Taveling Out And Point Lobos
Our trip began with a flight from Washington Dulles to San Francisco, California on December 27th. After arriving in San Francisco we made our way through Santa Cruz and on to Carmel for the evening.
On December 28th we visited Pt Lobos State Park in the morning – we did not take a lot of photographs because of large waves and winds.
Here is a photograh of California Sea Lions climbing high on Seal Rocks at Pt Lobos to avoid the large waves.
Big Sur, CA
We drove on to Big Sur in the late morning and visited McWay Falls in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park. We also spent some time looking for the California Condors south of Big Sur, but with the cooler weather and lack of sun, we could not find them either perched or soaring along the coast.
We spent the night in Big Sur.
Here is a photograph of McWay Falls.
Piedras Blancas, CA
On the morning of December 29th we traveled down the coast to San Simeon where we would spend the next four days photographing the Northern Elephant Seals at Peidras Blancas. This was our second trip to Piedras Blancas, having previously visited it in December of 2006.
Here is a photograph of Northern Elephant Seals on one of the Piedras Blancas beaches
Bull Northern Elephant Seals Fighting
The Bull Elephant Seals begin arriving in mid November and establish dominance areas on the beaches where they will eventually fight to control their harems of Cows.
Some of the fights can become quite intense and result in two Bulls biting each other with their teeth and drawing blood.
Here is a photograph of two Bulls fighting.
Northern Elephant Seals
Bulls also spend a lot of their time bellowing their dominance in the rookery.
Here is a photograph of a Bull Bellowing to his harem.
Northern Elephant Seals
Starting in the mid December timeframe, the Northern Elephant Seal Cows use the beaches in the Piedras Blacas area as a rookery and come ashore to birth their pups and feed them for approximately the next four weeks. Cows arrive at different times, with some arriving as late as early February. The pups are usually born 4-5 days after the females arrive.
Here is a photograph of a Pup.
Northern Elephant Seals
The Cows usually feed their pups for around 4 weeks and toward the end of the 4 week nursing time, they breed with the Bulls. Soon after breeding, the Cows depart back to the Pacific Ocean and begin feeding again.
The Pups remain on the beach and they become “Weaners,” since they no longer are being fed milk by the mothers, and thus are weaned. After about 8-10 weeks of teaching themselves how to swim, they eventually leave into the Pacific Ocean and begin foraging for food.
Here is a photograph of Cow nursing her Pup.
Northern Elephant Seal Birth
On January 1, 2010 we were able to witness a Cow giving birth to a Pup. Great way to bring in the New Year!
Here is a photograph of the Pup’s birth.
Pacific Ocean Sunsets
We were also blessed with sunsets on several of the nights.
Here is a photograph of one of those beautiful Pacific Ocean Sunsets.
California Condors
After photographing Northern Elephant Seals in the morning, we made our way back towards San Francisco on January 2nd. We spent some time south of Big Sur looking again for California Condors.
After scanning the sky and trees for almost an hour we were rewarded with a California Condor perched on a snag. The California Condor remained on the snag for about a half hour then took off soaring. We were able to capture several photographs of California Condors perched as well as soaring.
California Condors are the largest flying bird in North America. In 1982 there were less than 25 birds in the wild. Today, through a captive breading program, there are over 150 birds in the wild.
Here is a photograph of a California Condor perched in a tree.
California Condors
Here is a photograph of a California Condor soaring.
California Condor And Returning Home
Here is a photograph of a California Condor perched on a rock.
We stayed the night of January 2nd in San Bruno, CA and returned back to Washington Dulles on Sunday, January 3, 2010.
It was another great trip along the Big Sur coast of California. A super area to visit for a Wildlife Photographer!
