Monterey, Ca

On Nov 4th, my family went to Monterey California with the intention of spreading my father's ashes into the Pacific from Lover's Point. Wildlife abounded, even with the large number of people scrambling over the rocks. A California ground squirrel was taking stock near its burrow, and a flock of very tame and fearless Brewer's blackbirds held sway over the bushes. Double-crested cormorants, a species listed as vulnerable, were in abundance in the shallow waters crashing onto the point, as were brown pelicans flying overhead.

From Lover's Point, we moved on to Old Fisherman's Wharf. The day was slightly overcast, with a light breeze, and roughly 50 degrees along the water. The tide was extremely low, due to the full moon (with a super low tide projected for the next day). The rocks along the pier and jetties were very exposed, as well as a majority of the small beach by the wharf. The first species sighted on the wharf was a scrub jay, eating a peanut in the parking lot. Bright blue and gray, he perched on one of the Pay Here signs, fluffed against the cold.

The chill did not seem to bother the rock doves, as several strutted about, along with bold Western gulls in adult and juvenile plumage, which stalked a dropped sourdough bread bowl.

The water around the whale watching boats was rife with wildlife, more than I have seen in this place before at any one time. Sea otters swan beneath the docks and between the anemone and mussel-encrusted posts, one bearing a meal of a sea bird it had caught. I can only assume that it came up from beneath the unlucky bird as it swam on the surface, surprising it. An interesting meal and amazing sighting in an animal usually associated with eating abalones and clams.

The dock posts were heavily encrusted with barnacles, green anemones, and mussels, as well as some very large and color ochre seastars, which were a nice find given the densovirus which swept the seastars recently, decimating numbers.

Other sea otters sported in the waters right below the docks, including a blondish female with a dark brown, fuzzy baby lounging on her belly as she glided purposely towards the jetties. Another pair splashed and played together before diving for food, one eating what appeared to be fish, while another brought up a shellfish , which it broke with a rock on its chest.

A couple of harbor seals swam by, as well as a sea lion who moved quickly and purposefully across the water, avoiding boaters as they came in. The water was also dotted with about a dozen winter plumage eared grebes, who were making great use of the large schools of small baitfish visible just below the surface. Also taking advantage of the fish were a loan common loon in winter plumage, a common murre, and several talkative terns.

Further down the path towards Cannery Row, on the rocks jutting from the shore, were brown pelicans, flocks of Heermann's Gulls mixed with California Gulls, a great blue heron, and a snowy egret. While the gulls and pelicans rested and preened, the egret and heron seemed watchful of the extremely low tidal flat, which was covered in a sheen of pale green from closed up anemones, which periodically shot out great jets of water into the air.

Posted on November 6, 2017 07:15 AM by