Something Prehistoric

 

Ok so I know these birds are not prehistoric, they're very much in the here and now (or the there and then when these photos were shot), but I am sure you will agree they do have a prehistoric look.

These are California Brown Pelicans which as their name suggests live in and around California. These were spotted flying and fishing in Monterey bay and Santa Cruz. 

They are known for catching fish by plunge diving, unlike other species of Pelican, and I enjoyed watching them diving headfirst into the water and coming up with  fish. It was very difficult to predict where or when they would dive because they gave no clear indication of when they were going to do it. I managed to ge5t a few shots of the water splashing as they hit the water but none at the critical moment when their beak touched the surface.

I had seen White Pelicans up in Thunder Bay, Ontario one time, swimming along in a flotilla, which was quite impressive but I think watching these in California was quite something.

Both the white and brown variants have suffered somewhat in the past and the white pelican is considered a "threatened species" in Ontario. A major threat in the past was the use of the pesticide DDT that through run off into lakes and rivers entered the food chain. It caused the birds eggs to be very thing and fragile so Pelicans like many other species that fed on fish were badly affected. Happily since the ban on the use of DDT many bird species populations have increased and since 2009 the California Brown Pelican was removed from the federal endangered species list.

Rattled

 I sometimes struggle to get motivated to spend time sorting through the photos that I take, perhaps because I have so many, maybe its because I seem to have too little time that its just not a priority. Sometimes though, I will spend a long time sifting through a file, editing some images and then deciding that I don't actually want to share them or do anything more with them. But I have so many beautiful images that I want to share too so I need to sort my head out a little bit.

Recently I have been bothered about the messed up world we live in, particularly as I am busy with grandparenting and I wonder what a mess we are leaving for the future generations to sort out. Close to home I see conflict in the community about the "loss" of a beach as nature is allowed to fight back after years of raking and pesticide use. I have seen  protests against refugees when people should be protesting at the conflicts that cause so many people to flee their homelands and we should be more welcoming. Nationally and internationally I see policies being promoted that are divisive and leaders who feed the chaos with lies and misinformation. Famines created by conflict, more children murdered in mass shootings and when anyone says "enough, this has to stop" those who could do something about it look the other way. 

Honestly it is so depressing. I really didn't intend to go down this route when I started this post so I am sorry for the depressing tone but something does need to change. I have said it before we cant do much but we need to do the little things that can make our world a better place, for ourselves and for the future generations, if we don't set a better example how can we expect those who follow us to do any better. 

Maybe that is why I have chosen the pictures above, the title for this post is Rattled and I was referencing the grasses seed heads which look like tiny rattles, but there is an added meaning because I feel pretty rattled by all the things I have seen and referred to above. 

But these grasses are beautiful. I can recall seeing them on a hot and sunny day out with my family in a forest in California, with all the giant trees around me I took time to notice something so little and seemingly insignificant. But how beautiful it is and even something so small plays a part in the wider ecosystem. So, as I say I had no idea where this post would take me but I guess the point I have arrived at is that we, like these grasses may seem/feel insignificant but we have a place and a role to play, we may only be able to do little things but we should do the little things that make things better and more beautiful and not contribute to the mess.

Birds at the Aquarium

 The images I have for today are some really nice shots of wading birds. Living on UK's west coast with expansive beaches and mudflats I am lucky to see many different species of wading birds throughout the year, many migratory species that travel great distances and in large numbers to feed on the nutrient rich coastline, and to breed the next generation. When I see the big flocks of birds out on the shore I am conscious of the perils that they face and it is concerning to see that their numbers are in decline. It is important to preserve these wonderful birds because each individual plays an important role in the ecology of our coastline.

It was good to see that at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California space is given over to protecting birds and educating the visitors about their life cycle and the roles they play. So below I have a few pictures of some different species, that are related to but also quite different to the species we have here in the UK.

The first bird is a Red Necked Phalarope (pics 1-3) this is a red listed species meaning it is in greatest need of conservation.

The female is somewhat unusually much more vibrantly coloured than the male and it is the female which competes for a mate and nesting sites, while the male (pic 3) is responsible for incubating the eggs and rearing of the chicks.

The next bird (pics 4, 8&9) is a Snowy Plover. It is very like and closely related to the Kentish Plover which occupies our shores but this variety is native to the Americas. I was able to get very close to this individual and it seemed to follow me as I was walking through the aviary.

Next (pic 5) is a Red Knot. I am used to seeing big flocks of Knot close to where I live and at certain times of the year on spring tides they perform wonderful aerial displays as they move closer to the shore with the incoming tide. It is a fabulous spectacle which has large numbers of twitchers down on the promenade watching on in awe. The red knot breeds in the arctic tundra and then migrates up to 15000km to its winter feeding grounds around the globe.

Pic 6&7 shows  what I think is a Pectoral Sandpiper (I may be wrong) it is similar to a dunlin, although slightly larger and takes its name from the brown breastband. They do visit the UK from America and small numbers breed in the UK too.

The final image almost looks like a taxidermists model but I can assure you it was a healthy living  American Avocet. It is easily recognisable as an avocet with its long legs and long upturned bill. It is different to the avocet we might be more accustomed to seeing in the UK and which is featured in the RSPB's logo, which is predominantly black and white.

