On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
It’s Albatrossity Monday!
We have a great week ahead for On the Road. But not a lot of submissions in the queue, not quite enough for two weeks. So get those cards and letters in please submit those sets of pictures you have been thinking you might get to.
Also, after the series frosty did of amazing old banks, our Friday entry this week features a train station in Detroit. frosty and I were talking, and like all the best ideas, I’m not sure who came up with it. Might you guys be up for a series on classic train stations, as a group effort? That’s just a quick preview – I think frosty plans to say more in a write-up.
Albatrossity
I was a tad late in getting this post put together, because I just got home after 2 weeks and 2 days on the road, about 4600 miles on the vehicle, and lots of quality time with friends and family in the west. Birds and scenery were a bonus, and I collected lots of images from this trip that I will be posting here in the future. I need to finish up the Arizona series before launching into these on a weekly basis, but here’s a quick overview of sights from this trip;
I know that everyone is different, but for me, a road trip is the ideal balm for the spirit. Long stretches of Blue Highway give me time to think, to ponder, to observe, and to plan. I try to keep the schedule flexible enough to allow for a side trip down some likely-looking canyon to pause, peek at some insects of birds or scenery, listen to the tumbling water, or just wonder what might be down the next dirt road. I needed some time with the natural world in places I had not seen before, and I got that, in large doses. Road trips in this beautiful country during early fall are indeed something special…
I also needed some time to see some old friends (50+ years of friendship and still counting), catch up, and swap stories. We all have a net, with connections old and new. Because we are (mostly) social animals, those connections are invaluable, both in our youth and in our dotage.
I got to catch up with friends and colleagues in Colorado, go birding on Monterey Bay with an old friend and photo-mentor, celebrate the joyous birthday of my excellent daughter-in-law, skritch and thump and attract fur from both feline and canine fur-babies, go to the beach and eat seafood with my youngest daughter, and savor exquisite cuisine at a fine restaurant with my son and daughter-in-law in Paso Robles. All of it was good, all of it was memorable, and my spirits were lifted by each and every moment. Now I’m back in Flyover Country, the car is plugged in and resting as well, and the love of my life returns from a conference tomorrow.
Carpe diem, all of ’em.
Pelagic birding is a gamble always, involving luck with weather, birds seen, which part of the boat you perch on, and many other variables. But we had a good day (eBird checklist and many photos here), and here is one of the birds that made it good. Black-footed Albatross (Phoebastria nigripes), striding into a takeoff over water. Click here for larger image.
I stayed with an old friend in Pebble Beach, who, like me, does not golf but does appreciate birds. He and his wife have an excellent yard for birds, with lots of habitat and feeders, so I spent some time there and got this shot of a Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea) getting a drink of water. Click here for larger image.
Another visitor to that back yard, a Townsend’s Warbler (Setophaga townsendi), did not pose for me there, but I did find one in the sunshine later in the trip. Click here for larger image.
A bird I saw nearly everywhere I looked in California, a Dark-eyed Junco (unco hyemalis). They come in a splendid diversity of plumages, and they should be arriving here in Flyover Country within a week or two as well. Click here for larger image.
I collected a large number of images of corvids on this trip. This is the coastal subspecies of Steller’s Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri), photographed along one of my favorite routes in California, the Carmel Valley Road. “Tis an excellent Blue Highway. Click here for larger image.
A while back the species known as Western Scrub-Jay (Aphelocoma californica) was split into two species, California Scrub-Jay (A. californica) and Woodhouse’s Scrub-Jay (A. woodhouseii), which is the species in the interior west. This is one of the latter, photographed with a pinyon seed that it wanted to stash somewhere out of my sight, in Great Basin National Park. Click here for larger image.
A third species of jay, and the most difficult to find and photograph, this is a Pinyon Jay (Gymnorhinus cyanocephalus), also photographed in Great Basin National Park. Click here for larger image.
Fall in the high country of the US West means that the aspens are colorful and photogenic. And I found that to be true. These are at 10,000 ft along the Wheeler Peak Scenic Drive in Great Basin National Park. Click here for larger image.
Insects were abundant in the park as well. I believe that this is a Hoary Comma (Polygonia gracilis), a species that overwinters/hibernates as an adult. Since this was also photographed at high altitude, I hope it moves downslope before winter begins for real! Click here for larger image.
