Keyhole Arch at Sunset, Big Sur, California, December 4, 2023

 We heard about this phenomenon over a year ago and were looking forward to seeing and photographing and videographing this effect for ourselves. During the winter season, the setting sun lines up with the opening in Keyhole Arch, a sea arch at Pfeiffer Beach in the Big Sur area. We checked on the azimuth of the setting sun during the dates that were recommended in an online article from a couple of years ago and then checked with timeanddate.com to see when the sun would be setting at that same angle before the winter solstice.

We ventured to Pfeiffer Beach on December 3, 2023, but the skies were cloudy and only saw a white glow through the arch from the sun. The next day December 4th was clear and we were able to see the setting sun cast this fiery glow through the arch.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Columbine flowering in the Snake River Canyon. Idaho

We found this columbine flowering along the Snake River Canyon near Twin Falls, Idaho. It was along the trail to the Perrine Coulee Waterfall. We stopped to get pictures of them on our way back. These flowers are pollinated mainly by hummingbirds. 

Image taken with a Samsung A52, 5.23 mm, f1.8, 1/120 sec. ISO 40

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Great Blue Heron stalking gophers on the Monterey Peninsula

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While driving around the Monterey Peninsula, we saw this great blue heron beside the road at a city park. After we watched and photographed him for a while, we realized he was hunting gophers, the animals that made the mounds he was walking over. We even saw it take a stab at the ground trying to snag one, unsuccessfully. The blood stains on his bill especially visible in the closeup photo may indicate that he has been successful in past attempts. 

We drove on later to look at more parts of the peninsula, and then, when it started raining, we turned around and headed back. This heron was still there, on the hunt.

The first image was taken with a Canon Powershot SX530 HS at f5.6, 1/100 sec, ISO 100, 51.9 mm.

The closeup was taken with a Canon EOS 90D with a 100-400 mm zoom lens at 400 mm with 1/125 sec., f5.6 at ISO 400 exposure.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Male Anna's Hummingbird bobs up and down while feeding

 

We often get hummingbirds visiting our feeder in the backyard. I had my phone out and ready to record today, so I tried following this hummingbird and saw the bobbing action when I played it back. Anna's hummingbird males have a throat that shines red when the light hits it just right. They have become year-round residents of California's Central Valley thanks to all the people putting out hummingbird feeders or planting plants that flower during the colder months. Enjoy!

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Oregon Cave flowstone feature, frozen waterfall or cascading mineral formation

A tall column of cascading flowstone in Oregon Cave National Monument. The interior of a solution cave forms as water containing carbonic acid drips through the ground and dissolves the limestone or marble. Then continued dripping water leaves behind the calcium carbonate mineral as the water evaporates. The mineral builds up over several centuries to create features like this flowstone that looks like a frozen waterfall.

The original wall of a cave is referred to as speleogen, while the mineral deposits added later are called speleothems. So, this flowstone is an example of speleothem formation.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Great American Eclipse, Annular eclipse, October 15, 2023, from Crater Lake National Park

 Rick and Bob chose to go to different places to observe the annular solar eclipse. Bob went to southern Utah, to Natural Bridges National Monument. Rick went to Crater Lake National Park, in Oregon. The forecast in Oregon was for cloudy skies, so Rick went there with the possibility of not seeing the eclipse at all in his mind. He drove into the park around 6:30 a.m. and got to the rim of Crater Lake, where there were already huge crowds of people hoping to see the eclipse, too. The cloud cover had an interesting pattern, though, so he took some photos of the clouds over Crater Lake and the rising sun over the lake, as well. 

The time arrived for the eclipse to start, but the cloud cover hid the event from us. Rick got nice photos of the lake and sky, but no eclipse. Snow was on the ground from an early storm, but the park service had cleared the roads in time for the eclipse. Rick got in his truck to warm up and kept checking the time to monitor the progress of the eclipse. Then he saw a couple in the next car over get out, put on their eclipse glasses, and start pointing at the sky. That encouraged Rick to get out and have a look and there it was! Through breaks in the cloud cover, you could see the eclipse in progress. This photo was taken at the peak of annularity. The cloud cover ended up adding drama to the image.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Natural Bridge Falls and Boulder River panorama

Natural Bridge Falls is located in Montana as part of a National Forest Day Use Area. A natural bridge above the waterfall gave the area its name. The original bridge collapsed in 1988, but the stream flows through an underground passage that still qualifies as a natural bridge. It's just much less obvious.

