Ranch Shooting, Carmel California
Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 7:27AM 
I've spent the last two days at a property (called a ranch in the US) located 30 miles inland from Point Lobos and approximately 3 hours drive south from San Francisco. The ranch is located within an area called the fly zone and comprises rolling grass and shrub covered hills, and is dotted with numerous oak trees, some of which are as old as 400 years. The fly zone is an area in which migratory birds fly along during their migratory routes. As such, numerous birds can be observed at differing times of the year.
The owner has established a number of small permanent watering holes (ponds) with a drip water system. This permanent water is favourable to any birds living in the area or migrating through the region as California is a desert environment and water is a relateively scarce resource. During my stay temperatures reached 102 F and were stifling until an warm afternoon breeze started.
The main target species we were after were the numerous birds that visit a small pond located on the property, however, other wildlife seen include the Common Gray Fox, bats, jack rabbits, squirrels and chipmunks.
All the shooting was conducted from a camoaluged blind set up adjacent to the pond.
This fox, made a very fleeting visit to the pond on the second morning of shooting and was probably attracted to the pond by a large family of California Quail that has taken up residence in the area. Unfortunately, the fox did not hang around and only made three passes in front of the blind, stopping only to mark a tree with its scent.
I'll post some of the bird images in the next few days.
