On Saturday, my spouse needed a break from dealing with a new cancer treatment, so we headed to the coast to see birdies and watch the sunset.
The day was gorgeous - blue skies with a few gray rainclouds passing overhead occasionally spitting a couple of drops here and there. Black/white milk cows grazed on velvety green grass hills dotted with patches of bright yellow mustard flowers. Vivid orange California poppies were sprinkled along the 2-lane highway meandering through the Sonoma County countryside to the coast.
The Daily Bucket is a nature refuge. We amicably discuss animals, weather, climate, soil, plants, waters and note life’s patterns.
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We reached Bodega Bay about an hour before the sunset, so I stopped at several places along the bay to check out the avian residents. The tide was out and dozens of people were on the mudflats digging for clams even as daylight started diminishing. Western Gulls stood watch nearby looking for an opportunity to purloin a morsel.
I scored two new lifers — a trio of Surf Scoters and a Common Loon were out in the middle of the bay. Surf Scoters are winter migrants and can be found along both the Pacific and Atlantic coasts as far south as Baja California and Georgia. In the summer, they nest near ponds and lakes in the spruce forests of Alaska and Northern Canada. Common Loons have a much larger range. They are also winter migrants along the both coasts and much of the south including the Gulf Coast. They migrate through most of the US and summer in the northern states and all of Canada.
They weren’t the only ones in the water.
We then took the narrow road up to the top of the Bodega Headlands — the perfect place to watch the sun slip below the horizon. From the cliff top, the Pacific Ocean stretches west, north and south as far as the eye can see, unimpeded by any islands or land mass for thousands of miles.
The outside temperature gauge in my car read a brisk 50 degrees, but a stiff marine wind added a definite chill factor. Mr. CB stayed in the car that was perfectly positioned to watch the sun. I wandered on top looking for birds perching on the dozens of rocky outcroppings below the bluffs. I saw plenty of Western Gulls and Cormorants but no Pelicans or Black Oystercatchers this time.
Watching the waves crash onto the rocks after traveling thousands of miles across the Pacific was mesmerizing.
Here’s an Interesting note: Cormorants fly very low skimming just above the ocean’s surface. In contrast, Western Gulls soar high in the sky only coming down when they sought a perch.
Finally the big show:
Local temps are expected in the low 60s with a couple of small storms expected to drop less than a half inch of rain through Tuesday. Then we are expecting a spring warm-up with temperatures rising to the mid-70s by the end of the week.
What’s up in your neck of the woods?