Slept late this morning and dined on the breakfast offered by the motel. In late morning we drove to a state park on the beach a few miles north of Ft. Bragg. It turned out to be a gem. It had good access to the beach and the rocky islets just off-shore. We studied gulls and noted a few rock birds like Black Turnstone and Black Oystercatcher. The three Pacific cormorants were there plus lots of Harbor Seals with pups. After the beach walk, we discovered a trail that circled a freshwater pond. The new habitat added birds to our day's list. It's hard to get used to seeing Steller's Jay and Pygmy Nuthatch at sea level. That's what moving several hundred miles north does. On the way back to the motel we picked up lunch both for today and for tomorrow's boat trip. I struggled through the Card's loss to the Cubs. Carpenter gave up two homers and that was the ballgame. I've posted a couple of images from yesterday's boat trip. The first is of Common Murres with young. Supposedly it's the males that care for the young at sea, so this image includes two such pairings. The young birds can be confused with murrelets, but since they seem always to be with an adult, it shouldn't really be a problem. The second image is that of one of several flocks of Sabine's Gulls that passed the boat. These were all adults. The young birds will be along later.
Slept late this morning and dined on the breakfast offered by the motel. In late morning we drove to a state park on the beach a few miles north of Ft. Bragg. It turned out to be a gem. It had good access to the beach and the rocky islets just off-shore. We studied gulls and noted a few rock birds like Black Turnstone and Black Oystercatcher. The three Pacific cormorants were there plus lots of Harbor Seals with pups. After the beach walk, we discovered a trail that circled a freshwater pond. The new habitat added birds to our day's list. It's hard to get used to seeing Steller's Jay and Pygmy Nuthatch at sea level. That's what moving several hundred miles north does. On the way back to the motel we picked up lunch both for today and for tomorrow's boat trip. I struggled through the Card's loss to the Cubs. Carpenter gave up two homers and that was the ballgame. I've posted a couple of images from yesterday's boat trip. The first is of Common Murres with young. Supposedly it's the males that care for the young at sea, so this image includes two such pairings. The young birds can be confused with murrelets, but since they seem always to be with an adult, it shouldn't really be a problem. The second image is that of one of several flocks of Sabine's Gulls that passed the boat. These were all adults. The young birds will be along later.
Hey Bob and John - I hope today brought yet another new bird for the year. Sad news from Hatteras this morning - Kate Sutherland's father died suddenly while visiting down there. This just happened a few hours ago, and I don't know more details, but do keep Kate in your thoughts. She is always such a ray of sunshine on the boat trips.
ReplyDeleteGlad you got some rest . . . I slept in today as well . . . but I had been rudely awakened at 3am by my son who had arrived in Paris, waited over an hour and still his ride had not shown . . . it was a stark reminder that Parker should have all needed phone numbers with him when he travels :-( . . . good luck with the birds today! Renee
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