California Central Coast and Santa Cruz Island

[Dr. John]

We were recently in the Central Coast of California and also took a day trip to Santa Cruz Island.  We saw many birds, though few cooperated for good photographs.  A few firsts for me included a pair of phainopeplas and many island scrub jays.  The wildlife was generally more cooperative.  Here are a few snapshots of a 1) California towhee, 2) two young male northern elephant seals sparring, 3) a young California ground squirrel, 4) sea otters napping, and 5) an island fox (with a radio collar):

[Shortsighted]

The sleeping otters make me think of the lobby of a senior's home where every occupant is grabbing some zee's.  I mean, really, if you walk through one ... this is zee lobby.  The island fox looks like a cross between a fox and a coyote ... a foxote?  Looks like you had a good time in Canada's 11th province.  Let's face it, that's where most of our entertainers end up ... eventually.

[Dr. John]

The island foxes are quite small - when I first saw it, I had assumed it was someone's puppy that they had illegally brought to the island.  It was about the size of a cat.  So a mini-foxote then.