Dawn of a New Year

(January 1st) Happy New Year to all. I have many hopes and expectations for this year, both photographically and otherwise. I hope everyone else's wishes all come true. I can't think of a better way to start the year off than photographing in the gorgeous San Simeon area. I started off catching some of the pre-dawn light with some slow shutter speeds. I'm going to be working on this a bit more over the next few mornings, but I like the look.

Next it was on to the elephant seals. No fog rolled in today and I had a lot of fun watching their antics. Several new pups were born over the night. The seals were quite energetic today. This pair of young males put on quite a show with their sparring.

The action just didn't stop!

Leaving the seals, I drove to the Morro Bay area. I made a quick stop where I saw some wintering Monarch butterflies, then ventured to Montana de Oro State Park. On a holiday weekend, this place was crowded! I love to see people enjoying the outdoors, but the afternoon was destined not to be photographically successful. Every time I had a subject in sights, someone would scare my subject away. The worst was when I had spent an hour climbing out slowly on some rocks to get into position and get some Black Oystercatchers and a Whimbrel accustomed to me, all to have it spoiled by people throwing things in our general vicinity... It's sad to say, but this White-crowned Sparrow was one of my best shots of the afternoon.