Thursday This & That

There were two shorebirds I left out of my Monterey posts the last couple of weeks. A Black Turnstone and a Western Seagull. At least we're pretty sure of their IDs. My mom posted on the Black Turnstones here.
Here's my turnstones:

I'm not sure what it was doing with this poor starfish, but it was interesting. First he just stepped on it, lol, then he started pecking at it a couple of times and then walked away. The lousy picture on the bottom left is just to show it's cool pattern when in flight. They all just kept flitting from boulder to boulder right off the pier, so I couldn't get a clear shot.

Here's the Western Gull. I'm sure that's what it is because according to the Santa Cruz Bird Club they are very common at this time of year and it's definitely not a Herring Gull or California Gull or a Thayer's Gull.

Then this past Sunday the family went down to Santa Cruz - actually Davenport - to visit my cousin and his wife and my aunt & uncle who were visiting them. They live in a wicked cool place that used to be farm worker housing and it also might have been barracks for internment camps. It's tiny, and not well made, but it's still standing and it's the right price for rent (almost free, lol) and they have the best views in the world.

This may or may not be my picture. It was definitely taken with my mom's camera, but I truly believe it was one of my shots. I was taking a lot of the pictures that day and I didn't bring my camera along. I don't think any cropping was necessary, but if so, she gets the credit for that, lol. Anyway, on the way there, we stopped at Natural Bridges State Beach to see their Brandt's Cormorants. We saw some, but not like down in Monterey.

Mostly though, we were treated to a ton of pelicans!

I guess these ones were coming back from a fishing trip ;)

We were also treated to some good looking seagulls - if you like them that is. I used to hate them, but now they're growing on me.

The bottom two are the same bird, surely a Western Gull again, he (she?) let me get up close and personal without freaking out. The top left was adorable in the iceplant. It was there, and then it wasn't. I had perfect timing. The one on the top right is probably also a Western Gull first year.

And tomorrow - if I have the time - I will post my new news! Stay tuned :D