The first time I ever saw an avocet was when I was in primary school in Kent, probably aged around 10 years old. One landed in the school field and stayed around for most of the afternoon. I remember that I didn't really pay much attention to my lesson that afternoon and when asked what I kept looking at I excitedly said it was an avocet.  My teacher said that I wasn't to be ridiculous as there was no such thing and when I tried to insist that I was right she told me to stop arguing and to concentrate on the lesson.

As I got older I developed a somewhat rebellious streak in school and I lost some respect for the teachers. Now as I think about that moment I wonder if that was where the seed of rebellion was planted. Happily I knuckled down when it really counted and have done OK for myself but I hold onto the view that it is important to question things and not simply accept everything we are told. I remember the same teacher telling me that "lest" is not a word, despite it having been used in the library book I was reading at the time, I was so cross, perhaps I still am... 

All the birds in the pictures below are declining in numbers although not all in as precarious a position as the Red Necked Phalarope; they are at risk due to loss of habitat due to climate change, rising sea levels and human interference. We all need to do what we can to reduce the risks and even simple small changes can have an impact. We have a beautiful world, it is a gift and a treasure that we should want to preserve so let's all do our part.

Aquarium 3

So here is another selection of Jellyfish pictures from Monterey Bay Aquarium. After this post I think I will share some pictures of birds that are kept at the aquarium, but first enjoy these beauties.

The large jellyfish in the first few shots is I believe a Black Sea Nettle. A search using Google lens suggested either a Lion's Mane Jellyfish or the black sea nettle and comparing other photos of the different species I am inclined towards the sea nettle. If anyone seeing this knows better then feel free to comment and let me know.

The very delicate, transparent species in the last two shots is a Red-eyed Medusa. Another search using Lens suggested Snow Globe Jellyfish as an alternative but I think the feature which sets this out as a Red-eyed Medusa is the ring of red spots around the rim of the bell, which look like tiny eyes.

Of course had I taken notes when I was at the aquarium I would not have needed to do searches now and I would be able to state with confidence what they are. I often do this, I see something, photograph it and make a mental note convinced that I will remember, but time passes and my head fills up with other more important ( and often less important) stuff, pushing out the facts I wanted to remember. It teaches me, in the moment that I shouldn't rely on my memory. And then as if to prove the point, next time I go somewhere like the aquarium or a zoo I do exactly the same thing, forgetting the lesson I thought I had learned.

The other lesson it teaches me is that despite the many benefits of the internet and all the information that is available online you cannot always rely on it to provide a definitive answer.

I hope you have enjoyed the pictures from these three most recent posts and hopefully you will take note of the lessons that I should learn and not fall into the same mistakes as me. Now, what am I supposed to be doing next...

 

Aquarium 2

 Here is another helping of Jellyfish from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. When I was doing a search to identify what species this is Google's Gemini could only tell me it is a Jellyfish which wasn't much help. There were lots of similar photos online from other visitors to the aquarium, proving that it really is one of the most popular exhibits there.

From the Monterey Bay Aquarium website I learned that this is a Sea Nettle and while many  varieties of jellyfish don't sting this one does. It hunts prey by trailing its long tentacles and frilly "mouth-arms". As prey  creatures (which include young pollock, larval fish, zooplankton and other jellies) touch the tentacles they receive a paralysing sting and then stick tight before being moved to the mouth-arms and then finally into the sea nettle's mouth to be consumed. The bell grows to around 45cm (almost 18" in old money) and the mouth-arms reach 3.6 - 4.6 metres (12- 15 feet). Despite their fearsome reputation they really are quite beautiful and as I said in my last post it is very relaxing watching them.

I will return to jellyfish in my next post so if you have enjoyed these shot please come back for more.

But here is a little bonus for you. As mentioned in the last post I wanted to share a photo of my mate Mark... who is a Hammerhead Shark. There is a children's story My Mate Mark is a Hammerhead Shark by Jeanne Willis. I enjoy reading it with my grandchildren, or at least my eldest grandchild who is 3. At the aquarium he was really excited to see this shark and he could relate it to the character in the story. If you have kids or grandkids its definitely worth a read. Although they can appear quite menacing and like the jellyfish above have a bit of a reputation in this photo he appears as if he is smiling and that makes him seem much less threatening.

Aquarium 1

I have been to various aquariums and while I love water and I am fascinated by the undersea world I didn't think I needed to visit another aquarium while I was on holiday. I figured that there would be better ways of spending my time, seeing something new, and probably for a lot less money. However, I was persuaded that the aquarium at Monterey would be different and that I should go along.

I was so glad I did, I ended up staying almost 5 hours and was among the last people to leave when the place closed at the end of the day. Bear in mind that my grandsons aged 3 and 1 were there too and they didn't get bored at all because there was so much to see.

I loved being able to go outside and watch sealions and sea otters and different varieties of sea birds, I loved the collection of rescued birds in the aviary and the touch tanks were so much fun. The kelp forest was magical and the shoal of sardines swimming around my head in one of the displays was surreal. However the part that surprised me most was the collection of jellyfish.

