One-in-a-Million

For a brief window, I took a break from wildlife photography. I hadn’t been having any luck finding exciting critters or getting any shots I was excited about. I was also doing a lot of travel for work, and when I wasn’t, I switched back to landscape photography and had a win I was pretty excited about (more news to follow soon). But after a break, I was energized again, and, wow, it’s good to be back!

One day, I went out with two fantastic wildlife photographers and guides, Daniel Dietrich of Point Reyes Safaris and Jaymi Heimbuch, and it felt like we saw about everything there was to see! After a slow start looking for a gray fox that never appeared, we saw a great horned owl, a rarely spotted Virginia rail, and river otters playing in the sand and pulling fish from the water.

Then, we spent some time with a one-in-a-million blue-eyed coyote. What an honor! A burrowing owl promptly followed. Late in the afternoon, we looked for a gray fox and spotted two bobcats on the way. The day seemed full of luck already, but it didn’t stop. Not only did we spot a fox, but it walked right past us and sat on the trail, perfectly posing.

There was one final treat in store, though. On the way home, two coyotes suddenly turned and ran towards something. Following to see what was up, a badger was sitting in a field, fending them off. I’d never seen one before, and while I didn’t get a great image, it was an incredible experience.