habitat ~ 07/17/13 ~ Morro Strand State Beach

Morro Strand State Beach

July  17, 2013

Per our usual of not making reservations, we were out of luck securing a camping spot at the main Morro Bay State Park.  So we settled for the parking lot at Morro Strand State Beach.  Truth be told I wouldn't exactly recommend either campground at $35/night, but the locations work well for what we like to do down there.  Perhaps it's mostly nostalgia for why I keep going back.  I was a little surprised to find out Morro Strand SB is still open for business considering it has been on the chopping block twice since 2009.  How did this get resolved?  Did Save Our State Parks actually save it?  Does anyone know how this played out?  Darn news these days rarely offer follow-up reports.

The nicest thing about staying at the strand is, well, the beach... even though it can get extremely windy in the afternoons.  I know, I know, I live along Monterey Bay with plenty of perfectly fine beaches here in town, but there's something about this beach adjacent to Morro Bay that hits home for me.  It's my favorite central CA coast beach for beachcombing.  It's long and flat and rarely stinky. There are always plenty of birds, like the Heermann's gulls, western gulls, and marbled godwit shown here.  There are also many more sand dollars, crabs, and clams than I can find at home.  It's a lovely spot to watch the sun set.

habitat ~ 11/03/11 ~ Morro Strand State Beach

Morro Strand State Beach
November 3, 2011

When I first started Nature ID back in May 2009, Andy I were visiting San Luis Obispo County a little more frequently than we do now, and my blog subtitle was "from the Central Coast of California." Thanks to school and changes in our lifestyle, we stay closer to home in Monterey County these days, so I've re-subtitled Nature ID to reflect the change of location focus.
However, it's only been 3 weeks since I last visited this beach on October 12, 2011 in Morro Bay, about 150 miles southeast of Monterey Bay. The weather couldn't have been more different with a high of 67.5°F compared to the 92.8°F previously.

My friend Jennifer, who is also a regular commenter on Nature ID, loved my sand dollar shots. Since she had never really been to Morro Bay, I thought it'd be a good idea to play hookey from our responsibilities and do a girls' trip. And, yes, she found many, many sand dollars, not to mention added new bird sightings to her brother's Birdpost [no longer available] site.

Heavy sigh... Morro Strand State Beach is on the list for closure in the coming year along with 69 other CA State Parks. Unlike back in 2009 when Mr. Terminator proposed closing 80% of CA's 278 State Parks, this year's threat of closure feels realistic and more serious. While I can see them closing and fencing off the campground, I just can't imagine any agency being able to keep people off this awesome 3-mile beach. With no restrooms, no refuse containers, or other maintenance and management, I predict the quality of this beach will quickly go downhill. Public-private partnerships have been organized to attempt to fill the gaps throughout the state, but it takes a cadre of folks willing to volunteer their money, time, sweat, and expertise. Randy at Way Points has been vocal with his posts about Trail Closure at Garrapata and Henry Coe gets a Reprieve. I'm surprised other CA nature bloggers I follow haven't said much on this very important and relevant topic. Save Our State Parks seems to me to be the best organization out there spreading the word.

ps 05/31/12 - The Central Coast Natural History Association Executive Director contacted me and asked if they could use my last picture of the SOS sign alongside the standard brown State Parks sign on the cover of their "Nature Notes" newsletter. They're a non-profit that raises money for their local SLO County State Parks and have been fighting to keep these special parks open for over 4 years. Of course, they have my permission! I sent to her a few higher resolution image files from which to choose.

terns ~ 11/03/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

royal tern
Sterna maxima

edited 11/11/11 - These were the funniest looking birds I've seen in a long time, like gulls with clown outfits on. It's too bad we lost sight of the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival leader who pointed out the surfbirds for us.

