Next day we drove through Pacific Grove and round the coast (but not paying US$10 to go along the 17 Mile Drive through Pebble Beach) to Carmel (where Clint Eastwood used to be mayor) and according to the gen from the birder in Monterey there were supposed to be lots of Yellow-billed Magpies.
No Clint, no Magpies, but I did add some hoped-for waders:
Western Sandpiper and
Semipalmated Plover, plus three
Dunlin looking very smart with the black bellies and bright chestnut wings of their summer plumage, were being harassed on the marsh behind the beach by dogs and children, and 3
Snowy Plovers on the beach itself were a subspecies tick.
The drive down to Big Sur produced a decent burger (
the justifiably famous Ambrosia burger) and distant views of migrating flocks of
Pacific Divers at Nepenthe, but sadly the skies were not darkened by flyover California Condors and the only other bird added was an
Olive-sided Flycatcher at Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, where a waterfall drops directly into the sea in a beautiful cove.
This place was made even more special by the passage of three
Grey Whales, moving steadily northwards up the coast - it was fantastic to see two species of whales in just two days.
On the final morning of our stay in Monterey I went out to the northern shore beyond Pacific Grove for a final couple of hours birding. I did well again for waders, seeing
Black Oystercatcher, Ruddy and
Black Turnstone, Grey Plover, Wandering Tattler, Whimbrel, and best of all a trio of
Surfbirds - one of my top targets for the whole trip. A
Snowy Egret was also here, a
Moorhen and a couple of
Black-crowned Night Heron were on the golf course pond and a probable
Orange-crowned Warbler was lurking in the big pine tree next to the public restroom.
Moss Landing
We broke the drive to San Francisco with a stop at Moss Landing Marina to look for the
Sea Otter hangout. And having seen and enjoyed the sight of 30-odd animals floating along in an extremely laid-back pack I can't think of a better word (but please feel free to post if you do! - the nearest I can get are hammock, langour or loaf). Even when doing not much they are highly engaging - floating on their backs with their back feet sticking straight up out of the water and clasping their front paws together in prayer.
Even better is when they rotate, presumably to keep their bellies wet, but still keeping their front paws out of the water. This is hard to describe, and much easier to understand by watching the video
(here). There was also another one, looking rather old and tatty, which was away from the rest of the group in the shallows, which didn't look like it had long for this world. Also on the beach here was a baby
Harbour Seal expertly camouflaged among the rocks, and a noisy gang of
Sealions resting on one of the jetties. There was also a wierd-looking squirrel which disappeared into holes in the ground which I had no idea about.
There were also a few birds -
Sanderlings on the beach, a fly-past of a dozen
Brown Pelicans, a pair of
American Avocet, a dozen loafing
Forster's Terns and the same number of
Caspians Terns.
The next day we spent in San Francisco, mostly in Golden Gate and Praesidio Parks. While we had an enjoyable walk birds were few and far between, with the exception of a big flock of 200-odd
Cedar Waxwings feeding on the flowering
melaleucatrees near the running track and a pair of
Wood Duck on one of the ponds.
And that was it for California. Next stop Chicago . . .
Cheers
Mike