Fluid Flow

If you think that doesn’t sound good for the birds, you are right.

Early this morning a bobcat jumped to the first rock off the mainland at the the south end of Point Lobos invading a cormorant and gull rookery. Mayhem ensued. Dozens of birds, young and adult, were killed.

A sated bobcat spent the afternoon sleeping. I assume that it will wander off the rock tonight.

I am fully mixed here. A bobcat has to eat, that is a given. And we aren’t suffering any shortages of gulls and cormorants. But the carnage was a little more than appalling. And there is no way that that the cat can eat all of the birds it killed.

But, I won’t be calling for cat proofing the island. Nature is just a a little harsh sometimes.

After logging many hours at Point Lobos, I finally produced a single decent hike write up over at EveryTrail.com

Point Lobos Birding at EveryTrail

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While I have been making regular birding excursions to Point Lobos, this was the first time that I actually set a route and stuck with it enough to write a decent description of the hike.

Black-crowned Night Herons

My goal is to actually cover all of the trails at the reserve and perhaps create a decent guide. But I needed a starting point and hiking the park perimeter is a good start.

From here, I can add an out and back, or some inner loops that I have already done, or just go out and do some more birding.

Now that the why is out of the way, lets deal with the what. It was a good day of birding.

I met Ranger Chuck on the trail and he told me of Brandt’s Cormorants in display and nesting Black-crowned Night Herons.

Brandt’s Cormorants

This caused the only detour of the day, as I wasn’t planning on going out on the Bird Island loop. But I can’t resist cormorants in display so off I went.

From there I went inland along the South Plateau Trail. I got glimpses of Spotted Towhees, Ruby-crowned Kinglets, and Dark-eyed Juncos and a few poor shots off.

I have never been overly enamored with this trail giving its proximity to Highway 1, but you can see a number of woodland birds along the trail.

An April shower hastened my hike down to Whaler’s Cove, where I took shelter in the Whaler’s Museum. If you haven’t checked it out, it is worth a look.

Once the rain stopped I continued along the North Shore Trail. The highlight here was a couple of seals playing with a lost kayak paddle.

I flailed in my attempts to get decent shots of tree swallows and White-throated Swifts. The California Quail and Bewick’s Wrens also alluded me.

The last segment of the hike was back along the South Shore Trail. While the Sea Lions were abundant at the point, I didn’t see and Sea Otters or Gray Whales this trip.

More photos on Flickr.

Last Friday as I was coming back from Modesto, I stopped off at a couple of parts of the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge north of Los Banos. As is typical for a mid-day, week-day side trip. I saw one other person.

That is usually good for birding, but the mere presence of my truck was enough to set off the ducks on the water. I guess they have learned to associate trucks with guns.

American Coot

So I didn’t get any good views of ducks, but there were coots and lots of shorebirds that didn’t seem to mind the truck. There were also lots of Red-winged Blackbirds, Western Meadowlarks and a couple of raptors to see.

The first stop was at the West Bear Creek Unit (about 15 miles north of Los Banos. The location features a 2.5 mile auto tour that loops around some of the wetlands. About halfway around the loop is a rest stop with pit toilets. The loop would be an easy walk, which would probably afford better birding (see above regarding ducks).

Northern Harrier

But it was a little too cold and windy for me, so stayed in the truck. I did, however, turn off the stereo and open all the windows so I could hear as well as see the birds. Still I am certain that I missed some of the smaller and elusive habitants.

While I spotted a jackrabbit, it was gone before I could bring my camera up. A Northern Harrier prowled the area, living up to his former name “Marsh Hawk”. I was pleased to see and shoot a few Western Meadowlarks, though my shots showing their breast markings were not so good.

The smaller shorebirds were concentrated at the north end of the loop where the water appeared shallower. Here a couple of American Avocets and a few Black-necked Stilts joined a large flock of Long-billed Dowitchers. Also along the shore was a Killdear, a Greater Yellowlegs, and a few peeps that I couldn’t get a good view of.

