Heron's Head High

 

Greater Yellowlegs, Heron's Head Park

I was looking forward to checking out the high tide at Heron's Head today, and I wasn't disappointed. The predicted high (probably lower than the actual high) was 7 feet at about 12:30 p.m., and the trail was only inches above the water in some places. The king tides that will come around the solstice will probably submerge those lower stretches (and I might have to head back to see that too).

Other than the freakishly high tide, the high point for me was photographing a couple of Wilson's snipes, a species I haven't seen in a long time.

An unusual woodpecker had been photographed near the Horseshoe Courts yesterday, so I stopped by there on my way to Heron's Head. I managed to photograph this Nuttall's woodpecker in the Oak Woodlands, but I only saw the unusual one after I put away my camera. By the time I got the camera back out, a couple of squirrels had chased off the out-of-town woodpecker, and I was unable to find it again.

This was right around the peak high tide. That spit of land in the background is Heron's Head.

This was the view from the Heron's Head trail.

The Snowy Egret was bossing the Black-legged Stilt around, never letting it get down to business, so the stilt found another spot to forage in peace.

Did it catch a fish? Nope. It's an earwig!

Stalking Stilt

I could hear the American Wigeons' wheezy calls before I finally spotted a few.

The Greater Yellowlegs landed too near the human for comfort and soon took off to put more distance between us.

Which I didn't mind since I got a chance to photograph it in flight.

I figured the Gumweed wasn't being drowned, but it sure was proving its mettle as a specialized halophyte.

Hey, whatta ya know, another Meadowlark! Definitely different habitat than Crissy Field, which might explain why I saw only one foraging in the marsh.

Legs built for high tides.

Gumweed & Yellowlegs

I've seen a couple of Say's Phoebes recently, but this was the first time I had a camera with me.

The phoebe caught something like a mayfly.

A couple of Elegant Terns were swooping around, but they were not present in large numbers.

The Black-bellied Plover rested on one leg while various other birds roamed around nearby.

A couple of Wilson's Snipes were hiding next to a nearby tuft of plants, but one of them finally came out into the open.

Then it (or the other one) took a stroll past some fall foliage.

And ended up hiding in another spot. However, it soon realized it wasn't very well-concealed after all and strode back to the other side of the plant patch where I could no longer see it.

Least Sandpipers

* * *

Moss Landing State Beach

 

Marbled Godwit Landing, Moss Landing

Now I know where all the Marbled Godwits are. Years ago, I used to see them quite often at Ocean Beach, but not so much lately. When I parked my car at the end of Jetty Road this morning and walked around the sand dunes to check out the beach, my face lit up with joy when I saw a few dozen marbled godwits foraging with a mess of Sanderlings and a lone Long-billed Curlew.

Despite arriving in the dark, many surfers and fishermen were already there. The only no-shows were the sea otters -- the very critters I'd made the two-hour drive down there to see. Supposedly fall is the best time to see otters at Moss Landing, but a month past the equinox and there was no raft of snoozing otters in the harbor, nor active otters hunting along the jetty. I didn't see a single otter until I was on my way out, where a crusty old broke-tooth otter was crunching crabs in its powerful jaws.

Dawn view of Moss Landing's iconic 500-foot smokestacks (retired from service, but still standing) at the 76-year-old, 1,060 megawatt, natural-gas-fired power plant (and, more recently, a battery storage facility which experienced a major fire in January 2025).

Fishing boat exiting the harbor.

A couple of Common Murres were hanging out along the jetty.

Pelicans & Surfers on Dawn Patrol
(Note the surfer not wearing a wetsuit!)

First Light

Dawn Reflections

Pelicans Catching a Drift

Despite all the birds probing the sand for mole crabs, few crabs were actually being caught. Here, a Willet tried to snag the godwit's prize.

Fellow godwits aren't above such chicanery either.

The morning sun gradually rose high enough to barely light the beach.

Even while some parts of the beach were in sun, others remained in shade for some time.

Handsome Marbled Godwit in Morning Light

It was great to see so much bird life in one place.

Sanderlings on the March

Here they come!

Nimble-toed Runner

Long-billed Curlew

There were lots of bird and sea lion carcasses on the beach, including a huge sea lion that was being consumed by maggots.

Snowy Egret (Composite)

Senior Otter

Note the otter's lower left incisor is missing. Like us, otters don't grow new adult teeth when they're lost.

The otters in Elkhorn Slough are not known for being shy around humans. This one didn't bat an eyelash when it popped up (with a small crab) very close to where I was standing.

At one point I could see the otter swimming underwater, but other times I had to follow its tiny bubbles as they broke the surface of the water.

Thanks for letting me hang out with you for a little while, fellow old-timer.

* * *