Pelagic Cormorants and More

I thought that the birds we saw at Point Lobos deserved their own post.

My images don't do justice to the pelagic cormorant.  It's black feathers glisten with a blue green sheen in the sun.

It's amazing, the tiny ledges these colonial birds choose for there nests.

A larger ledge would have several nests.

Those not sitting on the nests could often be seen sunning themselves on the rocks below.

 Of course, there were other birds as well.  Brown Pelicans skimmed over the water.

Common Merganser

I enjoy watching mergansers, one instant they are floating on the water and the next they are gone, diving for dinner. 

red breasted merganser hen

 The red breasted merganser was a new bird for me as was the pelagic cormorant

While this image is poor I think it is good enough to identify a horned grebe, another new species for me.  Point Lobos is a wonderful place to enjoy natures variety.

More birds can be found by going to World Bird Wednesday, hosted for us by Springman.

Point Lobos State Reserve

One of the main objectives of our recent trip to Big Sur was a visit to Point Lobos

There are plenty of reasons to visit this State Reserve beyond the spectacular ocean views.

There are opportunities to view wildlife.  The harbor seals were lounging with their new pups when we visited and some people saw gray whales just off shore.

Brown Pelicans and Pelagic Cormorants

 There are opportunities for bird watching, but more on that tomorrow.

Blue-eyed Grass

Even with our dry winter there were plenty of wildflowers.

The tide was out so there were plenty of opportunities to explore the tide pools.

It's a treasure hunt to see what we can find, this guy was easy to spot.

This little crab was more difficult to find.  I saw several hermit crabs as well but they were not positioned for a good photograph.  I chose not to move them for a better view as is requested by the Reserve.

Even the rocks were interesting.  Point Lobos is definitely worth a visit if you are ever near Carmel, California.

More about Point Lobos here and here

See more of our world at That's Our World, Tuesday.