Monday, March 14, 2011

Wildlife Viewing at Elkhorn Slough

On a recent visit to Santa Cruz we drove down to Elkhorn Slough, a great place for birdwatching.
 A dispute brought my attention to this Curlew, he had a crab and the Godwit wanted him to share.
 It's always interesting to watch birds maneuver their catch so they can swallow it.
 He just can seem to be left in peace for his meal.
This Snowy egret was also looking for a meal.
This loon was uncooperative, every time I tried to get in a position where he wouldn't be back lit he would dive.
 When we finished birdwatching at Elkhorn we went to Moss Landing State Beach where dozens of sea otters were floating.

 Some, like this little guy, kept rolling over and over, you can see the sheen of water on his belly.
Hubby got some great video of the activity.
You can find more of our wonderful world at That's My World, Tuesday, hosted for us by Klaus, Sandy, Wren and Sylvia.

You can find more birds at World Bird Wednesday, hosted by Springman

41 comments:

Unknown said...

Sea or otherwise always fascinate me. Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

Sylvia K said...

What a great collection! Love all the birds and ducks and my favorite is the otter!! Wonder why he was rolling over and over, maybe just having fun??? Wonderful photos and video for the day, Martha! Hope your week is off to a good start! Enjoy!

Sylvia

Linda Reeder said...

Great bird photos, and I love the sea otter video. That otter 'kid' seemed to be looking for someone to play with.

forgetmenot said...

Great shots of all the wildlife--what fun it is to sit and watch and then, as an added bonus, have some great pictures of your trek into nature. Mickie

Yogi♪♪♪ said...

Great photographs. What a thrill to see sea otters in the wild. Hubby gets an A on the video.

Unknown said...

great series....I totally appreciate how tough it can be to get birds to "behave" when you want a certain angle or a certain lighting set up! Well done and thanks for the added video!

Janie said...

Nice bird shots, Martha, and fun to see the sea otters in action!

Karen said...

A terrific series of shots. Aren't the otters cute! Thanks for sharing.

Penelope Notes said...

It was funny to watch the otter go against the grain for a while and become very playful at the end. Thanks for sharing this entertaining video, Martha!

Photo Cache said...

great shots. i heard of this place for birding enthusiasts. must check it out some day.

Barb said...

I can't believe you saw otters again. They are really cute and animated. Great bird shots, too.

Paulie said...

You are so knowledgeable! Thanks for the tour of birds and otters.

Anonymous said...

Quite a good day for photos and for observing animal behavior. The video is an extra-credit treat. :)

eileeninmd said...

I loved all your wonderful bird photos. The Sea otter shot and video is great too. They are cute critters.

Barbara said...

You must have had a wonderful time watching the birds and otters. The video is is great.

Kay L. Davies said...

Love that video, Martha. Otters are one of my favorite animals. Beautiful bird photos, too.
-- K

Kay, Alberta, Canada
An Unfittie's Guide to Adventurous Travel

Anonymous said...

How peaceful a world. Difficult to believe that it is the same world. Thank you for sharing. Please have a good Tuesday you all.


daily athens

Indrani said...

It is a different world with them, very interesting captures. The commentary made it wonderful.

Maude Lynn said...

I just love the otters!

Gaelyn said...

Great birding day and the sea otters are adorable.

Joyful said...

Fantastic bird shots.

Rajesh said...

Wonderful shots of birds in action.

Stewart M said...

Otters, what a treat. Would like to be able to see 1 now and then, let alone dozens!!

Cheers Stewart M - Australia.

PS: will trade Otters for wombats!

Walk in New York said...

beau photoreportage animalier, j'aime beaucoup

Publicity ;o) Every Friday (and the Weekend), The Challenge "Walk In The Street Photography"

jabblog said...

Lovely shots but this time the video quickly became my favourite. How lucky to see so many otters together. They really were enjoying themselves.

Amila Kanchana said...

Nice collection of birds,that floating otter is terrific too!

mick said...

Nice photos. Very interesting inter-action between the Curlew and the Godwit. I've never seen anything like that over here although I assume the ones we see here are different sub-species of those birds.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful collection of bird photos here! The Otter video is a delight - so many of them together! Great post!

joo said...

Terrific post!

Tania said...

These are wonderful birds! Never seen any of them here in my world.. great photos!

theconstantwalker said...

Fantastic images of some lovely bird behaviour. Love the Otter.

FAB said...

Great series Martha. The Otters must have been a real treat to watch. FAB.

Sondra said...

Great capture of interesting behavior--the only time I have seen otters was in Alaska..they floated alongside the boat and used rocks to bust open the oysters or clams that they had placed there...SO comical!! Love the vid.

Springman said...

Hey Martha!
Beautiful action shots of the curlew. Wow, what a way to make a living, busting crabs. Props to the Old Man for the excellent video footage. I loved how he trailed the annoying otter. You guys make a formidable team!

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

Curlew, he had a crab and the Godwit

No wonder the Godwit flies all the way to New Zealand. the curlew won't shre his crab.LOL

Godwits arrival is a great occasion in New Zealand. Bird lovers take time off to greet them.

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Oh Martha -- the birds are wonderful and I enjoy your wry comments (that darn loon!)....

But the otter, oh wow -- I love that so much. Wonderful.

Hilke Breder said...

Love the sea otters, Martha, especially your hubby's video!

Fotokarusellen said...

A very nice set of images. Well done.

NatureFootstep said...

you show a lot of great birds, it is soon time foe me to find them :)



http://nfcrbird.blogspot.com/2011/03/rufous-tailed-hummingbird-amazilia.html

http://nfbird.blogspot.com/2011/03/skata-magpie-in-flight.html

Larry said...

Great shots of the Curlew and Godwit action and the Snowy Egret too. I laughed out loud to your Loon story. Loons and Grebes are great at evading photos just when you get your lens on them, they disappear ;-)

The Otter photo and video are very cool.

Zyzzyz said...

I do like curlews.