This picture shows the Boulder River emerging from the passage below the brink of the falls and then continuing downstream in a wide meander. During high water, the river will flow over the falls and through the passage. 

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Finger Arch, aka West Rim Arch, McInnis Canyons Recreation Area, Colorado

 One of the hikes Bob went on with the Natural Arch and Bridge Society's 2023 Fall Arch Rally was to the above arch named Finger Arch.  It is also known as West Rim Arch. The first photo was shot with a Canon EOS 6D Mark II, while the second photo was shot with a GoPro 8 Black with its wider angle view.

 Getting to and from Finger Arch was less than a three mile round trip hike that involved some bushwhacking and scrambling up and down steep slopes.  It is a mature, pothole type arch eroded into Entrada Sandstone and has a span of 50 feet and the opening is 30 feet wide.  It gets the name West Rim Arch, because it's one of several arches in Rattlesnake Canyon, but is on the western edge of the canyon while many of the other arches are on the east.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Collared Lizard, Flume Canyon, McInnis Canyon National Conservation Areal, Colorado

 This little guy is a collared lizard.  Bob encountered it in Flume Canyon in the McInnis Canyon National Conservation Area, Colorado while hiking out from his Arch Rally hike to see Picture Window Arch and The Spectacles double arch.

The male of the collared lizard (Crotaphytus collaris) is brightly colored often with greens and yellows.  The coloration of the female is more subdued, but they both have the dark band around their necks that gives the species its name. They are a common species in rocky and arid regions

This image is heavily cropped from the original photo due to Bob not having a long telephoto lens with him during this hike.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Painted Wall, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, Colorado

 After attending the Fall 2023 Arch Rally at Colorado National Monument with the Natural Arch and Bridge Society, Bob headed to the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.  This impressive cliff is called the Painted Wall and Bob photographed at late morning.  This 2250 foot cliff is one of the tallest cliffs in Colorado. The lighter colored streaks through the cliffs are a mineral called pegmatite that intruded into the prevalent gneiss and schist formations.

The Gunnison River is visible at the canyon bottom.  It has one of the steepest descents of any river system, which contributed to its carving such a deep and narrow canyon.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Centennial Arch, aka, East Rim Arch, Rattlesnake Canyon, McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area, Colorado

 During the Natural Arch and Bridge Society's Fall 2023 Arch Rally, Bob got to hike into Rattlesnake Canyon in the McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area, Colorado.  One of several impressive arches was this one called Centennial Arch, but is also know as East Rim Arch, but is also known as Akiti Arch.

Accordig to Robert Vreeland, this is an old pothole-type arch with a span of 40 feet, a height of 120, a thickness of 8 feet, and a width of 10 feet.

Reaching this arch took a long drive over rough 4WD roads.  The hike to it was only about a mile and a half, but the hosts of this hike had the group downclimb through the first arch we came to using a nylon webbing handline, which they had to climb back up through at the end of the hike.  Our main host wanted this to be an afternoon hike, so that the lighting was better for taking photos of the arches.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Bald Eagle perched on a lodgepole pine in Hope Valley, Alpine County, California

 A young bald eagle flew onto a branch of a lodgepole pine tree while we were getting in a little bit of cross-country skiing before the snow melted. This 2022-2023 rainy season was record-breaking, so the ski season extended well into May. The ski was completely overcast and it looked like more precipitation was on its way. We were about to pack up the skis when we saw this big bird coming right toward us before swooping up into the tree. You can tell this eagle is not mature yet because of the brown streaks on the head. As they mature, the feathers covering the head will become all white. 

Hope Valley is the largest valley in the Sierra Nevada mountain range. It's located in Alpine County, south of Lake Tahoe after you pass over Luther Pass.

Remember it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Bighorn Sheep having lunch on a slope in Glacier National Park

We saw a small herd of bighorn sheep along the Going-to-the-Sun Road, in Glacier National Park, cross the road and head down the slope. This bigger male was keeping others away from the spot he wanted so he could get the choicest vegetation. I waited for him to move away from the rest of the herd and get to the spot he wanted before I captured this image. We were along the road west of Logan Pass.

215 mm focal length, f8, ISO 200, 1/80 sec

Remeber, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Shoshone Falls double rainbow, July 1, 2023

 While waiting for the night to fall to look for moonbows in Shoshone Falls, we spent the afternoon getting photos of the falls during the day, including seeing this double rainbow in the mist of the falls.

