North Coast Wildlife : Michael Frye Photography

An edge habitat is a boundary the place two ecosystems meet – like when a forest meets a meadow, or a wetland meets a dry grassland. These edges often help a better selection and abundance of animals since you’ll discover species from both ecosystem, plus species that want each ecosystems.

Roosevelt elk, for instance, are fairly widespread alongside the northern coast of California, however stay solely the place forests and meadows meet. They use the meadows (and a few extra open forest areas) for feeding, whereas the dense redwood forests present shelter and safety from predators.

The most dramatic edges on the planet are coastlines, the place the land meets the ocean. There yow will discover animals which are primarily ocean goers, animals which are strictly landlubbers, and animals that use each the ocean and the land.

On our journey to Northern California final month Claudia and I spent lots of time alongside the sting of the ocean, and had some great alternatives to see and {photograph} the world’s considerable wildlife. We noticed many Roosevelt elk – strictly landlubbers. We noticed grey whales, who’re in fact ocean dwellers, however choose to feed and migrate near shore. We noticed river otters, who, on this a part of the world, typically feed within the ocean however make their dens on land.

And we noticed numerous coastal birds. Some of those, like black oystercatchers, stay proper alongside the sting, feeding on seashores and coastal rocks. Others, like widespread murres, spend most of their lives on the open ocean, and are available ashore solely to nest.

Brown pelicans, considerable on this space, nest and roost ashore, however feed within the ocean or in open bays. They’re one in all solely two pelican species that dive to catch fish, and their dives are spectacular. They’ll begin by cruising over the water as much as 60 or 70 toes above the floor. Then, recognizing a fish, they twist and plunge right into a vertical dive, going beak-first into the water.

These are huge birds, with 7-foot wingspans. But they’re swish flyers, and extremely agile divers. I attempted to seize photographs of them diving, and when viewing photographs of them later I might see {that a} fowl would preserve its head and beak pointed straight down, however rotate its physique and wings round its neck to steer itself because it made its vertical plunge. Sometimes it might flip partially upside-down earlier than getting into the water. And it might preserve its lengthy neck bent till the final second, when it might uncoil its neck to strike on the fish. It’s spectacular to observe.

We’ve typically seen flocks of pelicans feeding nicely offshore, circling over an space and making repeated dives to catch fish. But twice on this journey we discovered pelicans feeding in shallow water proper alongside a seaside. They have been unconcerned about folks, which allowed us to sit down on shore and {photograph} them so long as we preferred. It was nonetheless a problem to catch the best moments in the best mild, however tremendous enjoyable.

Here’s a group of wildlife images from our journey to the Northern California coast. I like photographing the redwood forests of this space, and the gorgeous shoreline, however the wildlife makes it much more particular.

— Michael Frye

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Michael Frye is knowledgeable photographer specializing in landscapes and nature. He lives close to Yosemite National Park in California, however travels extensively to {photograph} pure landscapes within the American West and all through the world.

Michael makes use of mild, climate, and design to make images that seize the temper of the panorama, and convey the sweetness, energy, and thriller of nature. His work has acquired quite a few awards, together with the North American Nature Photography Association’s 2023 award for Fine Art in Nature Photography. Michael’s images have appeared in publications all over the world, and he’s the creator and/or principal photographer of a number of books, together with Digital Landscape Photography: In the Footsteps of Ansel Adams and the Great Masters, and The Photographer’s Guide to Yosemite.

Michael likes to share his data of pictures by articles, books, workshops, on-line programs, and his weblog. He’s taught over 200 workshops targeted on panorama pictures, evening pictures, digital picture processing, and printing.