I always like it when you can actually see the green in the post-sunset sky.
Jupiter and Saturn (the night before the conjunction) are barely visible in the upper left.
#photo #night #twilight #conjunction
Category: Photog.Social
This cell reception is for the birds
One! Singular sensation!
One! Singular sensation!
A zillion starlings were moving back and forth between the greenbelt and an electrical transmission tower.
A flock of starlings
A flock of #starlings moving back and forth between the ground and an electrical transmission tower (neither of which you can see here, but that’s what they were doing).
Cooper’s Hawk (Takeoff!)
A Cooper’s Hawk I spotted on a walk around the neighborhood.
I heard a *lot* of sparrows chirping in a tree behind a house. Then this hawk flew up and perched on the nearest telephone pole and the sparrows all just dropped silent. It stayed up there for a few minutes, then flew to the next pole, then flew off out of view.
The photos aren’t great, but I like that I managed to catch it this clearly. The last one I saw, I only had my phone with me.
On Photog.Social
Perched on Flickr
Liftoff on Flickr
As I was walking through a residential neighborhood, I heard a *lot* of sparrows chirping in a tree behind a house. Then this bird flew up and perched on the nearest telephone pole and the sparrows all just dropped silent. It stayed up there for a few minutes, then flew to the next pole, then flew off out of view.
Sunset over the ocean.
Sunset over the ocean. In the zoomed shot, just moments after sunset, you can see the silhouette of Santa Barbara Island. There’s a park up in the hills that also has a clear view of the ocean, where you can see the more distant San Nicolas Island next to it. But down here near sea level, it’s below the horizon.
#photo #sunset #ocean
Picked out the best shots of the Point Vicente bluffs.
Picked out the best shots of the #PointVicente bluffs. I got there mid-afternoon & took some photos of the #cove with the historic #lighthouse (and could actually see Catalina Island in the distance!)
Then I walked along the blufftop path along the nature reserve for a while, before turning back to reach the lighthouse area by sunset.
#photo #ocean #california #PalosVerdes #coast
Two more shots from Bluff Cove, this time looking out at the ocean.
Two more shots from Bluff Cove, this time looking out at the ocean.
Small boat sailing on the bay seems like a good way to get out while staying isolated, and surfboards look like they’d be handy to measure minimum distance.
It’s been years since I’ve been on a boat of any sort. But I do remember enjoying small sailboats. Maybe I’ll look for a class when it’s safe to interact with people in person again.
On the way to and from Point Vicente, I stopped at Bluff Cove
On the way to and from Point Vicente, I stopped at Bluff Cove (also on the Palos Verdes peninsula). I was surprised to find that I could plainly see the skyscrapers of downtown Los Angeles in the distance. I guess I’d never been there on a clear enough day before.
There were more people than I expected, but everyone was maintaining distance and most of them were masked up.
Really wish I’d had a tripod for the evening shot, though
#photo #coast #California #LosAngeles #cove #ocean #PalosVerdes
A white-crowned sparrow, spotted in the brush at the top of the bluffs at Point Vicente
Heerman’s gull
Heerman’s gull. They’re not as common here as western gulls, but I do see them occasionally. This one didn’t feel like trying to fly in the wind, which was blowing other seagulls sideways. And in some cases backward.
I found it kind of amusing that the wind was constant enough to keep this sign almost horizontal the entire time.
I found it kind of amusing that the wind was constant enough to keep this sign almost horizontal the entire time.
Waves breaking over the end of a jetty
Waves breaking over the end of a jetty across the way.
Fun fact: I discovered that if the wind is strong enough, it can blow a camera neck strap up and completely off of your head.
Not so fun fact: It was also blowing the tethered lens cap on directly into my face.
#waves #ocean #coast #jetty #photo
A storm blew in over the weekend
Portrait mode does a decent job of imitating depth of field here.
Experimenting with the Pixel 5 camera. Portrait mode does a decent job of imitating depth of field here.
Distant (well, distant enough) wildfire smoke combining with the Belt of Venus effect
Distant (well, distant enough) wildfire smoke combining with the Belt of Venus effect just around sunset. The bike path was one of the few places I had a relatively clear view of the horizon.
Pelican above the bluffs
Walked down to the pier on a gloomy day while my car was in the shop. People were pretty good at spreading out and wearing masks (prob. because the city started fining people back in summer).
Among other shorebirds, I saw a group of a half dozen pelicans whirling around and diving for fish.
#birds #sky #pelican #photo #gloomy
Trying to get a close-up view of the mushroom from below the gills.
Trying to get a close-up view of the mushroom from below the gills.
Oh, well.
Crows seen through this morning’s fog
Crows seen through this morning’s fog. I ended up darkening the image a bit, but decided not to desaturate it any further.
Audubon’s Warbler
Audubon’s Warbler, spotted on top of a lamp post in the park the other morning.