This driftline scene is on the unusual side, not super unusual, but unusual enough to get you thinking. If it’s not clear what’s going on, a double-crested cormorant nabbed a barred surfperch a tad too large. It illustrates that minor mistakes in the everyday choices faced by predators can turn fatal. The thing about surfperch…
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In Oregon, we think about flocks of Brant wintering on the estuaries, especially those that support rich eelgrass beds, but there are always a few brant summering singly or in small groups on the exposed outer coast. I came across this one and its shadow on a late June morning. Brant that summer in Oregon get…
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Ah, those little surfbirds, how they they love a low tide. Low water exposes their winter feeding grounds. This flock seemed oblivious to anything but feeding. The rocks had a fresh growth of algae and apparently hosted lots of prey. Wintering on rocky surf-swept shores, the surfbirds’s dark plumage blends in nicely. Is it camouflage?…
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Waiting for the tide to turn takes patience. My companion on the wait for a high tide last November was this large gull. I thought my patient partner was a herring gull, but I took a closer look and changed my mind. The subject of my weight(less) contribution has intermediate traits – a dark but…
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Have you ever taken too big a bite? This Brandt’s cormorant did, presumably, and paid the ultimate price. A group of my friends, and my sis too, decided to spend New Year’s morning with their dogs on off-leash Carmel Beach, California. There, they made this curious discovery in the drift line. The slim neck of…
Read MoreEnjoying Life in the Ozarks
Writing & Photography Services
ich zeige euch meine stadt wie ich sie sehe
my photography and other observations
Exploring my local ecosystems, learning about the creatures I find, and sharing the beauty of nature!
Write what you feel, coz it doesn't make you fear
