With temperatures forecasted at 110 degrees last Friday, I just had to get out of this unrelenting heat. I decided to take my spouse to the coast and cool off. I had figured out how to accommodate his medical needs so that he could enjoy the ocean as well.
It was already 90+ degrees when we left Friday morning. Traffic wasn’t too bad and the temperatures dropped as we neared the coast. It was a lovely 73 degrees outside the seashore’s visitor center where I stopped to pick up a park map and found a couple of more birding books.
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As we turned onto the road to Drake’s Beach, one of my favorite birds decided to pose atop a fence post:
California Quail
Drake’s Beach is a lovely spot where Elephant Seals congregate in the spring. None were present that day but we had plenty of company as dozens of folks spread out on the warm sands. It was a blissful 66 degrees, with a sunny sky and a light sea breeze. I parked the car in a spot where my spouse could see the ocean.
Once he was comfortable, I pulled out my camera and ventured around the area. First thing I noticed were the gulls:
A trio of gulls fly high above the beach crowd.
A juvenile gull flew close seeking morsels from the beach goers.
There is a tidal pond next to the parking lot that is refreshed at high tide. Not much was happening but I managed to see:
A Great Egret wandered among the shrubbery on the pond’s edge.
A Killdeer forages in the mud next to the pond’s edge.
There were lots of wildflowers next to the parking lot as well.
Purple flowers
Light purple flowers
White flowers
Yellow flowers with lots of buds
The purple flowers in the back
Red grassy plants
There were more than just shorebirds:
Raven glides towards the tree.
A juvenile Song Sparrow sits on the fence railing
Another view where the breast striping can be seen.
White Crowned Sparrow sings from the very tip top of a tree.
Another Raven lands atop the visitor center.
There were Cliff Swallows swooping around but I didn’t get a decent shot. When I went to the restroom without my camera, a Swallow was perched on the roof above the entrance. Of course, he flew off before I could get back to car for the camera. I also saw a Scrub Jay on a picnic table who took off as soon as I saw him.
I hadn’t seen any pelicans then all of a sudden, a flock appeared and flew past.
A Brown Pelicans fly by.
We decided to try for the lighthouse but it was packed and the coastal fog was coming in obscuring any view.
Cell Tower in the midst of the coastal fog
A Raven flies above a sandy beach patterned by ocean waves.
I could see my spouse was tiring so we headed back to Sacramento. The heat blasted us as we exited our car once we arrived home. It was a blistering 101 degrees at 8:30 pm.
After 9 days of 100+ temps, we finally had a day where the high was only 98 degrees. Of course, the next day it went back up to 108. We are looking at another 2 or 3 days of 100+ temperatures before the weather settles back to the mid-90s.
Of course, a number of wildfires have broken out, but thankfully CalFire has prevented them from becoming catastrophic. So far, the losses have been fairly minimal but we have a long way to go as the fire season now continues until November.
What’s up in your neck of the woods?