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Continue reading →: Eagle Nest Update, May 6, 2026It is so hard to see into the new-last-year Benbow Bald Eagle nest, partly because of distance (significantly farther awaythan the old one), and partly because of its placement in the tree, where it is supported by a branch whose green parts obscure about half of the nest itself, that…
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Continue reading →: Humboldt Spring BreakAlmost all the neo-tropical migrants have arrived from distant southern wintering grounds, many of them early compared to most years, and begun their nesting routines. Local year round residents are singing and gathering nest materials and even beginning to raise young. A recently restored species has shown early signs of…
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Continue reading →: Benbow Bald Eagle Nest 2026It’s been one of the sweetest blessings of my life that I’ve been able to watch a pair of Bald Eagles raise a family almost every year for the last 16 years. A handful of times they have not brought a youngster to fledging maturity, and twice they have fledged…
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Continue reading →: When the Student Is Ready, the Teacher Will AppearEarly this morning several Turkey Vultures sat in the brush just outside the fence that borders my backyard. I could see them through my bedroom window which looks out toward the river. They must have been attracted by the deathlike smell of the corpse flower that was blooming and sending…
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Continue reading →: Coming out of the FogDespite the daily download of cruelty and division, despite the seasonal blues, despite grief for young and old lost to the community, and despite the dense fog every morning at the river and enshrouding Humboldt Bay, moments of encounter with nature provide a spark. A reminder of homo sapiens’ insignificant…
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Continue reading →: No Kings: Falco FerruginiousThe official Latin name for the Ferruginous Hawk is Buteo regalis. The word ‘regalis’ translates to king or kingly, a concept my peasant heart rejects. The North American bird was originally named Falco ferruginious in 1838, when a specimen was ‘discovered’ in Monterey, California. However, a different specimen that somehow…
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Continue reading →: Little Big HawkThe Sharp-shinned Hawk is the smallest of our hawks and a member of the accipiter family, characterized by short broad wings and a long tail, features that suit its pursuit of small birds as prey. At this time of year it’s not unusual to see immature “Sharpies” out and and…
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Continue reading →: Pop Goes the WeaselBoth the American Mink and the Northern River Otter are “mustelids”, members of what’s commonly called the weasel family. The family is full of carnivorous creatures ranging in size from the tiny Least Weasel, weighing in at about 1 ounce, to the Sea Otter who tops out at about 99…
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Continue reading →: Healing WatersAlmost at the other end of Humboldt County, Trinidad is nearly two hours away by car from my Garberville home. It’s one of the state’s smallest incorporated towns with a slowly declining population of less than 500. Even though much of the town sits on a flat a couple hundred…
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Continue reading →: There Is a Season…Tern, tern, tern. It is the season of terns on Humboldt Bay. These species of birds are in the same family as gulls, but you can see the difference in an instant. Gulls are heavy and slow, terns are so light and agile they have an almost insect-like weightlessness as…
Welcome to Free Range Photography, a photo-journal of encounters with birds and wildlife, mostly in Humboldt County, California.
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