And now the Rhodies are in full force

Looking out the master bedroom window from the rhododendrons past the waterfall to the tulips.




Coming in the Front Gate with a closeup.

It's Spring!

Most Days, anyway.

My theory is that the SF has digital weather. Either it's summer or winter on any given day. There are just more summer days in July than in January.

Still, when the balance shifts and you start getting more summer days than winter ones, out come the spring flowers!

Flowers and Elephant Seals

Spring flower season is starting up. There first Rhodies, Irises, and Daffodils are beging to bloom.





the small purple guy in the lower right is an iris

Here are some pictures from a walk on Drakes beach at low tide on a cloudy day. The Elephant Seals seem to be extending their range down the beach from their breeding area near the south end of the point. This guy was the furthest north. We were the required 150 feet away but he was a bit skitish. Just a youngster, I think. He was fine when we first noticed him quite close and backed off quickly towards the shore. But when we stopped with camera and binoculars and focused on him he let us know we were still inside his comfort zone so we moved on.

It's important to keep the proper distance from marine mammals large and small. With binoculars or zoom on a camera you can see them clearly but not add stress to their lives.

Also out, hang gliders and para-sailors.

I keeping with my vow of photos, here's some. This is a small tree totally covered with Spanish Moss found along the trail between Sea Ridge and Heart's Desire Beach.

And a few more photos from the new year's weekend.

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.