northern elephant seal
Mirounga angustirostris

This was the first time in all my years of living in CA that I went to actually see the elephant seals in action. I was surprised to hear how deep and loud they were; it reminded me kinda like hearing a Harley-Davidson motorcycle roaring through the redwoods. Molting, birthing, and mating all in one place at the same time, thanks to a wacky delayed fertilization process. Nature continues to amaze me!

Btw, the official BLM lands is just north of here around the lighthouse. The BLM is starting to attract my attention and appreciation since it also takes care of most (not all) of the Fort Ord Public Lands.

habitat ~ 01/13/08 ~ Elkhorn Slough - NERR

Elkhorn Slough - National Estuarine Research Reserve entrance
January 13, 2008

For a January walk, it was very beautiful at Elkhorn.

oyster mushroom
Pleurotus ostreatus
more information

You'd think it'd be easy to ID fungi, but it's NOT! The terminology messes me up. I'm guessing this is an oyster mushroom, but I really have no idea.

ps 01/01/11 - I'm fairly sure about the oyster mushroom ID and have added names and embedded links above. It has a different look to me from the oyster mushrooms in this post, but who am I to argue?

sunset from home
August 31, 2007