Author name: Mike

Field Notes

Sandhill cranes on a beautiful golden morning.

About a week ago I headed out to check a trail cam I have deployed in the vicinity of McCoy Flat Reservoir in western Lassen County. My hope is to deploy a newly built DSLR Camera Trap to photograph coyotes in the area (more on the camera trap soon). Ultimately, there were no new coyote […]

National Commemorative Days

National Farm Animals Day 2026

April 10th is National Farm Animals Day — a day set aside to spotlight humane treatment of farm animals and help find homes for ones that have been abandoned or ended up in rough shape. It’s worth remembering that most of the animals we associate with farms/ranches didn’t get there by accident. Centuries of domestication

National Commemorative Days

National Wildlife Week 2026

First proclaimed by Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938 National Wildlife Week promotes the preservation and protection of wildlife across our land. Over the years the event has been chaired by such famous people as Walt Disney, Bing Crosby, and Shirley Temple and introduced the iconic cartoon character Ranger Rick in the 1950’s. Each year, the

National Commemorative Days

World Aquatic Animal Day 2026

Since 2020, April 3rd marks World Aquatic Animal Day, courtesy of the Aquatic Animal Law Initiative and Animal Law Clinic at Lewis and Clark Law School in Portland Oregon.  The initiative focuses on law and policy and general awareness for the protection and preservation of fish, mollusks, crustaceans, aquatic birds and more. I think this

Behind the Image

Behind the Image: Rainbow in the Desert

The Smoke Creek Desert, stretching from US 395 in Lassen County, California, into northwestern Nevada, can be a barren wasteland at times. But in the right conditions, it transforms into a breathtaking landscape. In spring, when a touch of greenery softens the arid terrain, the golden hour light bathes the land in warmth. Above, dramatic

Behind the Image

Behind the Image: Limestone Reflections

This is an image of a tufa formation at South Tufa on Mono Lake on a winter day. For those unaware, these towers are formed when subterranean fresh water springs enter highly alkaline salt water lakes (AKA soda lakes). This causes a reaction with calcium and carbonate salts that forms insoluble calcium carbonate (limestone). This

National Commemorative Days

National Ag Day 2026

Happy National Ag Day tomorrow! National Ag Day traces its roots to 1973, when the Agriculture Council of America — a nonprofit coalition of leaders across the agriculture, food, and fiber industries — launched the observance with a simple mission: close the gap between the people who grow America’s food and the people who eat

Behind the Image

Behind the Image: Moody Dawn

This is one of several images I have from a very chilly and moody morning at Antelope Lake in Plumas County, California. The annual “”Junuary” cold front we always seem to get after Memorial Day was on its way out, but the clouds were still battling with the sun for dominance. The warming lake surface

Behind the Image

Behind the Image: Limestone Love

I captured this frame with my 830-nanometer deep infrared filter on my full-spectrum camera while on a brief mid-day stop at Mono Lake in California. I like the dramatic black and whites that can be created at this wavelength, which is completely outside the visible part of the spectrum that ends somewhere around 700 nanometers.

Behind the Image

Behind the Image: Wildrose Charcoal Kilns

The Wildrose Charcoal Kilns, located in Death Valley National Park, were built in 1877 to provide fuel for the smelters of the nearby Modoc Mine in the Argus Range. While mining operations continued into the early 20th century, records indicate that these ten beehive-shaped kilns, each standing 25 feet tall, were only in use until

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