pelagic cormorant ~ 12/19/13 ~ Monterey Bay Aquarium

pelagic cormorant
Phalacrocorax pelagicus

I love how the pelagic cormorants don seasonal attire appropriate for Christmas.  They have such a cute red face this time of year.  The sun has to hit them just right for the greens and purples to appear in the feathers, otherwise they look kind of drab.  A couple weeks ago, I noticed several already had their white butt patches (properly called flank patches), but not all of them yet.  I'll have to try to get photos of that, even if they are crappy like the first one above.  I gotta tell you, I so appreciate good nature photography now that I know how difficult it is.  I've really enjoyed watching the pelagic cormorants hang out at the Monterey Bay Aquarium all year.  They build their nests on those ledges under the building.  Their presence at the Aquarium is a relatively new occurrence, maybe within the past 10-12 years?  I believe the MBA is one of only a few places you can easily observe breeding and nesting up close, because they typically nest on inaccessible rocky cliffs.  Back in August, I suggested to Jim Covel that they add a cormorant nest cam to their relatively new Web Cams.  We'll see...

ps 12/23/13 - Today I saw my first pelagic cormorant carrying kelp nesting material back to the MBA ledges.  They really don't seriously nest until about March.  Maybe they're practicing?

pss 12/30/13 - Today I saw 2 cormorants actually sitting on what look like nests.  Crazy early?

wordless Wednesday

habitat ~ 12/14/13 ~ Frog Pond Wetland Preserve

Frog Pond Wetland Preserve
December 14, 2013

On our way out to get a steaming bowl of pho, Andy and I stopped at the Frog Pond for a quick walk around.  The air felt much warmer than the ice implies.  We rarely get frozen mud puddles near the coast, and the Frog Pond is less than 2 miles from Monterey Bay waters.  We've had trouble all over town with water pipes bursting under the roads and in buildings.  Although we've had near-freezing nighttime temps for a couple weeks, it wasn't until last week's rain that frost began to appear.  Yeah, it's been that dry.

There were lots of little birds scattered in the sunny pond area and in the willows. Three turkey vultures circled overhead.  And, we heard a red-tailed hawk cry in the distance. Per expected, we didn't see any dragons or damsels.  I have to say the Frog Pond is a very photogenic place.  My favorite photo set was back on January 7, 2012, when 'pond' meant more than a frozen mud puddle.

habitat ~ 12/07/13 ~ Fort Ord - BLM Creekside

Fort Ord National Monument - Creekside entrance

December 7, 2013

We woke up around 3am to the rainstorm splattering our windows.  Yay!  This hike was pure bliss, partly because of the decent soaking everything got and partly because I haven't been out to Fort Ord in months.  While Andy ran away for 2 hours, I headed over to the old pre-Creekside parking route. The old Public Lands sign is still up, instead of the fancy new National Monument signs.  It was nice to see water in the Salinas River; I had heard a rumor that it had completely dried up. Apparently not. There were more people on the trails than I'm used to.  Andy thinks it's a combination of all the attention the National Monument designation got last year and this year yet another parking access opened along Hwy 68 next to the Toro Park housing development.  It's okay.  While I loved the complete solitude I used to find here, I'm open for sharing this pretty unique spot of land.

ps - If Pete is reading this, I looked for rain beetles since it was still early.  No luck.