you from magical old Dubrovnik~
(Excuse my absence, but I should be returning to available wifi in a few days!)

Bouncing Baby Buffalos~

Oct3

don’t like birds on their bum!

Some fight with their friends,

while others prefer their sulfur-bath time!

They are cute enough,

to want to bring home,

although they need their prairie to roam.

Cheers to you from Yellowstone’s baby buffalos~

Grizzly Daze~

Sep17

Glacier National Park is Blackfoot ancestral land. The Blackfoot people believe that grizzly bears can see into a human heart and read a person’s intentions. This is mama grizzly and her cub when we first encountered her on the trail and she went into high alert.

Here is mama after she looked into our hearts, approved our intentions, and took one of several naps. We spent several hours watching mama and cub, and have encountered bears every day since, both in Glacier and Waterton National Parks.

Here mama and cub are both relaxed enough to nurse in our presence!

She knew we were here, and looked at us regularly. We respected her space and never moved close enough to provoke any anxiety.

We watched her forage,

turn over rocks, hunt for rodents,

and fish.

We watched baby bear scratch his back on a little pine tree,

and we saw mama yell at him!
.
This is mama bear’s home. She is as magnificent as her surroundings. Grizzly populations have been decimated in the wild. I have a lot more bear and other wildlife photos to share with you, but wifi out here is far less present than bears! This my first connectivity in days and it won’t last!
I miss you and your blogs, and send you cheers from the wonderful wild grizzlies who see into our human hearts and look to us for protection~

El Mundo del Flores~

Aug24

This post didn’t show up in the reader so I am forced to reblog. Sorry!

The World of Flowers~

Our world of pain (passion flowers, Florida),

is also our world of beauty.

Consider the flowers (salt water marsh flowers, Patagonia).

Gifts to remind us everyday (freesias, The Azores),

in every corner of the planet (tulips, Ireland),

that although there is pain (tulips, Netherlands),

there is also beauty (water lily, Huahine).

Cheers to your from all the flowers on our beautiful planet (ranunculus California)~

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Holler Hummer Home~

Jul21

This hummingbird has quite a long tongue for a tiny little creature doesn’t he?

It’s good to be home, because the Holler Hummer’s live here, and I missed them!

I counted 35 today, at our three, 40 ounce feeders.

Anna’s, Black Chinned, Allen’s and Rufous hummingbirds live at The Holler.

I read in an online hummingbird forum that people don’t believe that feeders get more than one or two birds each.

They should stop by The Holler around 6pm when each feeder is mobbed by more than 10 hummers.

Hummers have the largest brain to body mass of any bird in the world i.e., they are clever little buzzers.

These tiny birds can migrate 1000’s of miles.

But many call the Holler home year round.

Which is why, there is no place like home!
Cheers to you from the astonishing, numerous, and quite clever, Holler Hummers~