Welcome to the Goleta Natural History Museum. Its primary themes are Geography, Geology, Zoology and Travel. The Goleta Natural History Museum is a one man operation. I take most of the pictures, write the captions, create the pages, and make all the arbitrary editorial decisions.

Please note: The Goleta Natural History Museum is just my web site. It is strictly virtual. There is no actual museum in Goleta for people to visit. The Goleta Natural History Museum is not affiliated with any other museum, public or private. It's not nice to use my pictures on your web site without asking.*

Click on the images below to link to pages of photographs of natural history related subject matter:

After a week of winter storms, I drove out the Apache Trail to Tortilla Flat.

On Saturday, December 6, I started at the Mojave Airport. I drove north on the Antelope Valley Freeway to Nine Mile Canyon, which I followed to Kennedy Meadows. Above Kennedy Meadows, just past Fish Ctreek Meadow at an elevation of 7,800 feet, the road was icy, so I returned the same way.

Kennedy Meadows is reached by way of nine Mile Canyon

The crescent Moon joined Venus and Jupiter in conjunction on December 1. Venus is in the middle and brighter than Jupiter. The Moon is about 240,000 miles away. Venus is a bit over 100,000,000 miles away. It is setting later each evening and will reach maximum elongation on January 15. Jupiter is almost 600,000,0000 miles away. It is setting earlier each evening and will be in conjunction with the Sun on January 24.

The crescent Moon moves away from Venus and Jupiter between 6:34 PM and 7:20 PM PST. I animated six frames taken between sunset and moonset.

On Sunday, October 5, I shot a series of panoramas with my Gigapan robotic camera mount in the Alabama Hills near Lone Pine, and up at Horshoe Meadow in the Sierra Nevada. On Monday, I drove across Lee Flat, over Hunter Mountain, through Ulida Flat and Hidden Valley, via Teakettle Junction to Racetrack Playa. Then I cruised through Racetrack Valley, past Dry Mountain to Ubehebe Crater.

Although it was late in the season there was a spectacular Poppy bloom in the Antelope Valley on April 26, 2008.

Slideshow of wildflower photos.

I spent five days in the Saline Valley photographing scenery and jets in the wild. Two days after I returned home, the winds were gusting to 48 miles per hour where I was camping.

Panamint Valley and Saline Valley Slideshow: Slideshow of scenery in Panamint Valley and Saline Valley in March 2008.

I used some new methods to build panoramas from old slides that required a lot of perspective correction. I also straightened out some of the more recent panoramas.

On a typically windy day in the Saline Valley I spotted a most unusual cloud.

On Monday, October 8, we toured the Alabama Hills and then drove up to Papoose Flat in the Inyo Mountains.

On Tuesday, October 9, we drove over Cerro Gordo Pass in the Inyo Mountains, then cruised through Lee Flat on our way to Hunter Mountain.

I photographed the 2007 Aurigid meteor shower from my back yard.

Several thundercells blew across western Santa Barbara County early in the morning on Thursday, August 30.

The eclipsed Moon was visible over Goleta early on the morning of August 28, 2007.

I have assembled a collection of my still photos and time-lapse videos of the Zaca Fire.

This composite image shows three Perseid meteors in the sky over Goleta on the morning of Monday, August 13. I set up my camera to take a 10-second long exposure every eleven seconds. That way the shutter was open more than 90% of the time. The lens was wide open at f3.5 and the ISO was set to 1600. The camera fired off 796 exposures between 1:27 and 3:55 AM. The meteor's tracks point back toward the shower's radiant in the constellation Perseus. These meteors were captured in exposures made at 1:31, 1:42, and 3:19 AM.

Over Veteran's Day weekend I toured Owens Valley, the Inyo Mountains, Panamint Valley, and Trona Pinnacles. I shot several panoramic photos along the way.

The planet Mercury passed directly between the Earth and the Sun on Wednesday, November 8. First contact occurred at 11:12 AM PST. Final contact occurred at 4:10 PM PST.

It's the time of year when the Anna's Hummingbirds return to Goleta. An assertive male is establishing his territory in the back yard.