San Luis National Wildlife Refuge at EveryTrail

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After spending about an hour at the W Bear Creek Unit, I continued down the road to the main part of the Refuge. The site is about two miles off Highway 165 on Wolfsen Road (about 6 miles north of Los Banos), and offers two auto trails, one around a large Tule Elk preserve and one around the wetlands for viewing waterfowl.

Great Blue Heron

I chose the waterfowl route, which may have been a mistake. A large portion of it along the river was closed. Next time, I will do the Tule Elk route (or both).

I did see a couple of bull elk across a wide field. But chose not to try for a photo through the fence. I could just make out that they were bulls in my binoculars, the camera would have had no chance.

Not to say that the waterfowl tour was poor. But most of the birds that I saw were along the road out to the hunters parking lots and would have been missed if I had stuck to the abbreviated route. I am assuming that the full route is closed for portions of the year.

White-faced Ibis

Perhaps the highlight of the day was a flock of White-faced Ibis in breeding plumage. Normally these birds seem completely misnamed.

When I have seen them before, they were nondescript and dark and only their form suggested “ibis”. In breeding plumage, however, they are a mix of almost iridescent purple and green and you can actually see a white ring around their bill.

I also a encountered a cormorant (double crested?) who flew parallel with me as I drove down a dike road. It would have been a great shot, but there were safety considerations.

Other birds were a Western Kingbird, Western Meadowlark, Great Blue Heron, and Great Egret. All in all, if you find yourself traveling between Turlock and Los Banos with a little time, there is good birding here.

It is probably even better if you get out and walk.

San Luis National Wildlife Refuge - 2 at EveryTrail

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More photos on Flickr.

Point Lobos Magazine - Fall 2009

Picture Perfect: Phony wildlife photography in magazines, books, calendars, and posters is giving people a warped view of nature. By Ted Williams

(Via Incite: Audubon Magazine.)

When I first saw the image of a mountain lion at Point Lobos, I was in awe. I know that there are big cats in the area and the photographer who took the shot spends enough time there to get great wildlife shots.

But cats are so elusive that getting a shot like that is like winning the lottery. I was extremely lucky to get my bobcat shots at Point Lobos a few years back.

How do you get a shot of a mountain lion on the beach?

You hire the mountain lion. In this case the mountain lion, named Kona, was brought to the Reserve to film part of a National Geographic production called “The Secret Big Sur”.

You can read more about the shoot and other movies that have used Point Lobos as a location in Point Lobos Magazine - Fall 2009 (pdf 17 Mb)

In light of the Incite article, I am not certain that it is a good idea to use our State Parks in this manner. I don’t know how or whether the resulting DVD will fully disclose that they are using a captive animal.

Without full disclosure you may generate a false impression of what wildlife is like or as is in this case what our State Parks and Reserves are like.

For example, story has it that a visitor to the Reserve saw a copy of the magazine with the mountain lion on the cover and immediately got in their car and left the Reserve.

Thanks to G. Dan Mitchell Photography for the link.

Antidunes on the Toutle River, 1984

Geologists find a way to simulate the great Missoula floods: “Scientists use detailed computer simulations to get a play-by-play look at how the great floods unfolded thousands of years ago.”

(Via Oregon Local News.)

Supercritical flows seem likely across the scablands, at least until water backed up at the entrance of the Gorge. Similar conditions probably occurred at the Gorge outlet near Portland. There you had expanding flow that could have produced and preserved some very large antidunes. It all kind of depends on the sediment load of the flows.

I am trying to imagine my little beach experiments blown up a few thousand times. Impressive, to say the least.

Remembering the Frisbee inventor and his simple sports innovation / The Christian Science Monitor - CSMonitor.com

Walter Fredrick Morrison, the Frisbee inventor, died this week. His simple sports innovation – a plastic, aerodynamic disc – has become one of the most popular toys in American history, uniting beachgoers, college kids, and competitive teams for half a century.

(Via Christian Science Monitor.)

There was a time when I flung and caught the disc with some magic. So today we raise a glass to the memory of Walter Fredrick Morrison.

