It's a good idea in theory. If we post some photos after each visit to Inverness it will create a photo log of how things look at different times of year.

All this is dependent on actually taking photos and then downloading and posting them. We will try to do better in 2009.

In the interim, this is too good to let slide. This guy looked big -- 70 to 80 lbs maybe. We caught sight of him walking through one of the cow pastures between us and Abbot's Lagoon on our way back from a hike and bird watching.

Also observed but not photographed were sea lions in large groups (30 to 40) herding fish (we think). There were in a line, moving rapidly often surfing a swell, and arching out of the water as they swam like dolphins.

Once more into the Blog

The concept here was to use this as a way to chronicle events...bloom cycles, migration, mushrooms...through the seasons. However for that to work, we have actually to post. Let's see if we can do better from now on. Here's some photos from the last few months.

All photos are from the Sea Ridge grounds.

Rhodies in February have few blooms but gorgeous leaves that catch the drips from fog and mist.

By April the blooms have begun.

Daffodils in February.

Gather steam in March and early April

But are pretty much gone by April's end. Compensating for that, the native iris are up and rolling.

Comments on the photos below

Doing a quick search in Flckr on "Sea Ridge" to find our photos, I discoverd this photo set by Snake Oil.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/36484036@N00/sets/72157600195463962/show/

Nice photos of the Point Reyes area! The building is our cottage. I particularly like his photo of deer in Divide Meadow since it seems to include all the local species. (see below)

Also, he has some nice pictures of Shell Beach at low tide. Shell Beach is just a hike down the hill from Sea Ridge.

Note that you can click the photo to get to Snake Oil's images and then choose the little zoom / all sizes link to get a much enlarged view of the photo. This, for example, makes the deer easier to identify.

Shell Beach #1

Shell Beach #1
Originally uploaded by snake oil.

at low tide

Divide Meadow

Divide Meadow
Originally uploaded by snake oil.

It looks like all three species of Pt Reyes deer are here. The native Black Tails and exotics Fallow and Axis deer.

Kayaks and Quail

More when I get photos from our housemates camera but here's the sight that greeted us one morning...about 40 quail working their way accross the yard...

Okay, well, maybe you had to be there. Those brown lumps are quail, honest.

And here's my son and I in a very interesting kayak designed and built by our friend Sebastian von Nagel:

Elk and Rhodies from June Solstice, nearly.

It has been an very hectic last 30 days and I'm just now getting around to posting pictures from June.

An acquaintance from my son's school told me his best Pt Reyes hike was in the elk perserve on the solstice. Mother elk hide away very tiny babies but when they reach a certain size they rejoin the herd and frolic near sundown. This we had to check out even though we were a week of so early.

Alas, we saw only a few baby elk. Perhaps 'rejoin' is the wrong term above: one tiny one we spotted quickly disappeared into the grass not to be seen again. Perhaps the younger ones are simply hidden away with the herd most of the time. At any rate, sundown does seem to be a good time to see elk. Repeated visits indicate that the herds pick that time to move en masse from place to place...or less traffic means they're willing to move near the road. The youngster pictured above is pretty good sized. We weren't quick enough to get a photo of the tiny one.

Here's another shot from late afternoon the day before.


Meanwhile back at the ranch:

> the Rhododendrons are in full bloom;



> and much of the rest of the garden is blooming, too, for example;



> and, finally, we have new balconies large enough now for deck chairs.