Howling Point

I plunged!

Penguin giving me lip (or beak) for not being able to complete the official Penguin Plunge this New Year's.

Yummy

Malayan Tiger eying the breakfast buffet, which in this case was a whole row of photographers enjoying her being up close and personal in her enclosure.

Watching You

Andean Condor is till watching you, but with a bit more of an evil glint in the eye.

Watching You

Andean Condor keeping an eye on the visitors.

The Ears

Never really understood the naming of the Tasmanian Devil until I got these close-ups of the face and ears. And yes, those are overbite canines ready to rip you to shreds in that smile.

Tasmanian Devil

The reality version of the beloved cartoon character was being particularly generous with the photo ops this morning.

December Nights in Daylight

Randy (and the SDGMC) singing at the opening of the second Covid-alternative to San Diego's December Nights celebration, Tastes of December Nights.

December Nights in Daylight

Randy (and the SDGMC) singing at the opening of the second Covid-alternative to San Diego's December Nights celebration, Tastes of December Nights.

December Nights in Daylight

Randy (and the SDGMC) singing at the opening of the second Covid-alternative to San Diego's December Nights celebration, Tastes of December Nights.

Looking adorable

Red Panda (ailurus fulgens) giving the weekday morning crowd some love at the San Diego Zoo.

Ducks and Lilies

Balboa Park's Lily Pond showing some bright colors.

Rocks Near and Far

Strawberry Moon setting on the morning of June 26, 2021, over Joshua Tree National Park.

Spinning Sky

Star trails in the northerns sky from Joshua Tree NP. This is a composite of 60 25-second exposures.

Sleeping Red Panda

High in his tree, doing his best to hide from the photographers behind other foliage.

Red Panda on the Prowl

This guy was excited or agitated, pacing around his enclosure and giving a rare view of the red panda in motion. He was fast and agile. The keeper said he was new to San Diego, having only been transferred from another zoo two days prior, and if memory serves his name is Lucas.

Malayan Tiger

This is what happens when the 1000-pound man-eating cat wants to ham it up and look scary for the holiday weekend tourists.

Draw me like one of your French gorillas

Woodland Gorilla trying to look demur for the holiday weekend tourists.

Cavendish's Dik Dik

He's an adorable little antelope, but we still made all the stupid jokes as though we were twelve years old.

White-Throated Bee-Eater

I think there's been a misunderstanding - eat the honey, leave the bee.

Sly Little Wave

This was one of the few koalas awake this morning, and he seemed to be sneaking in a little wave.

Snack Time

Elephant reaching for the high snacks.

Cheetah

Big cat spending some time lounging in the sun.

Egyptian Vulture

(neophron percnopterus).

Up for the view

Amable, the zoo's 13-month-old hippopotamus was enjoying both the stream of water refilling the pond and the morning tourists under the glass. Surprised at how high she was able to get, and yes, this is a swimming move - she was not standing.

Amable in the morning sun

Amable, a 13-month-old hippopotamus, was enjoying the early morning sun.

Sloth Bear

Mr. Sloth Bear (melursus ursinus) was not having any of the morning tourism during breakfast.

Tease

After an hour and a half of teasing me throughout the morning walk at the zoo, this hummingbird finally posed for a rest in the Sloth Bear exhibit just at the maximum reach of my 300mm telephoto.

Flowering cactus

Was trying to get the bees buzzing around the blossoms. Missed, but still very happy with this shot.

Cherry Blossoms

Nice to see spring hitting San Diego in the first week of February. This tree is in front of the Natural History Museum (bokeh in the background).

Colorful cactus

Not sure the type, but in the cactus garden adjacent to the rose garden at Balboa Park.

Taveta Golden Weaver and nest (II)

Fascinating interactions, especially for a Sunday morning in January.

Taveta Golden Weaver and nest

The bird on the left was interacting with the bird in the nest through the bottom of the nest.

Leopard

There were three young leopards out this morning, with a bit of wrestling and rough-housing. Fortunately this one came out of the shadows long enough for a shot.

Bateleur Eagle

Spreading his wings

Tasmanian Devil

The wild one was out and about for the tourists on this Sunday morning.

December 9, 2020 - II

The view from the north side of the Oceanside Pier.

December 9, 2020 - III

More of the view from the north side of the Oceanside Pier.

December 9, 2020 - I

Watched a big-surf day from the pier. Might feel old to not be in the water, but was not disappointed with what the camera captured.

Angel Duck

Disappointed that he lost the role of Nativity Angel when December Nights was cancelled this year, this duck was hanging out at the Lily Pond on this Sunday morning showing all from near and far just how well he would have done with the role.

Mid-hop

Kangaroo caught mid-hop at the Safari Park's Australian Walkabout.

Just a bit of Taurus

One of the later singles from the night's star-trail composites, this 25-second exposure still includes Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Andromeda, and but now includes part of Taurus rising above the horizon.

Stars

A single from the star-trail composites made from that night. This is a single 25-second exposure looking roughly northeast, with the constellations Cepheus, Cassiopeia and Andromeda visible.

Green Desert

Landmark palms of the Fortynine Palms Oasis on the northern edge of the Joshua Tree National Park.

Marines

Marines finishing a morning run as I was heading out on the Fortynine Palms Oasis Trail.

First glimpse

My first view of the trees of the oasis from the Fortynine Palms Oasis Trail. This was an early hike and the sun is just coming over the mountain behind the oasis.

Shangri-La

The Fortynine Palms Oasis, a natural oasis on the northern edge of Joshua Tree National Park. For scale, note the trail and sign in the lower right corner of the image.

The Earlier Universe

Though processed and posted later, this was the first of the two star trails I shot that night. [60 25-second exposures at f/5.6 and ISO 3200] Kind of impressed with the strict adherence to the flight patterns, but unsure what the horizontal line of red dots represents, especially the gap in the middle. It didn't go dark and I didn't skip an image. It just jumped forward (right/east) from one image to the next. A short hyperspace jump though, if confirmed, would corroborate my theory that the other streaks aren't airplane lights but a Tholian web being covered up by the Men In Black.

Skull Rock

While I was alone here this morning, my previous two stops had it swarming with tourists doing skull-selfies. For scale, there's gap of about eight feet between this front rocks and the bottom of the skull. Standing in front of the feature at 6'1 I still don't come up to the top of the nose hole.