snapshot • gull devouring crab

What I can't figure out is what happens to the crab once it's in the gull; they swallow them whole. Must be one tough-ass stomach!

snapshot • Black Oystercatcher, Julia Pfeiffer Beach, Big Sur

snapshot • jay grabbing crumb

This jay kept swooping by, and I kept trying to get a photo. Finally, Chris started putting out crumbs to get it to land on the counter (which normally looks out over the Big Sur coast), and I managed to capture it during the split-second it took it to grab the food. 

snapshot • jay, Big Sur

Normally, the view from Nepenthe is a spectacular vista of cliffs plunging into the ocean; today, it was close-up, so we focused on bird-watching (Chris is a serious birder) and fog-watching.

Cormorants on Concrete Pier, Monterey, 2009.

Pelican At Sea, Downtown Monterey, 2008.

Pelican, Commercial Wharf, Monterey, 2008.

Gulls on Rock, Pacific Grove, 2009.

Blackbirds on Aloe Plant, Pacific Grove, 2009.

I was rummaging around in the aloe plants looking for a sign, and when I turned around, I saw this striking image. Fortunately, the birds cooperated and stayed put long enough to snap this photo, taken with my iPhone. Several times, walking along the path by the bay, I have been attacked by these diminutive birds, perhaps protecting a nest. They would swoop down and claw at the top of my head with their feet.

Gull on Rocks, Pacific Grove, 2009.

snapshot • quail

I've decided to subdivide my photos into what I consider "art" (with appendage ', 2009' or such like) and "snapshots," or photos that I'm not trying to pass off as "art." 

This is a photo of a quail I took from the car on the way down the hill to Pfeiffer Beach. I was hoping to get a shot of its head, but I don't have the patience, and there was a car coming.

Cormorant in Tide Pool, Monterey, 2009.

Hummingbird, 215 Grove Acre Avenue, Pacific Grove, 2009.

Brandt's Cormorant Colony, Coast Guard Pier, Monterey, 2009.

Brandt's Cormorants, Coast Guard Pier, Monterey, 2009.

Brandt's Cormorant (Scratching), Coast Guard Pier, Monterey, 2009.

Brandt's Cormorant (Head), Coast Guard Pier, Monterey, 2009.

Common Murre, Coast Guard Pier, Monterey, 2009.

Black Oystercatcher, Monterey Bay, 2009.

This is probably my favorite bird, for (to me) obvious aesthetic reasons: its color scheme is minimal, with a completely black body, bright red bill, pink legs, bright yellow iris and red eye ring. Fantastic color! It noshes on mussels, limpets and chitons, and, according to Wikipedia, will also scarf down crabs, isopods and barnacles. Its range is the Aleutian Islands to Baja California; my range is from Point Pinos to the Aquarium. Fortunately, those ranges overlap, and I get to see this delightful bird, with its loud squawking call, on a regular basis. I admit to not being a true wildlife photographer, not having the equipment to take good long telephoto shots, and too lazy to lug a tripod everywhere. I do always have my G9 at the ready, and love to photograph birds, as well as seals. 

There are lots of shore birds to be seen around Pacific Grove. The sea gulls are ubiquitous. These are Western gulls, which look pretty much like the gulls I used to see on Cape Cod. There must be some kind of difference...