Carmel River Marsh

The Carmel River Marsh is an unusual brackish water habitat as the river doesn't flow into the ocean except during periods of heavy run-off. A difficult decision then presents itself;  whether to interfere with the natural river dynamics (and temporary flooding) or accommodate the homeowners at risk by opening a temporary route to the ocean. Once the decision is made, the river outlet is "bulldozed" to open the river flow to the ocean. Ocean currents along the shore soon begin to deposit sand back into the river mouth and it is only a matter of time (or maybe a strong ocean storm) before the river mouth closes once again, completing the cycle.

It was another brisk morning on Monday, January 31, 2011 when we began our weekly Bird Walk, led by local expert, Brian Weed. The inland lagoon and marshy area hosted many deer, Buffleheads, Canada Geese, and Ruddy Ducks. We spotted two White-tailed Kites in the distant trees as well as a Red-shouldered Hawk scanning the fields. This is certainly a productive wildlife area.

All shots were taken with the new Nikon D7K with a Nikon 300mm f4 Telephoto lens and a 1.7x Tele-extender. Shutter speed fixed at 1/1000, variable aperture, ISO fixed at 200. This is a capable combination for field work with some focus "hunting" on low contrast subjects.

We first explored the inland marsh area and encountered this Field Lily (we call it) and the California Poppy bursting forth in the morning sun. This is unusual, as many other parts of the country don't experience flowers like this for months to come. The California central coast is certainly a unique place to live.

 

Near the ocean we encountered a lone Whimbrel warming himself in the sun quite some distance away.

We then spotted this pair of Bushtits in the dense brush. Note the female above with the yellow iris and the male below. They were very busy and quite difficult to "capture". Note also the yellowish cast to the chest - apparently collected pollen that can (and did) confuse identification.

Along the ocean path, on the roof of an ocean-front home, this Red-tailed Hawk surveyed the low brush area between the homes and the ocean.

And directly below on the ocean path we saw a very large flock of House Finches under the watchful eye of the Red-shouldered Hawk above. The House Finches kept "on-the-move" while the hawk stayed on the ideal roof perch.

We got these shots of the California Towhee and a Hummingbird that seemed to be an Anna's Hummingbird. All the morning birds were very active. We also saw Song Sparrows, Golden-crowned Sparrows and White-crowned Sparrows in this same area.

As we were leaving the ocean-front area we stopped along an access road and spotted the California Quail and the California Thrasher, both new birds to some of the participants. 

Finally we found this White-crowned Sparrow posing close-by along the ocean trail, we couldn't resist including his portrait . 

It's hard to believe that most of the country is experiencing major winter cold and snow. Here it's warm and pleasant.