Lover's Point, Pacific Grove

Another beautiful day on the Monterey Peninsula. Walking along the Recreation Trail we decided to photograph some of the common sights along the ocean. The wind was calm and the skies were clear with the distant shore across Monterey Bay towards Santa Cruz clearly visible. Many Cormorants were sunning themselves on the rocks further away from shore - no good photo ops.

This Great Egret was "fishing" offshore on a clump of kelp for some time and when satisfied, came ashore and landed on a nice warm rock directly in front of one of the benches along the walking trail. There was a long preening session with some typical poses and one that showed some interesting feather detail. The Great Egret is a majestic bird and very common along the coast year-round.

The Typical Great Egret Pose

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting Feather Detail

There were a few gulls cruising along the shore and we had hoped for a better portrait of the Western Gull. One obliged with a nice pose and included a juvenile begging for attention and a food handout more likely.

A Mature Gull Pestered by a Juvenile

Still Squawking for a Meal. It's Easier than Foraging.

The Adult Walking Away! No Handout for the Kids Today.

Since it was such a nice warm afternoon, all the comfortable rocks in the vicinity had their usual Harbor Seals in residence soaking up the sun. Some seals were resting nose-up in the water, some fighting for a better rock and this one picking his teeth. We had never seen that behavior before.