Estero Bluffs
Estero Bluffs is one of my favorite places along the California coast. The best trail for me is this one, by the windmill. On this morning, it was the second trail of the day for my friend and me.
The fogbow was a bit of magic that added to the beauty of the oaks and windmill.
So we spent some time documenting this fleeting beauty before heading down to the beach. It was a great trail for me, as I had hip replacement surgery six weeks earlier and didn’t require a lot of up and down.
There was a smattering of wildlife on the grassy prairie on the short walk down to the beach.
I found a little vole munching on some greenery.
Red-winged blackbirds were in full regalia.
The best reason to visit this beach, however, is that it is a breeding spot for the endangered snowy plover.
The nesting area is roped off, and if there were any nests we were not in a position to see them. However there were three unbanded and one banded adult.
Female snowy plover
A small flock of whimbrels was at the waterline along with sanderlings and one least sandpiper.
A female harrier took a break from scouting for breakfast.
The yellow flowers are invasive mustard, which makes up for its displacement of native plants by being so darned beautiful.
There weren’t too many people this early in the morning. In normal times I prefer this anyway, but in the COVID-19 era it’s a matter of safety.
Forget the narration… just enjoy the rest of the images!
Plantain 
White owl’s clover 
My friend Marilyn 
Poppies and succulents at El Chorlito 
Centranthus 
Another nice treat was that my favorite Mexican restaurant El Chorlito in San Simeon was open! For carry-out only, of course. It was the first restaurant meal I’d had in about three months. We drove to an overlook along the beach and ate in the car. I normally eat on the patio to enjoy the succulent garden, but at least we got to enjoy the stunning flowers while they prepared our meals.
I will post the cool fogbow pictures from our first trip to a beach in Cayucos next. Altogether I walked 3.5 miles! And my leg (the one with the new hip) was only a little swollen the next day! I had the BEST surgeon.
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Morro Coast Bird Festival – part 6
While the birds were the stars of the Morro Coast Bird Festival, the landscapes were a bonus. We had both sunny days, and overcast ones.
Read the rest of this entry »Morro Coast Bird Festival – part 5
The Morro Coast Bird Festival in January 2019 featured a variety of trips, many of them centered around the water. However, some of the best birds were songbirds.
I carry around a very heavy Nikon D750 with a Nikon 200-500mm lens. This is the sharpest lens I’ve ever owned, and combined with a good camera sensor allows me to crop a small portion of the image and still come up with a relatively sharp and minimally pixelated image.
Read the rest of this entry »Morro Coast Bird Festival – part 3
The Morro Coast Bird Festival was four days of amazing birding in my own “backyard.” Of course, most of the birds we saw were water birds.
The horned grebe’s eyes are so red they show up in the water’s reflections!
Read the rest of this entry »California Coast in Spring
Pacific Coast Highway, California
Spring comes to Southern California in winter, at least along the coast. The five-hour drive from my home in the High Desert took me through citrus groves and blooming almond trees, into the emerald green hills that looked like Ireland. Read the rest of this entry »
