Holiday greetings from sun-soaked southern California. Coastal lands of light and sand and full-moon tides that leap across jetties and pull away from the jagged shore of shocked rock and upended beaches. This morning, the planet quickens in its orbit away from the solstice at 18 miles per second and the damp ocean air curls my hair where I trace the estuary of San Juan Creek for shorebirds.
The place shimmers with gulls.
One of our smallest gulls, the antisocial Bonaparte’s Gull, winters along the southern California coast after spending the summer in Alaska.
Another small, white-headed gull, the Ring-billed Gull, summers in Canada.
The Glaucous-winged Gull prefers the west coast from Alaska to Mexico.
Heermann’s Gull of southern coastal waters from California to Mexico.
San Juan Estuary hosted eight species of gulls and two terns during my visit, like this one, the Royal Tern.
The mussel and limpet-eating, Black Oystercatcher.
One of my favorite winter shorebirds, the Black-bellied Plover, spends its summer on breeding grounds in the high Arctic.
Uncommon on sandy beaches, Snowy Plovers favor inland flats sometimes far from water.
The Sanderling, however, enjoys the beach.
You can always count on a Whimbrel.
Beaches are for granddaughters as much as birds. Giavanna winters here on pineapple and onion Beach Harbor Pizza.
Thanks for subscribing! The year 2023 closes on the Big Yard with 134 species counted and photographed. Please join me to see what 2024 brings to the back porch in our little corner of southeast Arizona!
Well, that made me homesick for my home state. How I miss the Pacific Ocean, those birds and those waves.
Staying in Morro Bay for a few days. Many wonderful shorebirds, including the Long-billed Curlew, so much fun!