April 28, 2012

For more information on the habitat, vegetation, and weather of the area where I made this observation, please see the journal entry for April 28, 2012 here on iNaturalist. These gulls were all over the beach today. There were both juveniles and adults flying around together looking for food at low tide. The one I observed had the typical gray back end with the white head and chest and orange beak. This one was about a foot or so long from head to tail and was searching for crabs and other small creatures to eat in the tidepools on the beach. None of them seemed particularly wary of humans and flew away only if one attempted to walk right up to them.

For more information on the habitat, vegetation, and weather of the area where I made this observation, please see the journal entry for April 28, 2012 here on iNaturalist. The bird on the right in the second picture is a female house sparrow. The male is the more brightly colored bird that is the main focus of the first picture and is on the left in the second. A small group of these birds that appeared to be one male with a group of three females was flying around the edge of the pier looking for scraps. This makes sense, as house sparrows are very social birds. The male I saw was about 5.5 in long and the female was a little bit smaller than that. They did not seem to be bothered by all the humans or the larger gulls around.

For more information on the habitat, vegetation, and weather of the area where I made this observation, please see the journal entry for April 28, 2012 here on iNaturalist. This was one of the various seaweed species on the rocky beach that I knew I could identify fairly easily. The large air pockets on the ends of the plant made it easy to identify. Oddly, the species I wanted was Fucus gardneri, but iNaturalist has decided that doesn't exist, so I have to go with Fucus distichus. This seaweed was not common along the beach and I only saw a few patches like this one here and there. It grows in small clumps and, in the clump I saw, each part of the seaweed I saw was about 3 inches long.

For more information on the habitat, vegetation, and weather of the area where I made this observation, please see the journal entry for April 28, 2012 here on iNaturalist. This crab I found was, unfortunately, dead. I did not see any crab of this size alive on any part of the beach. The only other crabs I saw were much smaller, less than an inch long. This particular yellow shore crab was about 2 inches wide and had all of its eight legs and both of its claws intact. In fact, the crab as a whole was extremely intact, which was surprising as tide had been out for an hour already and I assumed the gulls would have tried to eat this crab already. I wonder if this crab dried up in the sun. I don't know what else could have killed it since there was no evidence it was attacked. I also wonder if I might see more of these if I were to visit the beach in the early morning.

For more information on the habitat, vegetation, and weather of the area where I made this observation, please see the journal entry for April 28, 2012 here on iNaturalist. In case it's hard to tell from the picture, this crab is purple. Yet another crab I found that was, unfortunately, dead. As with the yellow shore crab, I didn't see any other crabs of this same species on the beach during my time there, I only saw tiny crabs less than an inch wide in the tide pools. This particular purple shore crab caught my eye both because I was looking for crabs (I love watching them walk) and because of its purple carapace. It was about 3 inches wide, a little bigger than the yellow shore crab, and again, it had all of its legs, claws, and its entire body intact. Perhaps this crab dried out in the sun as well.

For more information on the habitat, vegetation, and weather of the area where I made this observation, please see the journal entry for April 28, 2012 here on iNaturalist. These barnacles were all over the rocks covering the beach's ground. It was nearly impossible to walk without stepping on them. They varied in size from less than an inch across to two inches across and lived both outside and inside the tide pools. The ones inside the tide pools were particularly interesting because I got to observe them sending out their thoracic appendages (the cirri) to filter feed, searching for zooplankton and detritus in the water. I had never seen them do that before, I had only read about them doing it, so I was glad to get to witness it.

For more information on the habitat, vegetation, and weather of the area where I made this observation, please see the journal entry for April 28, 2012 here on iNaturalist. This was an amazing thing for me to get to see. I had never once before seen a live sand dollar, only the dead ones that litter the beaches as sea shells to collect. What looks like mud covering them is actually a fine layer of spiny, tube-like feet that is used in feeding. I was extremely interested to learn that these are just burrowing sea urchins. They lived in the tide pools along the beach alongside hermit crabs, other smaller crabs, barnacles, and mussels. Each one was about 2.5 inches across.

For more information on the habitat, vegetation, and weather of the area where I made this observation, please see the journal entry for April 28, 2012 here on iNaturalist. I know this isn't a particularly good picture of the tern, but it was constantly flying around and diving into the water, so I was lucky to get this shot where the black stripe on the top of the head and the long, narrow beak are clear. This bird was about a foot long with a 3 foot wingspan and a forked tail. I observed it diving for food a couple times. It actually dove from a few feet in the air into the water. There did not appear to be any others like it nearby and the only other thing I observed it doing before it flew off was being chased by a gull.