The Bay Area is teeming with wildlife, not just in the rugged wilderness of Mount Diablo and Big Basin, but in the parks and open spaces that dot our urban and suburban landscapes. You’re guaranteed to see wild creatures at places like Año Nuevo, where gargantuan elephant seals famously loll about on the sand, and the Sunol Regional Wilderness, where raptors of every feather fly overhead.
Unexpected treasures, however, await if you have a good eye and the patience to wait, as our Bay Area News Group photographers show in this stunning array of images.
“Often it also takes a bit of luck and good timing,” staff photographer Jane Tyska said about spending a day at the Foothills Nature Preserve in the Palo Alto hills in hopes of capturing a photo of one of the preserve’s elusive mountain lions. Her wait was rewarded with a coyote sighting instead, snacking on a gopher, and she also “lucked” into seeing another coyote — near San Francisco’s Coit Tower, where the animal’s presence was unexpected.
Karl Mondon agreed on the time one has to devote when photographing the artistry in nature. He grew up near Golden Gate Park’s Lloyd Lake, so he swings by when he can to check out the birding scene. “Sometimes you go for days without a glimpse,” he said. “Other times they just won’t stop smiling for the camera.”
Jose Carlos Fajardo has had luck staking out spots like Indian Creek in the Shell Ridge Open Space during the rainy season — toads abound — and even the manmade lake at the suburban Heather Farm Park in Walnut Creek.
Wherever there’s water, there’s wildlife.
The image by Ray Chavez of flocks of pelicans feasting at Lake Merritt in Oakland — an unusual sight — occurred on a day when he stopped by to get photos of runners, bikers and hikers. “Took too many photos until I saw this white pelican surrounded by the brown pelicans, plus the nice sunlight dropping in it. Made a beautiful picture.
“After I took those photos, the pelicans left.”
A moment in time.
Sometimes, it’s a matter of being in the right place at the right time. It’s something Alan Dep, the IJ’s photo editor, knows well.
“I was out searching for a rainy weather feature photo, though most of the rain had passed,” he said. “I noticed a little bird flying to and from a little twig or fencing wire in the middle of a flooded field. It kept flying back and forth to its perch as it plucked things at the surface of the water, making the little ripples seen in the photo.”
And being aware of his surroundings helped him capture an image of a California quail in Novato.
“I spotted this male California quail keeping watch over a couple of females and young quail from its high perch on a shed. I caught this photo as he ran along the roof,” he said.
For Sherry LaVars, the IJ’s staff photographer, her instincts kicked in while driving back from an assignment, shooting the annual plant sale that happens on the fairgrounds after the Marin County Fair. While driving back through China Camp State Park, she noticed two birders with big, professional lenses that were mounted on tripods. She turned around, parked and grabbed her body with the longest lens she had.
“Their lenses were trained on some pilings way out on the water, on an osprey nest,” she said. “I had no chance of making a good picture of the “momma bird,” their words, with my gear so I shot them while shooting the nest. I got their info for a standalone cutline and started up a dirt path to my car.”
When suddenly, one of the men told her, in a hushed tone, that the father bird had arrived back to the nest.
“He had breakfast for the chicks in his talons, flew right over my head and circled twice. I stopped in my tracks, took aim and started firing. … I didn’t realize the bird was looking at me until I saw the images on my laptop,” she said.
