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| Marbled Godwit & Whimbrel Fly Into The Wind At Ocean Beach |
The wind was blowing fairly hard out of the south, pushing me and my bike at 13-15 mph along the Upper Great Highway (the as-yet unnamed Prop. K park) with no pedaling necessary. I wanted to ride the whole length of Fogpatch Park (my pick for a name) without fighting a headwind, so I rode into Forest Hill and West Portal, then down Sloat (with a detour through Stern Grove) to arrive at the south end of the beach near the zoo.
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| Calla Lilies, Nasturtium & Eucalyptus in Stern Grove |
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| Octopus Sculpture at Sloat & Great Highway |
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| Beach Primrose & Ice Plant |
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| Giraffe Sculpture |
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| One of a handful of murals along the route. |
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| There was a decent group of mostly whimbrels, with a few marbled godwits, foraging on the shoreline near Noriega Street, so I locked my bike to check them out up close. |
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| All the shorebirds were slowly working their way south, into the wind. |
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| Thanks to the cloudy sky and wind-blown sand, there were few people with dogs on the beach, leaving the birds to work in peace. |
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| The whimbrel tried a few times to steal any mole crabs caught by the marbled godwit, charging toward the bird when it pulled its beak up from the sand. It soon gave up after the godwit repeatedly came up empty. |
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| Sandy Beak |
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| A marbled godwit steps away from the foam. |
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| A whimbrel comes up empty, as all the shorebirds do, many more times than it actually strikes a crab. |
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| A marbled godwit swallows a mole crab. |
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| Whimbrel in Sudsy Windrows |
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| Out for a jog in the blowing sands. |
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| A whimbrel makes a gentle landing, beak to the wind. |
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