First Big Swell

 

Laid Back Line, Ocean Beach

I could tell the surf was up near the start of my walk this morning as I looked seaward from the top of the Ortega Steps at 14th Avenue. I wondered if it was too big and unruly for anyone to be surfing, but by the time I started to pass the Sunset Reservoir I could just make out the telltale lines being drawn by surfers dropping in on huge wave faces.

I hadn't brought my compact camera with me, so after I reached the beach and saw quite a few surfers out I turned around and walked home, then biked back down with the full-frame camera. From what I gathered from a couple of surfers, this is the first big swell of the season, and the forecast is for much more to come later in the week. 

No, it's not a wipe-out; it's a body-surfer!

This guy had an incredible tube ride and even made it back out.

The tube ride in series.

Body-surfer again.

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Snowy & Yellowthroat

 

Snowy Plover, Ocean Beach

I finally made it to Ocean Beach to look for Snowy Plovers on Saturday morning, wondering if I would be able to find any. Several dogs were chasing gulls into the air, and it seemed improbable that the dogs wouldn't have flushed the tiny plovers already. But plovers are cagey little guys who keep a low profile, resting in cups in the sand made by passing beachwalkers. They will get up and scuttle out of harm's way when your average surfer or photographer passes close to them, but they don't panic and fly away as an attention-grabbing group.

One plover did seem more wary of me than the others. It was the only one I saw with colored leg bands, and I figured it's probably fed up with being handled by humans.

After leaving the beach I biked over to Chain of Lakes where I was finally able to get a decent photograph of my friendly little nemesis, the Common Yellowthroat. 

Last night the rain woke me up at 1:56 a.m. It continued for about 40 minutes, ending at about 1:34 a.m. Now that's spooky.

Common Yellowthroat, South Lake

The first snowy plover I saw was doing a little half-hearted foraging along the beach. 

It seemed to be finding all shell, but no meat.

It finaly found something worth swallowing.

Enough foraging. Time to stretch out and relax.

I'd photographed the cool clouds and decided to overlay it with the surfer.

A little sunlight broke out on the Marin Headlands but soon faded.

I loved how this one had found such a deep depression.

I eventually inched a little too close for comfort, though, and as it retreated I spotted the ankle bracelets.

Keeping Limber

The often-harried gulls.

Townsend's Warbler

This Kingfisher was hunting at South Lake. Later I'd see one at Middle Lake and wonder if it was the same bird.

The yellowthroat stopped very briefly to peck at some ripe blackberries.

Hopping along the plants covering parts of the lake surface.

The Orange-crowned Warbler did a quick touch-and-go on this fern frond.

Kingfisher at Middle Lake

I was waiting to see if a Great Blue Heron would catch anything when this raccoon showed up.

It was hunting by itself.

I wondered how the heron could hunt for anything beneath the duckweed that covered the water's surface, but it must detect swirls of motion.

I didn't see it make a stab at anything. Here it's just been drinking some water (and maybe choking a little bit on the duckweed).

A beautiful Bengal cat was enjoying its nature outing.

Yosemite This Morning

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