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I don’t know what kind of spider this is, but it was pretty daring to be out in the open at Point Reyes National Seashore (late September). Most of these were in their day-time hideouts, tucked up in a shrub branch. #Arachtober #Spiders  #PointReyesNationalSeashore #Fujifilm #SOoC

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Here are some random through-the-glass-slider photos of a few of the migratory songbirds finding food-a-plenty in our backyard: Yellow-Rumped Warbler & Lesser Gold Finch #YellowRumpedWarbler #LesserGoldfinch #Birds #Yarden

Three Yellow Rumped Warblers forage among brown asparagus fronds. Their yellow bellies are highlighted by the morning sunlight

A Lesser Goldfinch, back to camera & head turned in profile view, is perched in sweet basil foliage, it feasting on dried seeds. It has a yellow face, a black helmet, and white on black chevrons on its black tail.

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Watched: Game of Thrones S8E5, The Bells 🍿

I literally got a few heart-rate alerts on that episode! Yowza. #GameOfThrones

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A thistle on the Tomales Bay Trail at Point Reyes National Seashore last month #BloomScrolling #SundayFlowers #Thistle #PointReyesNationalSeashore

A upright thistle with a large purple explosion of a flower amidst multiple dried out flower heads. The this has some star shaped parts. It is backgrounded by a bokeh of dried grass.

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Here is a contented White Crown Sparrow gorging on seeds from a plant I haven’t identified. #WhiteCrownSparrow #Birds #PointReyesNationalSeashore #Fujifilm #SOoC

A close up of a White Crown sparrow that is facing left, getting ready to tuck into some seeds with tufted tops like a dandelion but much denser, almost like cotton. Its head is prominently stripped white above its eye with a black top of the head,

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Bull Elk at Point Reyes National Seashore. I had some trouble focusing, but I like the meal hanging out of his mouth #BullElk #WildlifePhotography #PointReyesNationalSeashore #Fujifilm #SOoCA Bull Elk is walking to the left in a field of dried grass and forbs. It has a bunch grass or some other vegetation hanging out of his mouth. He has very long antlers with five points. The sky is clear but hazy.

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BLEP. #Blep #Deer #WildlifePhotography #PointReyesNationalSeashore #Fujifilm #SOoCA partial body shot of a young deer, looking to the right, with its tongue sticking out: BLEP. The background is all blur of brown vegetation, with a bit of green. The young deer has debris on its back, probably grass seeds. Its neck and head seem a bit small for its body. Poor thing.

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There are two Ravens at the Point Reyes Lighthouse. And apparently they’re celebrities among the park staff (who are very nice & full of knowledge!). I hope all furloughed National Park staff are okay. These photos are from just before the US Government shutdown. #Ravens #Birds #BirdPhotography #PointReyesNationalSeashore #Fujifilm #SOoC

Two Ravens on a linear concrete structure that runs along Point Reyes Conglomerate. The Raven on the left has their feathers puffed out. Both are looking to the left. The blue sky peaks out a bit above the outcropping.A Raven walks along an inclined roof, with some shiny black feathers being lifted by wind. Its beak is just open and it is looking to the left. The background and the roof are completely blurred out.

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I am not yet furloughed so I’m thankful for that. So here is a stack of snickerdoodles.

Two stacked cooling racks with well baked, cinnamon covered round & flat browned snickerdoodle cookies. It’s all placed on a wooden cutting board.
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Here’s a proud scrub jay with a tasty treat in its beak #WesternScrubJay #Birds #PointReyesNationalSeashore #Fujifilm #SOoC

A Western Scrubjay, with a white underbelly, and a blue upper body with a gray cape, is perched on the top of a weathered wooden post. It has some sort of insect in its beak, maybe a wasp or a hornet. It is in full profile view, though its face is shaded out.

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MADE IN CANADA

A new unweathered pallet stenciled on the side, in red, “MADE IN CANADA”. It is on the top of other old pallets and is in front of a storage container.

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The White Crowns are back! #WhiteCrown #Birds

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Here are a few more photos of the Point Reyes Lighthouse from a few days ago #PointReyesNationalSeashore #Fujifilm #SOoC

The lighthouse frames the right side of the photo, where the sky is slowly being revealed by passing low clouds or fog. The sea is calm.

A view of the iconic red fog horn house on the right and the lighthouse on the left. The fog is clearing with a view port of blue sky on the right. The sun illuminates the scene.

The iconic red fog horn house with a hazy calm ocean behind it. The house is rustic and is in need of a fresh coat of paint. It has a modern electric foghorn and LED beacon setup on the peak of its roof. The building cast a stark shadow to its right (north).

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#GreatBlueHeron #Birds #PointReyesNationalSeashore #Fujifilm #SOoC

A Great Blue Heron, wings spread out, appears to be aggressively stumbling through water, making a small splash with its right foot. It looks very awkward.

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Yesterday, Point Reyes was mostly overcast. Today the clouds burned off by 10am.

Point Reyes Lighthouse, South Beach, and Abbotts Lagoon #PointReyesNationalSeashore

A lighthouse and two utility buildings, capped with red roofs, are lit up by sunlight on their left side. Seas beyond are calm and the sky is clear.

A Long Beach strand faded into the horizon. The surf breaks in white seafoam along the shore. The day is clear, if a bit hazy.

A trail leads to a bridge that’s just before Abbotts Lagoon. An egret can be spotted flying past the bridge. The area is bounded by shallow dunes.

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At Point Reyes National Seashore this morning, we wandered along the Tomales Bay trail. After lunch, we followed the Estero Trail to Schooner bay. Great weather & very relaxing day. We’ll visit the beach & lagoon environments tomorrow. Wildlife photos will come later #PointReyesNationalSeashore

A human, wearing a backpack and a hat, pointing toward a copse of trees in a swale of dried out grass. It’s a bit overcast with some sky showing through.

The Estero at Point Reyes National Seashore. The calm estuary has two fingers of ridges reaching into it, before vanishing under the water. It’s overcast. There’s a beat up wooden hand rail of a foot bridge framing the bottom of the photo.

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At Redwood National and State Parks, last July, this bat was probably sick. It’s sad to see a disoriented bat out in the open daylight and not at its roost or hibernaculum. My telephoto lens let me get a good look without disturbing it. #Myotis #Bat #Skypuppy #NorCalCoast2025 #Fujifilm #SOoCThe backside of a bat, climbing down lap siding. It is nice and fuzzy. You can see its skin lined tail connected to its feet.A brown mouse-eared bat is climbing down the lap siding of a building. Its mouth is open, as it looks down.

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We got the flu and covid vaccines today. No issues at the CVS in town. We did not want to take any chances, so we got them earlier than usual. It’s good to get that task out of my brain.

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The first storm of Fall over the California Northern Coast Range means I should be hearing the song of White Crown birds very soon! (they summer in the foothills and mountains, overwinter in the valley; seemingly they appear shortly after the summer weather breaks)

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Update: Voting is over and Azurite lost.

Here’s a photo of Azurite with smaller amounts of Malachite at the Freudenstein Castle in Freiberg, Germany. Let it lull you into voting for it in Mineral Cup 2025! Only a few hours left… #MinCup25 #Azurite #Geology #Minerals

A professionally displayed hunk of dark blue nodular Azurite or Azurit (German) from Seabra, Brazil. There are some greener nodules of malachite. It looks like clumps of candy making a rock, all but ensuring that you’ll vote for it. Photographed with permission.