Journal
Shorter writing that doesn’t have an album attached. If an album’s caption would run over a paragraph, I move it here. Some entries are about photography, some are just about weather.
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Hauled-out harbor seals
On not getting closer than 100 yards.
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A correction on that owl in album #17
It wasn't a Barred Owl. A reader pointed out the wing barring is wrong.
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Fog at Point Reyes
The marine layer eats half the day and makes the other half.
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Finally, a decent kingfisher
After a year of trying.
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Ethics of pishing
Thinking harder about what I owe the bird.
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Got beat by a local at a hide
A small lesson in photography etiquette.
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A new-to-me woodpecker
First Red-bellied of the season and first of the year.
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Snake instead of a warbler
A garter snake stole the morning.
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What 'pale' means in a field guide
Color terms are relative and the context is always missing.
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A quiet morning at Magee
Not every fallout fallout-s.
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Backlight
Stop fighting it. Start using it.
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Plant ID is different
Botanical keys make bird ID feel simple.
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A mediocre sunrise at Malheur
Not every trip produces the cover shot.
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A sparring pair of coots
A small drama worked out on the water.
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Quail at dawn
A morning with California Quail at a suburban edge.
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Notes on file naming
Dull but important.
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Rented a 600/4 for a week
First impressions from seven days with a supertelephoto at a local refuge.
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Earmarking a new patch
How I decide whether a place is worth a second visit.
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When the trip produces nothing
How to find value in an empty day.
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Cleaning a sensor the wrong way
Don't do what I did. Here's what I did.
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Tide table notes for Bolinas
Working out when to arrive and when to leave the mudflats.
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Sparrow ID is a winter project
Chipping away at LBJs from the kitchen window.
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A grackle is a grackle
Learning to appreciate the common.
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Found a pellet
Under an alder by the creek. What it told me and what it didn't.
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Autumn warblers are impossible
On the humbling experience of fall warbler ID.