Elephant Seal
Today we headed out early to Chimney Rock at Pt. Reyes to see the Elephant Seals. It went down to 28 degrees on the drive up but warmed up by the time we got to Chimney Rock. We got the full show. 100 Elephant seals, males doing dominance fighting, females with new-born calves, and close up views. The photo above is not cropped but was taken with a zoom set at 219mm from a safe spot just above the elephant seal and near the rocky beach between the elephant seal viewpoint and the lifeboat station area.
The birding highlight of the day was seeing a Peregrine Falcon eating its prey on top of Chimney Rock. Other interesting bird views were the large number of Surf Scoters in the bay and seeing Pelagic Cormorants on the cliff edges of Chimney Rock. We did not have any whale sightings or see Great Horned Owls in the trees near the house. There were several deer along the trail to Chimney Rock. We did find a few wildflowers starting to bloom, a few Blue-eyed Grass and California Buttercups and one Blue Violet near the Point. I identified 22 bird species, but am sure I missed a few in the trees.To see my birdlist for today go to: Chimney Rock Birdlist 12/31/12
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