Monterey Harbor and Washington Park

On a cool overcast morning, the harbor was quiet but with some interesting nest building activity. This Pelagic Cormorant emerged from the deep with a bit of nest building material, hesitated only a moment and was off to the nest. Note the second shot showing the cormorant using both feet together when taking off. We would have thought that they "run" using alternate feet when taking off.  Seattle Audubon info here.

Nearby this female Red-breasted Merganser came up from feeding, rested a moment and was back down again. The Harbor apparently provides well for its regular winter inhabitants. Cornell Lab info here.

Seen from the walking path beside the Harbor, this Song Sparrow was demonstrating how it may have gotten the name. Although common, it is always a welcome sight to see our feathered neighbors willingly sharing their environment with us. Cornell Lab info here.

Then off to Washington Park where we saw several Pine Siskins. The group was very busy at the tree tops - a pine tree as might be expected. There were about 15 in the group and very active. We did some post-processing to see detail because of the back-lit sky. Cornell Labs info here.

We were reminded that spring (it comes early to the Monterey Peninsula) brings all varieties of mushrooms. This rather large one was identified as an edible one - we left it for the experts. Expert ID info here.

The Band-tailed Pigeon, another new entry to our California bird list. The perch area was very dark and the light was diffused from above but we did get this shot. We have done some post-processing to extract detail from the shadows. The Band-tailed Pigeon is Washington State's native pigeon, soft gray like the Rock Dove, but longer and sleeker. Living along much of the Pacific Coast, Band-tailed Pigeons are found in low- and mid-elevation forests. More information from Seattle Audubon here.