Three Kitty Photo Point Arena, CA

To view photos of Jack & Jan's African "critter" friends, please click here.

To view photos of Jack & Jan's Baja "critter" friends, please click here.

Jack & Jan's "Critter" Photos

Whenever possible, we photograph the various wildlife who visit us or the wildlife that we visit.  Some of our favorite images are below.  We'll try to group them by size.

Insects & Spiders	We had a "blessed event" one June as a group of Anise Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars hatched on our dill plants.	They started as small, fuzzy black worms and grew to yellow caterpillars with black accents.	They eagerly devoured the dill flowers with one caterpillar on each flower stem around the circle.
We couldn't resist visiting the Monarch Butterflies at Natural Bridges State Beach in Santa Cruz, CA.	On a sunny day, the Monarchs are everywhere.  They will even land on your finger.	A swallowtail sits on a shrub in our garden.	This swallowtail is on a rhododendron.
A Luna Moth spent the day in our garden.	The Monarch Butterfly and its friend, the bee, are working the hollyhock flowers.	We have many butterflies visiting our gardens.	We believe this is a Sphinx Moth who was visiting our penstemon flowers after dusk one evening in July.
Here a Honey Bee works a California Poppy flower that a Cucumber Beetle wants to eat.	This Bumble Bee fell asleep for the night in the hollyhock flower.  In the morning, he crawled out covered in pollen.	In the Fall, we often see Preying Mantis in the gardens.  This one was on the side of the barn.	Spider webs glisten with dew in the Fall and Winter mornings.
Black Widow Spiders have a venomous bite.  They hide and are seldom seen.	This nocturnal spider lived for several summers outside our window.	This spider tries to camouflage itself on an orange flower.  We think it is a Crab Spider.	Here is the same type of spider trying to hide on a lilac flower.
We often encounter beautiful spiders in the gardens.  We believe this may be one of the Argiope spiders.	If we watch carefully and don't disturb the webs, we can also see the spiders catching their meals.
Mollusks	When you live in the area where redwoods grow, you expect to find Banana Slugs.  Some of ours have been almost a foot long.
Reptiles & Amphibians	The lizards also help keep the insect population under control.	We must be providing a good habitat.  In the Fall, we see baby lizards. This one is about an inch long.	Along the vernal pools, we sometimes see baby Pacific Tree Frogs. This guy is less than 1/2 inch long.
The adult frogs are less than the length of your thumb.	Pacific Tree frogs have suction cup toes but don't live in the trees.	They live in the gardens, under the patio cushions and anywhere else that is damp.	This elusive Spring Peeper frog is recognized by the "x" on its back.
This is a Red-Legged Frog that Jan photographed in Little Butano Creek.	Many forest frogs spent their summers in our garden ponds in New England.
Birds	One day we discovered a Hairy Woodpecker had nested in a telephone pole.	Both parents worked hard to feed their single, male chick.  Here the mother arrived with an insect.	Soon after, the father arrived with a caterpillar.
Acorn Woodpeckers live in large colonies.  They keep acorns in crevices in trees.	As the acorns decay, insects move in and the woodpeckers feast on the insects.	Jan wanted her entire life just to see a Pileated Woodpecker.  Now we have one living just outside our gardens.	The Red-Shafted Flicker finds its food mainly on the ground.
We believe this small-size raptor is a Merlin.  If so, it is a type of Falcon.	We usually see this raptor in the gardens every few months.	Hummingbirds are numerous all year in our gardens.	Band-tailed Pigeons are large and dumb but their yellow feet are attractive.
Large birds, the Ravens strut through the gardens.	Our California Quail flock is only a handful of birds in the winter.  Here two males and a female feed.	A sentry bird watches for predators from higher ground.  Here he sits above two Goldfinches at the feeder.	Occasionally, a bird needs to be rescued.  This one hit a window and was disoriented.
For 2 summers, we had Barn Swallows nesting in the eaves of our barn.  Four chicks hatched this year.	As the parent Swallow approached, the chicks would start vocalizing.	The parent would feed one chick and leave to catch another insect.	The chick that was fed would close its mouth while the others continued to vocalize.
This cycle continued most of the day.	An adult would appear with more food every minute or two.	After less than 2 weeks, the babies fledged.  They flapped their wings and jumped out the nest.  This little one flew to the ground and never flew again.  Despite encouragement from its parents, it wouldn't leave the ground.	Reflection Lake was a seasonal home to many types of wild waterfowl.
One year the ducks raised a family at Reflection Lake in La Honda.  Only one of the ducklings fledged.	Along with the "smaller" birds, Wild Turkeys are often seen.  This one was in a garden in downtown Gualala.	In the dunes and on our beaches, an occasional Western Snowy Plover can be spotted.  This one is with a rarely seen chick.	This fearless chick was photographed as part of the Plover Watch program at Half Moon Bay State Beach.
Rodents	In one of our underground irrigation control boxes, Jack found a nest of baby mice.  The mother mouse moved several as Jack prepared to photograph them.	Occasionally, Yoda brings a mouse into the office so it can exercise among the computer cables.	The chipmunks are numerous and SO CUTE.  We've named them Elmo.
One day we counted 18 chipmunks in the gardens.	We found this rat perched in our Japanese Maple tree one morning.	We not only have large and fluffy gray squirrels but this little brown one as wells.
Larger Mammals	The Brush Rabbits are everywhere.  The babies hide in the drain pipes.  We've named them Brewster.	This Brush Rabbit was munching the weeds at the edge of the lawn.	Yoda brought this baby into the house.  We photographed it and released it, frightened but unharmed.
Along with Brush Rabbits, we also have Jackrabbits running through the gardens.	One day at the beach, while we were watching the seals, a River Otter ran by.	The otter ran past us like we weren't there.	Eventually, he made his way to the water to hunt for tasty morsels.
One day there was a rustling in the flower bed by the kitchen door.  Two Opossums were running through.	Suddenly they stopped in front of me and mated.  I felt like a voyeur.	Wookie was trying to ignore the raccoon on the other side of the door.	Raccoons seem to live everywhere.  This one was part of a trio who raided our garbage cans each night.
Striped Skunks have a bad reputation because of their defensive weapon.	In reality, unless you get too close, skunks don't pay much attention to you.  They prefer to hunt insects, seeds and nuts.	This mother skunk was out with her young one morning.	As skunks are nocturnal, the family was a wonderful surprise.
We are quite sure this visitor is a Gray Fox.  He is the size of a medium-size dog.  He came to the garden to feast on our bird seed.	One of our most frequent visitors is the Black-tailed Deer.	The deer are shy, however,  and quickly move away when they see or hear a disturbance.	They eat just about everything in the garden.  Roses and lilies are their among their favorites.
Marine Mammals	Several times a year, a bull Northern Elephant Seal appears one of our beaches.  He stays a week or so and goes back to his ocean home.	To see more of "Elwood, our neighborhood Elephant Seal", please click here.	No list of our favorite "critters" would be compete without the Harbor Seals that "hang out" on the rocks at our local beaches.
They are year-round residents, unlike the Elephant Seals and California Sea Lions who make seasonal appearances.
		To view photos of Jack & Jan's Baja "critter" friends, please click here.	To view photos of Jack & Jan's African "critter" friends, please click here.

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