San Diego - Post 1
In mid-August, I flew to San Diego with my daughter Becca. She will be living there for 4 months doing research for her masters thesis. While my primary focus was on spending time with Becca and helping her move into her apartment, I also brought my camera to photograph birds. Above is a Long-billed Curlew I photographed early in the morning on the beach near our hotel. This is one of the 27 species of birds that I added to my life list on this trip.
The Western Gull, pictured above, is the primary gull in the area. It reminds me of a cross between two gulls I see all of the time in Chatham MA, the Great Black-backed Gull and the American Herring Gull. It is medium sized like the Herring Gull, but has darker coloring more reminiscent of the Great Black-backed Gull.
The other common gull is the Heermann’s Gull. This is quite different given its smoky gray coloring and red bill.
On my second morning, I visited La Jolla Cove twice, first early in the morning when I awoke, then with Becca around midday. In Chatham, we have the American Oystercatcher, but in La Jolla, I was able to photograph this Black Oystercatcher. The body shape and distinctive orange beak are the same in both species, but the American Oystercatcher has a white belly versus the dark brown belly of the Black Oystercatcher.
In Chatham, Double-crested Cormorants are very common. During the fall, we will sometimes see migrating flocks as large as several thousand birds flying overhead. While there are some Double-crested Cormorants in San Diego, the more common cormorant is this Brandt’s Cormorant. Compared to the Double-crested that I am used to, it is slightly smaller, has a dark bill, blue eyes, and a blue throat patch (especially visible during breeding season which is earlier in the year).
La Jolla Cove is home to both California Sea Lions like this and to Pacific Harbor Seals show below. The Sea Lions have the small ear flaps, skin on the flippers with very short claws, and rear flippers that can rotate forward to allow them to “walk” on land.
Seals, such as this one, have no ear flaps, fur on their flippers, long claws, and rear flippers that only point backwards.
I saw seals that were black, brown, and gray such as this one.
Walking in Balboa Park with Becca, I was able to add this Allen’s Hummingbird to my life list. This is the 12th hummingbird I have photographed this year.
While Becca was unpacking one afternoon, I found this Reddish Egret sitting on its nest. While these can be found in Florida and along the gulf coast, I had never come across one before.
One afternoon, Becca and I went on a whale watching trip. The weather was fabulous, clear skies, warm in the sun, but not too hot given the breeze. During my trip thus far, I had photographed many Caspian Terns and Royal Terns, both of which I had photographed during my Savannah to New Orleans bicycle trip. I had been searching without success for an Elegant Tern, a species which is uncommon, but definitely present, in the San Diego area. Eventually, on the whale watching trip, I finally came across this one. The Elegant Tern looks rather similar to the Royal Tern, but its bill is slimmer, curves slightly downwards, and fades from orange to yellow.
There are three types of Shearwater species commonly found in the San Diego area. This one is the Pink-footed Shearwater. Shearwaters are ocean birds that spend most of their life at sea, returning to land only to breed. They are often seen on the water or flying just above the surface of the ocean.
Here is a group of 3 Sooty Shearwaters taking off as our boat approached. The Sooty Shearwaters have solid dark bodies.
In contrast to the Sooty Shearwater, the Black-vented Shearwater has white on their belly and the underside of their wings. All three Shearwaters were new species for me.
In addition to birds, I did see this flying fish. I was delighted to get such a crisp photograph as it sailed by.
Sadly, we did not see any whales on our trip. We did see three pods of Pacific White-sided Dolphins. While they were jumping all around the boat, it often seemed almost impossible to get a good photo of them. Of all of my photos (the overwhelming majority of which I deleted), this was my favorite.
I hope to get a second post about my San Diego trip written tomorrow. I spent most of my last full day in San Diego with a bird guide seeing a number of new species.