How Little I Know -- Capitola Beach, Santa Cruz Co. CA 10/24/2013
It's been a wild Autumn on the Monterey Bay. For most of October, record numbers of Humpbacks have been hanging around close to shore, feeding on huge numbers of anchovies. With the whales are large pods of porpoises and dolphins, and massive numbers of birds, esp. CA, Western, and Heermann's Gulls, but also CA Brown Pelicans, Elegant Terns, all three Cormorant species, etc. Capitola Beach has been an epicenter of the activity, and I when I stopped there yesterday, I was amazed by the sheer number of gulls and pelicans that were on the beach, and floating just offshore.
Within a few minutes of arriving, I saw some gulls that i didn't recognize. They were very small, and were keeping to themselves, floating right in amongst the breakers on the beach. They were Bonaparte's Gulls, Chroiocephalus philadelphia, a new species for me. I watched them for quite a while, marveling at how different they were from any of the other gull species present. They looked downright...dainty. I'm a beginning birder, and trying to tell gull species apart is usually beyond my skill set, but these stood out. It was a pleasure to watch them bob about.
The odd thing is, these gulls show up here every winter, so when I say the birds were new to me, that's not quite right. I've probably seen them before. I've just never noticed them before. And really, that's what 's been so interesting about this effort to be come better versed in the natural world. I've had to confront how little I've noticed, much less taken the time to try and know better, at other times in my life.
In addition to the gulls, there were a couple of Humpbacks a bit further out than usual, and a small pod of Bottlenosed Dolphins came by. There were also two Southern Sea Otters that I didn't photograph, and the rocks I was sitting amongst had Black Turnstones and Surfbirds picking around them.
If you live anywhere near the Monterey Bay, and haven't been down to check out what's happening there, do yourself a favor. I've had great looks at the whales from Westcliff Drive, Capitola Beach, and New Brighton Beach. Who knows how long this will last, so have a go. I've talked to people who've lived in Santa Cruz for thirty or forty years, who've spent countless time down on the bay, and they all say they've never seen anything like what's out there this Autumn.
Pinheaded
how many angels
can elbow onto the point
a view brings me to?
I'd leave an eye to bear so
to see the better I lose
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