habitat ~ 01/20/10 ~ Pacific Grove Shoreline Park

Pacific Grove Shoreline Park
January 20, 2010

It felt very stormy. The gulls were all aflutter with the crashing waves and took shelter on the pond near the lighthouse. I couldn't believe there were fellas surfing in this!

rainbow from home

Here's a new category, similarly to sunrises, but now rainbows. We've seen quite a few of them in the past month after all the constant rain. You can barely see the double rainbow in this pic.

coyote brush ~ 01/10/10 ~ Fort Ord

female coyote brush
Baccharis pilularis
Asteraceae

ps - 06/25/10 - I originally posted this as unknown fluff. It's a common chaparral plant in CA, but no one has ever pointed it out to me and I simply didn't know. Like most grasses and many trees, it's one of those plants that doesn't usually catch my attention as a newbie plant lover. Thanks to Cindy at Dipper Ranch I now have an ID.

pelagic cormorant ~ 01/03/10 ~ Cannery Row

pelagic cormorant
Phalacrocorax pelagicus

These birds have been all the rage at the Monterey Bay Aquarium because they nest underneath the building. Unlike the Brandt's cormorants these are a bit less social.