Images of Tule Lake

	A perched Bald Eagle This bald eagle was perched on the far side of a stream, with a Red-tailed Hawk behind it.
	Rough-legged Hawk Although rare, there are a few rough-legged hawks in California. This one soared over head for us.
	Two Owls The Great Horned Owls were in the trees with the eagles.
	A Peregrin Falcon A Peregrin Falcon, the fastest bird in the world, sat on a powerpole to tease me. The picture is the best one could do with the sun almost directly behind the falcon.
	Immature Golden Eagle This immature golden eagle was feet above the car when it took off.
	Golden Eagle Another golden eagle stood guard over this sign. It didn't even fly as we drove past it, within 30 feet.

	Bald Eagle at Work Note the sign: "Pheasant Hunting Only." I wonder if this eagle has his permit.
	Prairie Falcon This falcon was near the petroglyphs.

	Female Kestrel Here's a female kestel sitting on a sign.
	Great Horned Owl There is a Great Horned Owl in this picture. This is how they look in camouflage.
	Great Horned Owl It isn't easy to find him (or her?) is it. The owl is in the center of the picture. (Click on the picture to see a larger image, where it is more obvious.)
	Great Horned Owl Here is the owl in profile after I got a bit closer.
	Great Horned Owl And the owl sees me, and was patient enough to know that I don't eat owls (but I suspect he thought I might be food!)
	Great Horned Owl Another look.
	Obligatory Eagle You go to Tule to see the eagles. They were there, but there weren't very many good photo opportunities this trip.

He's Back! A Great Horned Owl in almost the same spot as last year.

Although I went in '05, '06, and '07, there weren't as many good photo opportunities. I went again in '09.

	Coyote This coyote was in a field near Tule Lake; we initially tried to morph it into a bobcat, but it was more of a hopeful effort. It is interesting to note that with a 400mm lens, the camera now has slightly better magnification than my Zeiss 10x40 binoculars; the lens is now roughly 11.4X although I don't know how the light gathering compares between the binocular measures and the camera f-stop. Binoculars still give a better sense of depth perception.
	Snow on the Lava We took a quick visit to Lava Beds, and the snow on the lava made for an interesting black and white contrast.
	10,000 Snow Geese At the southern end of the tour drive at Lower Klamath Lakes NWR, there were at least 10,000 snow geese, split between three flocks that were intermingling. At times, when they'd take off, they'd be so dense, they'd obscure the background. The numbers were so amazing I just took pictures of them, looking like a large group of mosquitoes.
	Snow Geese Overhead A part of the flock flew overhead, so I took some closeups.
	Snow Geese Passing By Another part flew nearby.
	Snow Geese And then they joined the larger flocks.
	Bald Eagle One goes to see the bald eagles. I saw "only" 55 this trip, and strangely, all were adults, like this one.