I originally posted these as all being elegant terns, but I was unsure and considered royal terns as an option. I asked if anyone could help me tell the difference between the two species, because I was pulling my hair out thinking they all had to be either elegant terns or all royal terns. I tried to convince myself the variations I spotted were due to some being younger birds. As I've blogged before, I'm aware I often make the incorrect assumption that similar looking things near each other must be the same. Thanks to commenters Neil and Jennifer, I agree there are actually two species of birds hanging out together. Neil provided an excellent link to the San Diego Natural History Museum Focus On Royal and Elegant Terns. Thanks to you both!

royal terns with 1 elegant tern 2nd from right
S. maxima with 1 Sterna elegans 2nd from right

The royal terns have white tops of the heads, like a man balding on top, and thicker, pumpkin-colored bills. They look stockier than elegant when standing side by side.

elegant terns with 1 royal tern 2nd from left
S. elegans with 1 S. maxima 2nd from left

The elegant terns have heads with black hoods that touch their eyes, thinner, sharper bill, and slightly smaller overall size. Note the yellow legs of the juvenile elegant tern.

mixture of elegant and royal terns

Now, can you spot the differences above? With all the variations in plumage within a species, depending on time of year, age of the bird, and sometimes sexual dimorphism (other birds), I hope my confusion can be easily understood. Now that I know what to look for, the differences seem obvious. It'd be more of a challenge distinguishing these terns in their breeding plumage. I'm just glad a caspian tern (Sterna caspia) was not in the mix, too.

Somehow it's comforting to know other people have a hard time IDing these terns, e.g., Ben's Blog - In Search of Nature, Birds, Butties & Bugs, and John Wall's Natural California (does he have a mix of both species, too?).

barnacles ~ 11/03/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

leaf barnacle / goose barnacle among acorn barnacle
Pollicipes polymerus (formerly Mitella polymerus) among Balanus glandula

thatched barnacle
Semibalanus cariosus

I'm trying to get outside of my comfort zone and ID things I know very little about. Many people would recognize a barnacle, but I think few would know particular species. Indeed, as I was researching, there seems to be conflicting information about the identity of some very common barnacles. I may change the embedded links as I look into this some more.

sea anemones ~ 11/03/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

sea anemones
Anthopleura spp.
more information

As a kid, whenever we'd go to the beach, my mother would repeatedly warn me to never step on sea anemones, because she believed they would sting. Now, I don't step on them for fear I could crush these seemingly delicate animals. I learned through the links included in this post that both ideas, stings to humans and being delicate, are incorrect.

I should note not all sea anemones are in the Anthopleura genus. The two species I have identified below just happen to be in the same genus.

aggregating anemone
Anthopleura elegantissimamore pictures

The aggregating anemone is known to clone itself, hence why they're often found in dense clusters. The Walla Walla site linked in the scientific name above shows some incredible pictures of the dividing process. Some anemones also have green algae (zoochlorellae) or dinoflagellates (zooxanthellae) living symbiotically in their gut lining (but maybe not these ones?). The Monterey Bay Aquarium site has fun information on the aggregating anemone, but it states "Anthropleura" with an extra 'r', which is incorrect. Anthropleura was an ancient giant centipede.

sunburst anemone / solitary green anemone / starburst anemone (scroll down for pics)
Anthopleura sola
more information

I was lucky enough to get a decent picture of this anemone slightly open to see the lines on the oral disk for a positive ID.

Two additional similar looking species found in our area are the moonglow anemone, aka burrowing anemone (Anthopleura artemisia), and the giant green anemone, aka solitary green anemone (Anthopleura xanthogrammica) - which I believe is shown in the first photograph above, but there is no way for me to know for sure.

For much better photographs of anemones and other tide pool life, check out John Wall's Natural California. It's extremely difficult to get decent pictures through moving water. Most of my attempted shots ended up being lovely reflections of the clouds above.

surfbird ~ 11/03/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

surfbird
Aphriza virgata

Surfbird, huh? So, where's the surfboard or the, um, computer with internet connection? I would've never been able to identify these birds, let alone even spot them, if it weren't for the help of a total stranger.

