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| American Avocet, Mill Valley |
One of the funny things about being retired is knowing that you don't really have to do anything. You could just get up for breakfast and crawl back into bed after stuffing yourself with waffles smothered with butter and blueberries. But in nearly three years of retirement, I have yet to actually do that. I'm worried it would be habit-forming.
In lieu of waffles today, I decided to ride out over the bridge to check out the bird life along Richardson Bay, then continue on down to the beach at Tennessee Valley. The trip took about five hours as I stuffed myself with an all-natural smorgasbord of scenery and wildlife.
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| Wigeon in a Calm Pool Near High Tide |
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American Avocet Working on Its Breeding Plumage
(Both males and females have rust-colored breeding plumage.) |
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| Several black-necked stilts were foraging in the salt grass. |
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| Star Lily |
Short Clip of Waves Washing Ashore
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| Feathering Beast |
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| Making Sand |
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| Making Sand II |
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| There used to be hole-in-the-rock here. |
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| Making Sand III |
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| Edge of Tennessee Cove |
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| Layers of Solidified Flows |
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| Nature's Rock Tumbler |
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Erratic Chert
(If we have glacial erratics, can't we have ocean erratics?) |
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| Obviously, I love watching the power of the ocean.... |
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| Spring Velvet |
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| If Willets Could Talk |
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Snowy in the Salt Grass & Pickleweed
(There's an article about cultivating pickleweed and other salt-tolerant plants for food in the March 2025 Scientific American.) |
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| The avocet had just raised its bill after a dip, and the surface tension of the water was still holding between the upper and lower parts. |
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| American Avocet in a Moment of Reflection |
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| Greater Yellowlegs |
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| There were about a dozen of them foraging along Richardson bay. |
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| The daring ones came pretty close despite my incandescent windbreaker. |
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| Not tucking that foot all the way in, just in case.... |
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| Reflecting Killdeer |
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