I think up to now my favourite marine creatures have been (and maybe still are) seahorses, however seeing the displays of jellyfish has really put them in contention for top spot. I could have stood for so much longer watching them because they are so calming, despite the large number of visitors and the heat the slow rise and fall of these pulsating sea creatures, beautifully lit as they were was able to transcend all of that.

Of course I took a lot of photos and here are just a few of them...

These I believe are Moon Jellyfish (Aurelia aurita), I will post some photos of different species in the next few days and in one of my next posts I will include a random shot of "my mate Mark" (iykyk) so be sure to look out for that.

Caught Out

 On my way to Santa Cruz one day during my holiday I stopped off at Mount Madonna State Park. I wanted to walk in the redwood forests again before taking a road trip across country. I had paused at a lookout spot to take in the views across the valley over the tops of the trees when all of a sudden this magnificent Turkey Vulture flew into the clearing in front of me. I scrabbled about to change my lens hoping that the vulture would hang around long enough for me to get a few shots. I think that being caught unprepared i didn't get the setting exactly right, a much faster shutter speed that the 1/800 sec that I used would have been preferable but even so I did manage to get some decent shots as the bird swooped and  turned in front and above me before heading off once again in search of food.

These birds were a common sight along the highways in California, presumably attracted by the amount of roadkill. Although they are not particularly pretty birds to look at they certainly play an important role and they look majestic when they're soaring high above on the thermals.

Whenever I travel somewhere new I am always keen to see the different wildlife and on this trip I was treated to some really wonderful sights. I didn't get to photograph them all but I am pretty happy with the results for those that I did. 

If you have enjoyed these then look out for future posts when I will be sharing more from my trip.

Timeless

 For part of my recent trip to the USA I was very fortunate to stay for 8 days in Utah with an older couple  who I had got to know when they were living as missionaries in the UK in 2004. It was wonderful to see them after such a long time, and although sadly the gentleman has some problems with his memory we were still able to feel the close friendship we had formed all those years ago.

I asked him about some of the things he had done in the intervening years and he said "Oh I don't remember that now, but it is all written down in my journal" and his wife explained that until recently he had kept a written record of his life, and she has been putting them in order so that she can write a book for their children and grandchildren so they too can share some of his experiences.

I was thinking about this over the past few days and how I had been encouraged to keep a journal when I was younger but it was never something I took seriously. I never really thought that my life would be interesting to anyone else. Now that I am older, a parent and a grandparent I have tried to recall events and stories that I would want to share and I know there are big gaps and maybe I should have kept some sort of record.

To a certain extent my blog can be a record, not just of the things I have seen or felt interested enough to photograph and a record of some of the places I have been and things I have done but also as I share some of my random musings which perhaps give a sense of who I am. At the same time this is a public document and as a private person I have to hold back on some things too.

Anyway, the photos I have selected for today and the title "Timeless" seem to fit with these ramblings. 

Here are the pictures and the story behind them follows after...

We stayed in California for the first week of the trip and one of the highlights on out itinerary was to visit one of the redwood Forest state parks. We had booked tickets for a ride on a steam train at Roaring Camp/Bear Mountain near Felton. Due to a misunderstanding when we booked and probably in no small part to the effects of jet lag we arrived, believing we were in good time only to be told we had missed the train. However luck was on our side because the previous departure had been delayed and the knock on effect was that our train was also delayed and we just managed to take our seats for a truly memorable ride up the mountain surrounded by the most magnificent trees.

You can see why they are called redwoods from the first two photos which show the inside of one tree which has eroded over time and to a certain extent resembles a slot canyon.

The final two images don't really do justice to the reality of the circle of trees which was like a cathedral in its grandeur. To stand in the centre of this circle looking upwards, hundreds of feet to the canopy was a really humbling experience. It was just me who seemed to feel this because everyone who stood in the circle looked up in awe and seemed to speak in hushed voices. 

In other places on my trip I saw the effects of forest fires, where large areas of forest have been damaged and on my last day, driving to the airport I drove through any area north of San Francisco where a wild fire was burning on the hills along near the freeway and I was reminded of how fragile our planet is and how we need to take better care of our natural treasures.

Misty Mornings

 

I recently spent just over three weeks in the USA, road tripping, visiting family and friends. It was amazing and of course I didn't miss any opportunity to take my camera out.

The first part of the trip was in California, I stayed just outside of San Martin and Morgan Hill where I had great views looking west across the valley towards Mount Madonna. It was nice to stand and take in the view early in the morning before the heat of the sun burnt off the clouds that gathered in the valley overnight which provided a lovely gentle backdrop for the lone tree that stood on the nearby ridge. One morning I even got to watch a coyote hunting in the long grass in the field closest to the house where I stayed.

About an hour away was Santa Cruz and the third image today is from a photo that I took from the beach in front of the boardwalk. Although it was getting towards lunchtime and most of the sky was clear there remained a stubborn bank of low cloud clinging to the coastline just south of the beach creating another misty backdrop that is in keeping with the first two images above.

I have a lot of photos to sort through and share so be sure to look out for the next post.