The shadows of monarch butterflies hovering over our backyard ivy is one of the wonders of the low October sun and the reflections caught in the window. Given that the monarchs will only be here for about a week, each shadow, if I am fortunate to see it, is a signal for me to grab my camera and head outside. It helps that the monarchs are triple the size of painted ladies or cabbage white butterflies, the two most common fliers in the backyard. I call this time of year, “monarch madness.”
The alligator lizard blends in with the underbrush along the coast.
The lizard also blends in with the coastal rocks.
Alligator lizards were busy crisscrossing the dirt trails at Point Lobos yesterday. I’ve never seen so many, in fact, I thought one might be following me. But, no, there was a new lizard every few steps.
Scrub jays nest in trees next to our backyard. Yesterday I captured what I thought was a feeding ritual; i.e., an adult teaches junior to eat. I’ve seen this ritual before, but this time, it appeared to be a lesson in survival. Not sure. Clearly, the adult puts the food in junior’s beak, then removes it. Junior is stunned. Photos are in the order they were shot. Thoughts?
Every October monarch butterflies spend some time in our backyard ivy. I spotted my first monarch of the season yesterday. They are migrating to Southern California and Mexico. Their time here will be brief.
A low sun on the horizon sends a shadow across the chest of this bird outside my bedroom window. It doesn’t move while I aim the camera at the start of a new day.
I find it amazing that I can take a hand-held shot of the moon and see craters more than 230,000 miles away. Took this photo two days ago in the early morning, but did not enlarge it until this morning. There are millions of lunar craters, most believed to be caused by the asteroids crashing into the moon’s dry surface. 
This quail chick was in my front yard and unafraid even though we had made eye contact. Dad finally shooed him away.
