Tom Clifton Photography

Bird of the week

Posted on July 24, 2011 by Tom Clifton

Brown Creeper, Monterey – 2011

There is nothing like giving yourself a deadline to insure a week of crappy shots. All I had to do was come up with a good bird shot by Sunday evening, and my “Bird of the Week” column could go forward. As of Saturday I had a fair shot of White Pelicans in flight and a below average shot of a Brown Creeper.

Today’s trip to Andrew Molera State Park (for a Surfrider Foundation beach clean-up) didn’t help much. A fair number of Brown Pelicans and number of Wrentits that just managed to stay out of focus or out of sight.

But I was saved by a couple of California Condors. The Bird of the Week lives on:

California Condor, Big Sur coast – 2011

Off the beaten path

Posted on June 24, 2011 by Tom Clifton

Bixby Creek Bridge – 2011

There was a reason I bought my truck nearly 20 years ago and when I needed to make some end of life decisions last year, sunk my savings into it to keep it running.

It takes me where I want to go. Sometimes, that is just a line on a map.

Today it took me on the old coast road, east of Big Sur. Just a line on a map, but one I have been looking at it for a while. When the time came, the truck made the turn more than I did (I should probably get that looked at).

We spent the next hour driving over rocky passes and down through redwood filled canyons and ended up with a view of Bixby Creek bridge that you won’t see in a coffee table book. It was, time well spent.