This was my first true pelagic and what an adventure it was. Debi's enthusiasm throughout the trip fills you with excitement about the birds and other sea creatures that are seen. Over the course of the trip which lasts about 8 hours I saw 16 new life birds and missed 2 life birds. Starting in the harbor we saw good numbers Pelagic Red Crabs that come in El Nino years. My first life bird was a Surfbird in the Harbor feeding along the rocks. Once we got out to sea we saw Pink-footed Shearwaters, Black-footed Albatross, Cassin's Auklets, Sabine Gulls, Rhinoceros Auklet, Common Murre's, Long-tailed and Parasitic Jaegers, Sooty Shearwaters, Red and Red-necked Phalarope, Northern Fulmar and more. We saw 2 Ocean Sunfish, Otters back in the harbor with CA Sea Lions sunning themselves n the docks. Out at sea several Humpbacked Whales were seen and I saw a Blue Whale plus several large pods of Risso's Dolphins and some Dall Porpoises. It was a wonderful day with a great group of people.
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| Red Pelagic Crab |
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| Red Pelagic Crab |
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| Black-footed Albatrosses |
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| Black-footed Albatrosses |
I quite enjoy watching the Acorn Woodpeckers because the industrious devils drill a hole in the tree truck and then take the acorn to the trunk to store it for winter time. Thy work hard at this all fall. Here's some pictures taken at several places around the area. Does the one to the left have babies in the nest? No way to know but I think it would be late in the season for young ones.
Great scenery though you can tell how dry the area is by all of the vegetation. I didn't hike today because it was just to hot. You are able to drive around to different areas, get out and walk in that area.
Debi had mentioned to us on the pelagic that there were certain birds to be found near by or at Pinnacles N P. One of the birds was a Yellow-billed Magpie though she said stopping along the road could be risky. She is right that it's a fairly narrow 2 lane road with few pull offs but I saw the birds just as I approached a driveway with a large opening so pulled over there and watched the antics of the Magpies for a short while. This was life bird #403.