One night only: Leonid meteor shower: Thanks to a new moon, chances of being able to see this annual celestial show tonight are good.

The annual Leonid meteor shower will make its one-night appearance over North America tonight. Viewing conditions should be excellent because the peak will occur after midnight, when the lights of metropolitan areas will be at their dimmest.

(Via Los Angeles Times - Top News.)

Sounds like a reason to step outside if you wake up in the middle of the night. I have been disappointed with the last few in Monterey, when there was either a near fullmoon or fog.

Update:

I went out at about 1:30 and while the stars were nice and clear the meteors were a little  sparse. I saw two in about 10 minutes of watching.

Brown Pelican Flies Off The Endangered List:

After nearly 40 years on the brink of extinction, the brown pelican has made a substantial enough comeback that it will be removed Wednesday from the endangered species list, The Associated Press reports.

(Via NPR News: Top Stories.)

I have lived long enough to remember when it was rare to see these birds. Now I see them every time I go to the coast. Banning DDT was probably the key to their survival. Score one for the humans.

Welcome back pelicans.

Now let’s save the red-legged frog, checker-spot butterfly, and a myriad of others on the list.

See the Wildebeest Migration in the Mara Triangle… on Google Earth!: “

We’re in the process of installing tracking devices into our vehicles here at the Conservancy, and as our Land Cruiser arrived at Oloololo Gate I had a quick peek at its progress over on Google Earth.

Since I’ve last been on it seems that Google have updated the satellite image for the top of the Mara Triangle, and you can even see the new toilets that we’ve constructed over at Oloololo (in the top left hand corner).

I also noticed that our grader is parked outside of the rangers quarters, which means that it’s just after we had completed grading the roads inside the Triangle and were about to grade the roads towards all the camps and lodges that are on the outside, just at the beginning of August when the migration was in full swing.

You must at least be able to see some wildebeest, I thought.

Well, you can.

That’s quite a few thousand of the chaps swarming their way up towards the north of the Triangle.

I’m sure you’d quite like a look around yourself, and if you don’t have Google Earth installed you can have a look with Google Maps below:’

View Larger Map

(Via Mara Triangle.)

This is pretty cool. The updates don’t extend to the area of Ken’s Mara camp yet, but the coverage is getting better.

If you don’t know of William Brewer’s journal, “Up and Down California in 1860-1864″ you need to find it and read it.

As part of the Geologic Survey of California, Brewer covered much of the same ground that we do today and provides wonderful details of California at that time.

The book is available online, but you really should buy and carry it with you to read before you drift off to sleep in your tent.

Here is one of my favorite passages:

Monday, June 23, I visited some hills alone, and sent Gabb and Hoffmann on a longer excursion back, with the mules. The event of the day was their meeting, in a narrow ravine, a large she-grizzly with a cub. Now this is the worst kind of a customer to meet, and as they came upon her very suddenly, matters did not look well. She faced them at first, scarcely thirty feet distant, then slowly retreated. They took the hint, and both parties escaped unharmed; the two bears leisurely climbing the steep bank of the ravine on one side, the geologists climbing, less leisurely by far, the steep bank on the other side.

And another:

At Tomales there are several houses, but the only one where we could get “accommodations” was a very low Irish groggery, kept by a “lady.” The place was filled with the Irish potato diggers, all as lively as the poorest whiskey could make them. One Irishman had just made some two hundred dollars by a contract for digging, and was celebrating the event, freely treating—in fact, he was just at the culmination of a three days’ spree. The “rooms” of the house were far from private, the beds not highly inviting, and the customers twice as many as the accomodations. Drunkenness, singing, fighting, and the usual noise of Irish sprees were kept up through the night. Much to my disgust I had neither “bowie” nor “Colt” along, so could not command the exemption from meddling which those companions would have insured. Now, I don’t mind the discomforts of the field, of sleeping on the ground, of diet, dust, lizards, snakes, ants, tarantulas, etc., but from drunken Irishmen, from Irish groggeries, from “ladies” of that description, “Good Lord, deliver us!”

It is a good read.