My friend was asking me about marbled godwits that we saw, which for the life of me I could not remember their name even though I had been on this beach only 3 weeks before and blogged about it. So, I took to asking random strangers, especially ones carrying massive cameras and binoculars, if they knew the birds. The first couple I asked replied in a thick accent, "Ve ar' not vrom around hair." The second couple I asked ended up being leaders of the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival. Bingo! As I was absorbed taking pictures of anemones in the rocks they called us over to look at the surfbirds. Really, since they are actual birds, their name should be "surf bird" as two words.

From a distance, I'm sure I'd get them confused with a lot of other shorebirds, including black turnstone (which were also picking at the mussel-covered rocks for food), least sandpiper (Calidris minutilla), western sandpiper (Calidris mauri), red knot (Calidris canutus), and pectoral sandpiper (Calidris melanotos). As a note about the pectoral sandpiper, even though several reputable books and Cornell's All About Birds site show they are not ever here in CA, both the Morro Bay Winter Bird Festival site and Don Roberson's Monterey Birds book show they are recorded migrants in our area.

cancer crabs ~ 11/03/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

rock crab carapaces
Cancer spp.

The interior of Cancer carapaces are amazingly colorful. These almost look like they've been filled with Easter egg dye and sand.

This post was very challenging to research, hence it's link-laden. According to the California Department of Fish and Game, we have 9 species of Cancer crabs. I used an old edition of Light's Manual: Intertidal Invertebrates of the Central California Coast sent to me by Steve at Blue Jay Barrens (Thanks again, Steve!), which listed only 8 species and keyed 6 of those.

I'm attempting to ID based solely on the carapaces, which is the most common body part I saw washed up on the beach. Everything I found were 1-3" in width. Since crabs molt, size is not a significant indicator of a species. I spent quite a bit of time zooming in on each of the photos and counting the carapace spines/teeth. There is very little information online for some of the smaller species. If you're curious to learn more, make sure to click on the embedded links under each photo.

Dungeness crab
Cancer magister (aka Metacarcinus magister)
for more information click here and here

slender crab / graceful rock crab
Cancer gracilis (aka Metacarcinus gracilis)

best guess yellow rock crab
best guess Cancer anthonyi (aka Metacarcinus anthonyi)

best guess hairy rock crab
best guess Cancer jordani (aka Romaleon jordani)

While I may have linked to these above, here, by name, are the best photographic crab ID sites I've found for the west coast of North America:
Crab Identification @ Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
Key to Family Cancridae--Cancer Crabs @ Walla Walla University
Intertidal Invertebrates of the Monterey Bay Area @ University of California, Santa Cruz
Rocky Shore Crustaceans @ Seanet, Stanford University (also check out Subtidal Crustaceans)

Crustacea of Southern California @ University of California, Irvine

Odd thing about me, whenever I see a crab, I always get a sudden hunkering to eat them with lots of butter. I'm not kidding. Here are other links that caught my interest:
Baby Crab Eater @ The Drop-In to Moss Landing Marine Labs blog
Crabfest 2011 @ The Monkeyface News blog
California Fisheries Atlas - Rock Crabs @ California Fisheries Fund
Don't Hang Up Those Hoop Nets Just Yet - Crab Season is Year Round @ Western Outdoors News

ps - For a little bit of gutter humor, as I was researching the IDs above using the old Light's Manual and with selective choice of spp. and words... I discovered pee crabs, er, pea crabs (Pinnixa spp. and others) live in penis fish (Urechis spp.) burrows. Haha, who knew!?!

habitat ~ 10/12/11 ~ Morro Strand State Beach

Morro Strand State Beach
October 12, 2011

posted 10/28/11 - It was so hot and windy when we arrived in Morro Bay. It hit 92.8°F! After setting up camp, I suggested we go to the beach to cool off a bit. Morro Strand SB is a flat 3-mile beach with gentle waves. It's great for bird watching, beach combing, and tide pooling (when the tide is low). It was also once known as Atascadero State Beach, the name I remember as a child when my dad would surf fish here.

