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A few years ago I received a wonderful birthday gift from my husband – a bobcat safari with professional photographer Brent Paull. A fun, all day affair that involved driving the back roads near Pinnacles National Park and seeing many wild animals: wild turkeys, Tule elk, deer, coyotes, hawks, and, of course, bobcats!
I got a few (bad) pictures but enjoyed myself immensely, and vowed to get better lenses and techniques. As you can see from the below, I need both!
Brent puts out a great newsletter where he lists his safaris and special free events like Zoom classes. Here are notes from his latest class on bobcat photography tips.
Finding Bobcats
They love rolling oak woodlands, but can adapt to any environment. They are very good at living around people. Brent has seen them frequently in the coastal ranges between the I5 and the 101 freeway. He also got great shots directly off Hwy 1 between Carmel and Big Sur.
They can be found off paved or dirt roads in the backcountry, frequently VERY close to the road (10-30 feet off). Here’s what one looked like from the road when we spotted it – his back to us.
They love to hunt in meadows with a large population of their favorite meals – ground squirrels. In the winter they are active between 9 am and 3:30 pm, the same time as their prey. They may perch on rocks, logs, stumps that give them good perspective on the squirrels. They will run up trees when startled. They will hunt in the rain; in this case be sure to look for them atop logs (like housecats they prefer to keep their feet dry).
Spot them by looking for shapes (esp ears) against the background. They can be very well-camouflaged.
Keep notes about where you see the cats. They will return to the same meadows again and again.
Purchase a squeaker that sounds like a wounded animal – the sound will catch bobcats’ interest immediately. Brent likes Knight & Hale KH940. This is what the bobcat looked like when he heard the squeaker – super interested!
Males vs. Females
Males tend to be bolder. Their heads are smaller in proportion to their body.
Females and young cats/kittens are more timid. They often run off immediately. Females’ heads are smaller than males and are in proportion to my body.
Photography Tips
Shoot in AV mode. Preset the exposure. Your vehicle is your best blind. Shoot in sequences of 5-15 photos. You will usually have about 15 seconds to shoot. Use the lowest possible ISO – not the auto ISO, especially with long lenses. You can use a bean bag rest on your car window to steady your camera, or a rifle rest.
If you see a treed bobcat you will have time to pull out the tripod because they will stay up there for a while.
Brent uses a shutter speed of 1/length of lens or higher. He likes to use 70-300 mm lens. In this case you would set to 1/200. If you have a mildly blurry shot you can correct it by reducing the dpi to 72, select the image in Photoshop and sharpen it.
A nearby friend has bobcats running around the hill behind her house so maybe I’ll be able to get MUCH better photos soon.
The long-awaited day is here! If you’re into fascinating characters, intricate plots, and unique, compelling settings, City of the Dead is the epic fantasy book for you.
Crafted over three years time and infused with the magic and spirit of the ancient world, this adventure is action-packed and emotionally satisfying.
Pick up your copy now, or follow the more info link for reviews and an excerpt.
A warrior trapped by the past. A priest hunted by hidden enemies. A city haunted by old gods’ magic.
When prison guard Conyr rescues a young priest from execution, he sets off a dangerous adventure that brings unlikely allies. Together, they must navigate a maze of power-hungry rivals, skilled assassins, and deadly sorcery. For the young priest’s lost memory holds the key to more than his past, but the fate of two cities.
Delightful look at lonely hearts and the lengths they went to in order to find love and marriage. Includes a number of biographical accounts of the big movers and shakers in mail-order brides (Asa Mercer, the Matrimonial News) and that of couples not well known. The reproduction of actual personal ads is fun to read. Complete with bibliography. My only complaint is that I wish it was longer.
October … Fall, turning leaves, cool nights, pumpkins, and Halloween. It’s the perfect time to join History Talks! for a free panel about the supernatural aspects of history, from ghosts and cemeteries to skinwalkers and shapeshifters.
We’ve got four accomplished novelists, including myself. The Santa Clarita Library is sponsoring the Zoom presentation. Join us!
Remember that fabulous panel I was on recently? Well, the reply is up on YouTube. You’ll learn about the dangers of train travel, how people rode jalopies and horses across the continent, and the mechanics of dog sledding.
What with Covid-19 restrictions, talking about traveling is about as far as most of us can get to leaving the house, but hey, talking about it is better than nothing, right? And talking about dog sledding, among other things, has the added value of being interesting.
Join my fellow historical fiction authors on Tuesday, September 8 at 6:30 Pacific time for a FREE Zoom call about this most fascinating subject!
Woo hoo! In order to celebrate the audiobook release of my novella-length historical romance, All Mouth and No Trousers has debuted on NetGalley and will remain through September 30th.
This means you can snag it if you’re a book professional and read/review it and rocket it to WORLDWIDE acclaim.
How could you resist that?
After all, novellas about historical Antarctica and grumpy British commandants and gorgeous scheming secretaries and dog sleds need to be known and enjoyed.
So, if you’re a librarian, bookseller, book blogger, or general reviewer, please check out my offering – but do it quick because September 30th will be here before you know it.
By the way, though this is set in the same place and time as Whiter Pastures (and shares the same characters), it can be read independently.
About halfway through this book I had to step aside in awe at Pollack’s skill in weaving a narrative of seemingly disparate subjects under the pothead umbrella. I couldn’t seem to stop reading about Pollack’s life as a Jeopardy contestant, poker-obsessed loon, and trivia magnate. Each fascinating vignette ends with “… and I didn’t care because I was a stoner” or something along those lines. It’s all interesting stuff, and the pacing is perfect. Pollack is a professional and his words read easy.
A bittersweet and wryly funny look at the troubles and triumphs of life, and a hopeful journey through addiction to recovery.
It’s not often that you find historical romances set in Antarctica. Find out more about the coldest continent and how research led me to write these quirky stories in this mostly coherent video.
Love and Lunacy at the Frozen Reaches of the Earth
Available at your favorite audiobook outlet!
Two romantic novellas in the Icebound series, an ongoing collection of polar delights.
Behold dogsleds and penguins.
Howling winds and cold, pitiless wastes.
This is Antarctica, where the intrepid inhabitants of the frozen ends of the earth battle the terrain, and each other, to find love—in a past much like that of the early 1900s.
Though the turn-of-the-century British Antarctic base isn’t a hotbed for romantic liaisons, beautiful blonde Electa Yellowsmith has no problem attracting male attention. But she’s got her eye set on Commander Gorge Elderbatch.
He may be as dense as an iceberg, but Electa hasn’t yet met a man she couldn’t charm. She’s not about to give up now. Whether Gorge likes it or not.
