Detayls

Yes, we are aware that yet more snaps of Tas is over-the-top behavior. He is very fine though!

Here he is playing with his absolutely favorite toy, the stringy thingy. He loves to chase it in ever decreasing circles and when he catches it, he growls like a mountain lion. Be afraid, be very afraid.

If you have been paying attention this far, there is a treat. A short video. It should be the last one in the gallery on Smugmug, which you get to by clicking on the picture…

Once again Wildcare held its holiday party at Karen and Todd’s house. The kitchen project is complete and it is a stunner. Karen and Todd were gracious hosts as usual.

The food was astounding. We’re all getting a little complacent about it though. In 2010 it’s cheese sandwiches and diet soda!

This year David Latour graced us with a tuxedo and Melanie wore her best shoes. The tuxedo earned David some pickled eggs. We still don’t know how well the shoes worked out. Melanie?

The “secret Santa” game was fairly tame this year. In 2010 you will be required to sign a “cutthroat affidavit” to play. Much more stealing will be required.

There were at least fourteen dogs at the event. Six of them were called Tucker. We are thinking of allowing “canine participation” in the game in future. They have two secret weapons: they can tell what is inside the wrapping by smell alone and can employ “droolage” if a gift is too desirable to be stolen. Staff are encouraged to apply as canines if the cutthroat requirement is too manly. (David Latour is automatically considered “cutthroat-ready” unless he tries to recycle the eggs!)

Lisa McDowell dropped in the San Francisco Bay Area in early December 2009. She waited patiently until her friend Daniel arrived and then they nipped over to Napa for a couple of days.

Lisa had spent the previous four months on an epic trip around the world starting from England in July by flying to India and gradually inched nearer to California via Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and Fiji. There are some contributed pictures from her trip in a previous album here.

One of her requests was a quick trip to Wildcare in San Rafael and she virtually demanded some Dim Sum in San Francisco. Eleven years is just too long!

She had fond memories of a trip to the Harbor Village restaurant at the Embarcadero with us for Dim Sum in 1998. Sadly the Harbor Village is no more. David and JoLynn recruited Jeanni and Grier to take us to a favorite restaurant and we all had a lovely meal.

Afterward we visited the Legion of Honor to absorb a little culture before heading home to Marin

Once again the Wildcare crew met at Il Davide for an evening to support Dining for Wildlife.

This was the year of bad jokes, silly eyeballs and human origami. Don’t miss the video at the end. Click on the picture for the gallery.

The food as usual was marvelous and nobody made a fool of themselves. Always a good outcome.

These are some photos JoLynn took at WildCare’s Gala, which was held on February 6, 2009.

Most of the staff and a good number of volunteers showed up to help, so we had enough help so everyone could enjoy the event and socialize without something falling through the cracks.

The dancing was much livelier this year, because some professional dancers were hired, and they made the dance floor a little less intimidating.

Trish Carney’s Robins image was chosen for the weekly image review on Nature’s Best Photography.

Nature’s Best is a Nature photography quarterly magazine. You can see the review by clicking on the picture.

Notes from the field: “I knelt down across from the rock and braced myself since I was tripodless and tried to get some shots of the birds taking off from the rock. I was shooting at ISO 400 and using a shutter of 1/2500 and I have many blurred frames and frames with half a bird exiting frame!”— Trish Carney

Trish has started a blog for the bobcat sightings and other wild encounters.

I love her stuff.

While JoLynn attended a “critter” meeting, David, Helen and Marion visited the pier at Avila Beach.

The wildlife was out in force and, in particular, the pelicans seemed to have taken over. The pelican at the beginning and the end of the set may even be the same bird.

We walked all the way to the restaurant at the end of the pier and awarded ourselves with a drink and a giggle. Then we went and hung out with the harbor seals while they had a snooze.

It was a cool day and not particularly sunny but the light was very even.

JoLynn’s friend Trish Carney had a great day out on Mount Tamalpais last week. She met and hung out with two separate bobcats. You can see her photos by clicking on the picture.

I love this quote: “At one point the bobcat sat down about 50 feet from where I was and started grooming and took a cat nap for about 30 minutes. I sat down and chilled out too.”

Trish does what every good photographer should do. She goes out and puts her lens in front of the world. Her pictures are fabulous! I wish mine were half as good.

See more at trish carney’s photostream on flickr.

The regular crew met again this year in San Rafael to support Dining for Wildlife.

This year we chose the restaurant Il Davide and it was a huge success. When David started knocking the place down in an attempt to get a better shot, the manager even forgave us saying “I needed to wash that part of the floor anyway!”

For some reason this year was a year for faces. Allison and David Latour have both achieved “fridge” status with their renditions.

Join us next year if you dare!

More Gulls and Otters! This time there are also some ground squirrels. See the earlier Morro Bay gallery for some pictures of the town. This time we managed to interact more with the wildlife including some young lads who were risking life and limb to feed the squirrels.