We returned a few days ago from a trip to California - Monterey, Morro Bay, and San Francisco. It was a good birding trip, good dining trip, and good photography trip. After weeks with little camera time, it was fulfilling to again be behind the lens with the birds ... and much else. I am still working through the hundreds of images. Here is just a first sampling.
Few of the birds will send California birders into a tizzy or chase, but for an Easterner fleeing winter, they presented an invigorating variety.
There will be, of course, a series of posts. I begin with a sampling on or along the Monterey Peninsula coast.
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| Monterey, CA, Coast |
On the Atlantic Coast, an
Eared Grebe will draw the attention of chasers, and when seen, it is often distant. So it was a delight to watch them close to the rocky Monterey coast ...
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| Eared Grebe |
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Several new gulls for the photographic archives, including
Glaucous-winged and
Heerman's Gulls ...
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| Glaucous-winged Gull |
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| Heerman's Gull |
Anna's Hummingbird ...
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| Anna's Hummingbird |
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| Anna's Hummingbird |
... and a
Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) that seems to think it is a hummingbird ...
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| Yellow-rumped Warbler (Audubon's) |
Also new for the photographic archives were a variety of shorebirds, including
Black Turnstone and
Surfbird ...
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| Black Turnstone and Surfbird |
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| Black Turnstones |
And finally (for this post), a non-avian fauna, the Sea Otter. Momma holds a crab on her chest while her pup comes close in hopes of lunch ...
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| Sea Otter - Mother and Pup |
More anon ... good birding!