Andy and I first "discovered" this lovely beach when we camped back in June of 2009. Usually we prefer to camp at Morro Bay State Park where we ended up on this trip. Hey, I like being able to scope out individual campsites and check out any potential neighbors... so I never make reservations. This can be risky finding a spot during peak summer season, hence why 2 years ago, we had the fortune to find the less-developed Morro Strand SB, which is right on the beach. It's essentially a big parking lot with fire pits and restrooms with no showers. However, you can have access to showers at Morro Bay SP. I believe Morro Strand SB is $25/night and Morro Bay SP is $35/night. If you don't make online reservations like us, the State Parks only accept cash. Morro Strand State Beach is one of many State Parks slated for closure by next summer. I'm not sure how they would keep people off this incredible beach if it were closed.

Pacific razor clam ~ 10/12/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

Pacific razor clam
Siliqua patula

posted 10/29/11 - Through my sheer laziness (or am I simply feeling a bit tired from the increased autumnal dark hours?), I almost posted this as "Oooh, pretty shells! Look at the cool tie-dye effect."

However, I'm glad I took the time to research the shell evidence of this animal. To tell you the truth, I'm not 100% positive this is a S. patula; it might possibly be S. lucida, if I trust Dr. P. Roopnarine, a curator at CalAcademy. Walla Walla University (linked in the scientific name above) has a quick key to Cultellidae (formerly Solenidae or Pharidae). Pictured above are definitely more than 5 cm in length. What we saw in abundance at Morro Strand were several inches in length. The periostracum was well-worn in various stages from the wave action, which makes the shell look like many others from around the world, like S. costata or S. radiata. What made these pictures difficult to positively ID is that I didn't turn over the shells to look at the insides, so to speak. One online page that I found to be extraordinarily helpful is Common Marine Bivalves of California, Fish Bulletin No. 90, written by John E. Fitch, and issued in 1953.

long-billed curlew ~ 10/12/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

long-billed curlew
Numenius americanus

Again, I have better pictures of the long-billed curlew, but I want to document the time of year. Interesting to note, my previous post of curlews here at Morro Strand State Beach on June 25, 2009 seems contrary to their typical migration patterns. They're supposedly only winter visitors here on the coast, and I wouldn't exactly say late June as being winter. Actually I saw many more long-billed curlews back in June, 2 years ago, than this visit in October. The previous post is a marbled godwit, which looks similar to an amateur like me.

marbled godwit ~ 10/12/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

marbled godwit
Limosa fedoa

I have better pictures of marbled godwits, but I want to show the time of year and a different location. I love their long, black-tipped, pink bills. They're quite entertaining to watch as they poke their bills, sometimes up to their eyeballs, into the sand looking for goodies. I wonder how they know where to poke, because they seem to be fairly successful with about 1 out of every 3-4 pokes yielding something to eat. I don't know why, but it surprised me to find out they summer in "the northern Great Plains into southern Canada" (see the South Dakota Birds and Birding link in the common name ID above). The next post is a long-billed curlew, which looks very similar.

sand dollar ~ 10/12/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

Pacific sand dollar
Dendraster excentricus

posted 10/25/11 - There's not a lot of decent information online for sand dollars. I'm assuming most people are okay simply knowing it's a sand dollar and don't bother to look any further as to what kind of animal this is. I've included the best links I could find in the ID above. Essentially what anyone finds on a beach are dead "skeletons" of sand dollars, so to speak. I've also posted this on flickr with hopes someone out there with knowledge of this animal can ID it.

ps - This Pacific sand dollar post inspired Jeannette of Bread on the Water to write a thoughtful piece on plastics and where do they go. The ocean? Also, after looking at other sand dollars and the descriptions of those found on the eastern shores of the Pacific Ocean, I think my best guess for D. excentricus is most likely correct.

