ps 07/31/10 - I have mixed feelings about these pics from last year. Both are of the same individual on the same day. I haven't seen him this year.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
CA sea lion ~ 07/29/09 ~ Coast Guard Pier
ps 07/31/10 - I have mixed feelings about these pics from last year. Both are of the same individual on the same day. I haven't seen him this year.
black turnstone and surfbird ~ 07/29/09 ~ Coast Guard Pier
surfbird (upper-left) and black turnstone (lower-right)
The Local Birds states the black turnstone is in our area in the fall, winter, and spring. Um, what about the summer? This looks like the breeding plumage to me, yet Wikipedia states it only breeds in Alaska? Cornell's site seems to confirm this, too. I can't be the only one who's seen these around here in the summer.
ps 08/16/10 - I saw these again this morning, so I know last year's sighting was not a fluke. They're everywhere along the Coast Guard Pier breakwater rocks. When does fall actually start around here?
pss 12/03/13 - Thanks to John Rakestraw's recent blog post, I took a second look at these photos. What I thought was perhaps a black turnstone female and male, or a juvenile and adult, are two different kinds of birds. I've added a third photo that better shows the surfbird.
sea otterEnhydra lutris
How can I live near Monterey Bay and not post a pic of a sea otter? Come on! During our last walk about town, I made a point of taking a pic of a sea otter, or two. And, yes, they're mostly spotted feeding as shown, frolicking with each other, or sleeping in the kelp. I'm in disbelief that these are the first sea otter pics I have at all in my computer archives.
jellyfishYou'd think after the MBA's several year exhibit on jellies, I'd be able to identify these. My husband says these are part of the permanent exhibit upstairs. However, I still don't know which ones they are. We see a couple kinds of jellies, usually white moon jellies, from time to time in large numbers near the Coast Guard Pier for a day or two and then they seem to vanish.
Phalacrocorax penicillatus
The young are getting really big now. Seeing how demanding the young are reminds me of the stories I hear about how hungry human teenagers are (LOL!). I have some pics of eggs, but I'll need to dig those up from my archives from last month to post. I swear I've seen the guy whose mission it is to post pics to Wikipedia's Monterey wildlife. He rides a bicycle and has a humongous camera!