These falls are east of Twin Falls, Idaho and at this viewing, there was a good flow of water, thanks to releases from upstream dams on the Snake River.  This view is from the main viewing platform for the falls in Shoshone Falls Park.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Moonbow in Upper Mesa Falls, Mesa Falls Scenic Byway, Caribou-Targhee National Forest, Idaho

 After our successful photo trip to Shoshone Falls to see a moonbow in its mist (see the previous post), we headed to the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway to see if we could photograph a moonbow in Upper Mesa Falls along the Mesa Falls Scenic Byway in the Caribou-Targhee National Forest in eastern Idaho.  We had heard from a forest supervisor about a year ago that she already knew that someone had photographed a moonbow in Upper Mesa Falls, so we knew it could happen.

We hadn't modeled the terrain and moon's path ahead of time, so we didn't know where the best vantage point was or when it might happen.  We headed to the main observation platform the night of the full moon, Monday, July 3rd.  The moon was rising behind a cloud bank along the eastern horizon.  As soon as the moon cleared the clouds, its light shot up the canyon making the whole streamcourse glow up to and beyond the Upper Mesa Falls.  We saw this moonbow almost as soon as the moonlight set the canyon aglow around midnight.  It appeared fairly close to the waterfall itself and progressed toward the waterfall as the moon rose.  It soon seemed that the moonbow would be drowned out by the waterfall itself.

We moved to another observation platform to our left and caught sight of another moonbow and watched it as it progressed to the right, toward the waterfall, just like the previous one had done.  We left around 2 AM with that moonbow still visible, but getting very close to the waterfall and we presumed that it was about to disappear.

The photo above is of that initial moonbow sighting and is a vertical in order to show the stars in the sky to prove that it was taken at night.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

A Moonbow in Shoshone Falls, Twin Falls, Idaho

 We have for the last dozen years or so been making a nearly annual pilgrimage to Yosemite to see the famous moonbows in Lower and Upper Yosemite Falls.  We have long thought that moonbows might occur in other waterfalls, but that few others have thought to look for them there.

 With that in mind, we headed to Twin Falls, Idaho to visit the "Niagara of the West," Shoshone Falls, east of the city along the Snake River.  We got special permission to spend the night there on the night of Saturday, July 1st, two days before the night of the full moon.

Much to our delight, we did see a moonbow in the mist of the gushing waterfalls that is Shoshone Falls.  It first appeared in the far left end of the mist cloud just before midnight and progressed to the right as the moon climbed higher in the sky.  When we left at 2 AM, the moonbow seemingly had pressed itself against the cliff to the left of the waterfall in this view and had shortened to just a stub.

But that means that a waterfall that wasn't known for producing a moonbow, not only produced one for us, but that it lasted for some two hours two nights before the full moon night.

Thanks to Wendy Davis of the City of Twin Falls Parks and Recreation Department for allowing us the opportunity to photograph and videograph the moonbow in Shoshone Falls.  Check out our YouTube timelapse video of this event in our Nature Observations playlist.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Upper Yosemite Falls moonbow closer-in, Yosemite Valley, California, June 2, 2023

This is a tighter shot from the previous posting.  Read the story there behind this photo.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Upper Yosemite Falls with moonbow and reflection, Yosemite National Park, California, June 2, 2023

 After a very wet winter the waterfalls in Yosemite Valley were gushing.  So, it was that we visited Yosemite the night before the full moon, June 2, 2023 to observe the moonbow in Upper Yosemite Falls.  We had gone to Lower Yosemite first, but the mist kicking off the falls was so heavy that we got drenched in a short order.  Only an occasional favorable wind kept us dry before the mist would hit us with a good soaking.

So we decided to go see this night's moonbow in Upper Yosemite Falls instead.  It turned out to be gorgeous.  When the predicted time for the moonbow to start came up and we weren't seeing much happening, we thought we might be disappointed with tonight's display.  The colors of the rainbow started in the main stream of the Upper Falls in a narrow band that wasn't very extensive.  We hoped that eventually the moonbow would work its way downward and eventually hit the big cloud of mist coming off the base of Upper Falls and that's what happened.  Eventually, the moonbow extended across the entire mist cloud to the base of Upper Falls.

Also, thanks to the wet winter, Cooks Meadow, where we shot this from, had a large pool in front of us that provided us with a nice reflection of what was happening up on the granite walls of Yosemite Valley.

If you've never heard of a moonbow, or lunar rainbow, be sure to check out our YouTube video "What is a moonbow?"