The Saline Valley is a remote and beautiful part of Death Valley National Park. The primitive roads and utter lack of services make it one of the least visited parts of the park.

Early in the morning on Friday August 12, I drove to the top of the Santa Ynez Mountains to observe the Perseid Meteor Shower. I observed for 100 minutes. In that time, I counted 51 Perseid meteors and two erratic meteors (not associated with the Perseid Shower). I shot 94 thirty-second time exposures with a Nikon D70 set to an effective film speed of 1600 ASA. I used an 18mm f3.5 lens. On those 94 exposures I found four meteor streaks.

Figueroa Mountain in Santa Barbara County is home to a wide variety of wildflowers.

Here's a display of wildflower pictures from a trip to Death Valley during the first weekend in April. Stops along the way include the Antelope Valley, Inyo Mountains, Alabama Hills, Augereberry Point, Wildrose Canyon, and the Padre Crowley Overlook above the Panamint Valley.

The California Poppies are starting to come up in profusion in the Antelope Valley. More pictures, taken on Tuesday March 29, have been added to the 2005 Wildflower display.

On Thursday, October 21, I shot a series of panoramas along the length of East Camino Cielo on the crest of the Santa Ynez Mountains above Goleta and Santa Barbara. Camino Cielo features many sweeping vistas of the Santa Barbara Channel and the San Rafael Wilderness.

On Tuesday, October 5, 2004, my sister and I drove our Toyota 4Runners to the ghost town of Ballarat in the Panamint Valley with the intent of 4-wheeling up Pleasant Canyon to Rogers Pass.

I drove up to the crest of the Santa Ynez Mountains above Santa Barbara at 3:00 in the morning on Thursday, August 12, 2004 to photograph the Perseid meteor shower.

Here is a collection of Moon photos and animations, including the total lunar eclipse that occurred on OIctober 27, 2004.

I drag the tripod out into the rain whenever I see the flash of lightning.

Tour of Bryce Canyon National Park in Utah in early September 2003.

I traveled to the Antelope Valley twice in April 2003 to photograph the wildflower bloom.

On the longest day of 2002, I drove up the Swansea-Cerro Gordo Road to the Burgess Mine at the crest of the Inyo Mountains just before sunset. I continued across the crest of the Inyo Mountains to Cerro Gordo, arriving as the full moon rose.

Voyage to Antarctica on the MV Hanseatic in January 2001. 

Penguins seen on the antarctic voyage of the MV Hanseatic.

Seals seen on the antarctic voyage of the MV Hanseatic.

Seabirds seen on the antarctic voyage of the MV Hanseatic.

Land birds seen on the antarctic voyage of the MV Hanseatic.

Books about Antarctica and antarctic exploration for sale at

Mawson's Will : The Greatest Polar Survival Story Ever Written (Paperback). by Lennard Bickel

Endurance : Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing

The Endurance : Shackleton's Legendary Antarctic Expedition by Caroline Alexander

South : A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage by Ernest Henry Shackleton, Sir Ernest Shackleton

South With Endurance : Shackleton's Antarctic Expedition 1914-1917

The South Pole by Roald E. Amundsen

The Coldest March: Scott`s Fatal Antarctic Expedition by Susan Solomon

The Last Place on Earth (Modern Library Exploration) by Roland Huntford

Videotapes about Antarctica and antarctic exploration for sale at

South: Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition (1919)

Shackleton's Boat Journey - The Story of the James Caird (1999)

Shackleton: Escape from Antarctica (1999)

The Last Place on Earth (1994)

Great Adventurers: Ernest Shackleton - To the End of the Earth (1999)

DVD about Antarctica and antarctic exploration for sale at

South: Ernest Shackleton and the Endurance Expedition (1919)

What do you think so far? I would like to read your comments on the Museum. Send a message to Brian.

*All content included on the Goleta Natural History Museum, such as text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, audio clips and software, is the property of the Goleta Natural History Museum and protected by U.S. and international copyright laws. The compilation (meaning the collection, arrangement and assembly) of all content on this site is the exclusive property of the Goleta Natural History Museum and protected by U.S. and international copyright laws.