Basin and range country along California Highway 168, east of Big Pine. One of my new favorite Blue Highways! Click here for larger image.
Baud
California is so beautiful.
Winter Wren
Great pictures. We took a whale watch out of Monterey in a September back before the pandemic – so many humpbacks up close and so close to shore, best whale watch ever. Lots of shearwaters, but not too many other pelagics that trip. The Monterey aquarium is also well worth a visit and you can see lots of birds from the overlooks of the bay. The coast along Monterey and Carmel-by-the-sea is amazing.
SteveinPHX
Road trips are fun. Looking forward to a short one soon. Thanks for the photos!
Betty
The nuthatch picture is perfect. The Stellar’s Jay is majestic. As I have lived most of my life in deep green valleys, I am always amazed at the wide open roads out West. Sounds like a wonderful trip.
Albatrossity
@Winter Wren: We saw whales as well, including 2 Humpback mother and baby pairs. Here’s the total marine mammal list, from the eBird link above:
– 20 Dall’s Porpoise
– 100 Pacific White-sided Dolphin
– 6 Humpback Whales
– 50 Risso’s Dolphin
– 3 Northern Fur Seal
– 100’s California Sea Lion
– 1 Harbor Seal (surfaced in the harbor first thing in the morning)
– 4 Southern Sea Otters (near the harbor)
Sandia Blanca
Wow to every one of these photos and to the narrative you paint, Albatrossity! I miss California roads and the many parks there, and am currently en route to see family in the Central Valley. Can’t wait to be back in my home state.
I would also cast an enthusiastic vote for old train stations! I grew up in a train town in a train family, and really love train road trips and the quirky culture of rail fans.
Wanderer
As always beautiful pictures. Your road trip sounded wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
Trivia Man
I haven’t lived in utah for 25 years but i still ache for that Great Basin desert. If you haven’t already, check out Fish Springs along the old Pony Express road SE of Wendover NV. What color is the road more desolate than a blue road?
One year we found a BLM trip with a special allowance for an overnight at Fish Springs. I dont bird so I have no idea what we saw – but it was an enormous variety for a desert oasis.
Trivia Man
Agree on a train series. When i lived in a small Wisconsin town they had converted the old train station to a chamber if commerce office. Excellent vibe to it. Out back they left some track and an authentic caboose. Local train fans had restored it to the original state and you could go inside. IIRC the tech inside seemed to be about early 20th century.
In Madison i stumbled across an authentic, original Harvey House sign, still in place. Station is now a restaurant/ wedding hall. Including a train with a car or two you can rent out. The sign is only visible from the back parking lot, but a great slice of history.
Winter Wren
@Albatrossity: That’s a great list of mammals and birds! I will have to look up a pelagic trip next time I visit Monterey.
KatKapCC
Hey, some of these are sorta-kinda in my backyard :D Lovely pics!
Kosh III
How do I submit pics for this? I did once but I’ve forgotten
Found it “never mind”
Madeleine
Today’s selection of photos feels unusual. Narrow focus—whole group of jays—and yet broad—birds and butterfly and landscape. I am enjoying your road trip, Albatrossity.
StringOnAStick
Lovely as always. Your close ups show me details I don’t see in my own yard, like those gorgeous blue eyebrows on the Stellers Jay. Great Basin National Park is an amazing isolated island of alpine in an ocean of desert.
Albatrossity
@Winter Wren: Monterey Bay pelagics are a great opportunity to see both birds and marine mammals. They are often sold out, to it might pay to book one in advance if you know when you will be there. There are several outfits that operate whale- and bird-watching excursions out of Monterey, this is the one that I went with, and I have no experience with any of the others.
mvr
Thank you for these! Nice photos (especially like the nuthatch) and informative as usual.
I think I must have seen a Stellers Jay in Northern Montana in Glacier Park at Avalanche Lake last month. Very willing to sit around and be photographed.
Yutsano
Jays! The stellar blue cousins of their blue and white kin out east. I always enjoy seeing jays bounce about either begging for food or pouncing on each other. A balm to my soul on this terribly busy Monday.
KRK
Wonderful!
Winter Wren
@Albatrossity: Thanks for the tip!
Don
I have no doubt jays would work for Donald Trump.
SuzieC
Watergirl, I just got back from a trip to Ireland. Would BJ be interested?