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Bridal Veil Falls, Highway 50 near Fresh Pond, California

 

A number of waterfalls are named Bridal Veil Falls with at least two in California.  There's the more famous Bridal Veil Falls in Yosemite National Park and then there's this one along Highway 50 near Fresh Pond.  The highway goes right by this waterfall and there's a broad turnout for travelers to pull off and take in this view.

We stopped off to see this waterfall on Saturday, May 13, 2023.  Since California had gotten a lot of precipitation during a very wet winter season, this Bridal Veil Falls was gushing.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Pigeon Guillemot seabird at Montaña de Oro State Park, California

 

The pigeon guillemot is a seabird that nests on cliffs and feeds on small fish. This bird is in its summer plumage, which is all black with white wing patches. The guillemot is in the Auk family (Alcidae) of birds. This photo was taken at Montaña de Oro State Park in Spooner Cove along the California coast between Morro Bay and Pismo Beach. The birds were nesting on the cliff below us and this one took a break from fishing to care for its feathers.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Phantom Fall with rainbow, North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve, California

 

Phantom Fall gets its name because it's seasonal and might not appear at all in dry years. We hiked out to see it the first week of April in 2023. We arrived just at the right time to see this rainbow form in its mist. The North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve, where the fall is located, is north of Oroville, California. The reserve protects a volcanic tableland that is level for the most part, but streams cut deep gorges in some parts. The water drops along the rock wall, then free falls in front of an alcove. There's a steep trail down to the base of the fall and we saw people walking behind the water.

Canon 70d, ISO 100, f13, 1/30 sec, 49 mm,

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

Indian Lettuce (Miner's Lettuce) at North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve, Spring 2023

 

This unusual plant has white flowers emerging from the center of a circular leaf. It was used as food by the native California people and the gold miners of the 19th century. So it can be called Indian lettuce or miner's lettuce. Its scientific name is Claytonia perfoliata. These plants are found all over California. I even have it growing in my yard, even though I made no attempt to cultivate it.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!

The Fire Wave in Valley of Fire State Park during a New Moon hike, Nevada

 While Bob was attending the Natural Arch and Bridge Society's Spring 2023 Arch Rally, centered in and around Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada, he took advantage of a New Moon Hike event by the park to visit the Fire Wave at sunset and during the evening.

The Fire Wave is a sandstone formation of alternating red and light colored layers.

The park lined the path to the Fire Wave with red LED votive lights and Bob's guessing used the blue LED lights in the photo to highlight the high peak right of center.  The streak in the upper center is an airplane.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Ravine Falls, North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve, near Oroville, California

 A followup to our previous posting.  We went back to the North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve on April 5th, 2023 to take in the wildflowers as well as visiting Ravine and Phantom Falls again.

In January 2023 California was hit with a series of storms and it has been in the media that the seasonal waterfalls at the North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve in northern California were flush with water. This reserve is northeast of Oroville, California.

 This is Ravine Falls is about a mile and a half hike from the trailhead.  This is a difficult waterfall to get a good photo of.  The lower portion is always shaded, while the upper portion, at least when we visited, seemed to have strong backlighting that made for a very contrasty situation.  On this followup visit, Bob used a graduated neutral density filter to reduce the contrast and got this image.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Ravine Falls, North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve, near Oroville, California

In January 2023 California was hit with a series of storms and it has been in the media that the seasonal waterfalls at the North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve in northern California were flush with water. This reserve is northeast of Oroville, California.

 This is Ravine Falls. It's about a mile and a half hike from the trailhead. We knew we were heading toward this waterfall when the trail took us from open rolling plain and started switchbacking down into a ravine, hence the name of the fall.

We had been wanting to visit this reserve for many years now, because of our interest in vernal pools.  They occur in the rolling plains that visitors can see right at the trailhead.

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story.

Valley Oak at sunset, North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve, near Oroville, California

 After an afternoon of hiking in the North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve, near Oroville in northern California, we got back to our vehicle at sunset. Right next to the parking area was this beautiful valley oak, making a silhouette against the bright horizon. We've heard about this place for many years, but this was our first visit and it won't be our last. This visit was in January, so we plan to go back later in the spring when the wildflowers are in bloom.

Taken with a Samsung a52 6u smartphone, ISO 2000, f1.8, 24 mm focal length equivalent, 1/8 sec, using Night Mode without tripod, processed in Digikam and GIMP

Remember, it's not just a picture, it's a story!