black-crowned night heron ~ 10/12/11 ~ Morro Strand Beach

juvenile black-crowned night heron
Nycticorax nycticorax

I see these young ones from time to time at the Monterey Coast Guard Pier, but I rarely have my camera on me in the early morning to capture them. On trips like this one to Morro Bay (about 150 miles southeast of Monterey Bay), I generally do carry our little point-and-shoot. Local Monterey photographers Greg Magee and Peter Monteforte (who over the past several years, I've run into rather regularly) have much better pictures of black-crowned night herons... well, much better pictures, period. They were the ones who first told me what this funny looking bird actually was with its bright yellow legs and dumpy body. It was at a time when I finally figured out how to recognize the adults, but the young ones confused me when I initially saw them.

ps 11/14/11 - If I didn't know any better, I'd almost say this was a winter plumage Chinese pond heron (Ardeola bacchus). Just joking.

long-billed curlew ~ 06/25/09 ~ Morro Strand Beach

long-billed curlew
Numenius americanus

I was impressed by how many different groups of birds we saw on Morro Strand during a short walk. The main group of curlews were behind the snowy plover roped section of beach.

western snowy plover ~ 06/25/09 ~ Morro Strand Beach

western snowy plover
Charadrius alexandrinus nivosus

I'll admit that I haven't paid much attention to the Western snowy plover and its threatened plight. If it weren't for the signs, roped off sections of the beach, and square fencing around several nests we may not have stopped to look. They're cute little birds and awfully quick (read: hard for me to take a good picture). They lower their heads and run around the beach at great speeds. We imagined they were catching flies as they zoomed around.

Many dogs are not allowed on local beaches here in Monterey Bay because of the desire to protect the snowy plover. While this raises the hackles of many dog owners, I think it's a good policy in general. I've had some very bad experiences with dogs at Carmel Beach where they are allowed. There are a few discourteous dog owners who ruin a good thing for everyone.

sand dollar ~ 06/25/09 ~ Morro Strand Beach

sand dollar
Clypeasteroida

Morro Bay is about 150 miles southeast of Monterey Bay and the beaches are not the same. Morro Strand State Beach is a very nice, long and wide walking beach with different kinds of tide pools than found along Sunset and Ocean View in Pacific Grove. We noticed many sand dollars, as well as birds of all types and sand crab bodies. One little girl we saw had collected a whole bucket full of sand dollars, from grey to white to beautiful orange.

great and snowy egrets ~ 06/25/09 ~ Morro Strand Beach

great egret
Ardea alba

snowy egret
Egretta thula

It was unexpected to see the 2 types of "egrets" side-by-side hunting in the water in such numbers. If I didn't know better, I would have thought the larger ones were the adults and the smaller ones were its young. Love the yellow feet of the snowy egret.

western gull ~ 06/25/09 ~ Morro Strand Beach

western gull
Larus occidentalis

I generally don't take pictures of the animals or plants that are so common in the area that I usually fail to notice them anymore. However, this gull caught my attention with its behavior. It was stamping the sand and feeding on whatever was coming up in the water-soaked sand. Fascinating! I likened it to the use of tools by some birds to get insects from holes in trees.

turkey vulture ~ 06/25/09 ~ Morro Strand Beach

turkey vulture
Cathartes aura

In Ohio, I used to call these turkey buzzards, until someone told me buzzard was a misnomer, similarly to how American buffalo are really bison. Common names are fraught with inaccuracies, but sure are easier to remember than scientific names.

We first noticed this group on the hill and watched several fly down to the beach.

This was the first time I witnessed a group of turkey vultures feeding. Their behavior was fascinating to observe: one would feed while several others seemed stationed to keep a lookout. I couldn't help but think of broad-shouldered henchmen. I believe they were feeding on a sea lion carcass.

Oh, how many times have we seen turkey vultures in the distance soaring on great wings and hoped they were California condors?