Wave Walkers

The sight of surfboards on top of cars is not an uncommon one here on the North Coast, even though the water is about as cold as death here.

When good surfing conditions fall on a weekend, a surfing frenzy breaks out. People line up to watch!

Surfers Waiting for the Next Set

There were a parade of people walking up and down the jetty watching the surfers and another photographer with a nice set up was trying to catch the action between bouts of catching his dog.

Last Leg of the Wave

Admittedly, I enjoy shots that the surfers themselves probably don’t enjoy as much. They make it look so easy that those regular surfing shots all come out the same, like they are standing effortlessly on the waves! My husband commented that they look bored. By the time I got my camera out and set up, most of the hard wipe outs were done and everyone was surfing perfectly, despite the crowded conditions.

All at Once

By the way, if you look closely in the above shot, you’ll see snow on one of the farther hills! Even though the waves were crowded with wet suit wearers, there was order in the chaos. If too many people went for one wave, those on the edges seemed to bail as was the case in the photo below.

Bailing Out...

Splat! The only one I caught camera-wise.

It seemed with such crowds that navigating the minefield of fellow surfers was usually the priority once the wave was caught.

Minefield

Nice Day for a Wave

Even though there were some close calls, they all looked like they had a good time and no one lost their ears.  The biggest bonus, no sharks were fed!

 

The Newly Discovered Scent Hound: Birds?!

Apparently Toucan Sam’s sniffer wasn’t as fictional as once thought.

Common thought in the past has led most to believe that birds had an underdeveloped sense of smell. Exceptions were made for the carrion eaters, but otherwise, it was thought that not much happened inside the beak of a bird, olfactory-wise.

Recent research has been changing these views. While it is unknown if birds prefer floral or fruity scents, it has been established that behavior modification occurs when birds detect the scent of a predator.¹ Using the scent of a mustelid’s [like a mink] feces, researchers noted a difference in behavior compared to control tests of quail feces scents and water.

When testing House Finches with mammal feces of both a predator and non-predator,  the finches paused before feeding and did so more often with the predator scents. They also ate faster and fed for less time when fecal scents were present.³

Not only do birds use scent to sniff out predators, but there is mounting evidence they use scents to recognize mates.  Scientists cite less brain activity in birds when faced with a potential, but scentless, mate.²

What an amazing world!

 

 

1. Amo, L., Galván, I., Tomás, G. and Sanz, J. J. (2008), Predator odour
recognition and avoidance in a songbird. Functional Ecology, 22: 289–293.

2. Jacques Balthazart, Mélanie Taziaux, The underestimated role of olfaction in avian reproduction?, Behavioural Brain Research, Volume 200, Issue 2, 25 June 2009, Pages 248-259

3. Timothy C. Roth II, Jonathan G. Cox, Steven L. Lima, Can foraging birds assess predation risk by scent?, Animal Behaviour, Volume 76, Issue 6, December 2008, Pages 2021-2027

 

Evening on the Wing

It wasn’t the dog nor I that were winging anything. We were on our evening walk [is 4:30 evening??] and found our sunset spot staked out by another.  Considering Bear is the size of a love seat, making it awkward to share a cozy view with another sunset gazer, I decided to try another little side trail for a view.  Full of black berries, the thorns of which are still in my jeans, it wasn’t an affording view.

We ended up down by the Mad River, me juggling a camera and a bag of dog feces; the maker of said feces was pulling as hard as she could on the leash to go roll on the sand bar.

The View from the Top

Looking behind, heading down to the river.

Going Down. To the River.

Muddy Mad River

River Panoramic

Water Vapor Reflecting off Liquid Water

Show's Over, Time to Refresh

It was a nice sunset, but while the light show came to a close, another show just started. Several flocks of geese followed the river downstream [North], surveying the water way intently for a quiet spot.

After climbing back up the bluff, seeing a large creature scurry across our path and hearing an owl [who didn't think much of my imitation of him...], we walked down the middle of the road.

As we walked on the impermanent path of asphalt, winged creatures were utilizing a more ancient route of navigation under the cover of an evening sky too dark for my camera. Above our heads flew small groups of ducks, silent except for the tell-tale whistling of their wings.  They navigated South, appearing unorganized, but their whistling wings never collided nor did they ever falter on their course.

The geese provided a contrast to the duck melody in both size and method. The larger geese bodies silhouetted against the falling night tried has hard as their bird brains would let them to stay in orderly formation while they seemed to squawk commands and complaints at each other. Their noisy conversations carried them North, opposite of the quietly whistling ducks.

The duck groups were more numerous, providing the beat, while the geese acted as punctuating notes in the avian aerial ballet and symphony.

As the dog and I rounded the corner to our house, the bird ballet wound down. I paused for a car to pass before going to the mail box when the grand finale occurred.  Dark shapes with wide rounded wings flew over head, making some other worldly gurgling hiss. Though I won’t ever know for sure, I watched the two winged figures chasing each other as they disappeared into the dark, imagining them as owls settling a dispute over mousing grounds.

[Nerdily dedicated to Carey!]

Rainy Day Tide Pool

It was the second day of our ‘rainy season’ on which I discovered a ‘water-resistant’ jacket wouldn’t cut it.

I wasn’t brave enough to break out the camera during the hour we spent walking around in the rain. We found a nice dead fish, a chiton who had seen better days [days when he wasn't being eaten alive by a snail and hermit crab], and some anemones that looked like they were trying to replicate the fall color change.

The giggling calls of black oystercatchers and black turnstones made the dreary beach a little more tolerable as we plodded under the falling rain drops. I snapped a couple of shots with the camera phone before we waved the white flag. I did get a decent shot of the chiton in his slow motion wriggling.  His mouth is toward the right. Even though they are herbivores by definition, they will eat whatever microorganism that fails to get out of the way. What a way to go, scooped up by a magnetite reinforced radula [think tongue covered in tiny teeth]!

The horizon was considerably lighter and so resident meteorologist decided that we could wait out the rain in the car, since we were soaking through and through. After listening to a somber local NPR piece about the battle for clean water, we were finally hit by the Sun’s rays and ventured back down the bluff to the pools.

The tide was coming back up and chasing away all the birds.  The crashing of the growing waves over the boulders and pebbles drown out the crashing of us over slippery rocks and boulders. I didn’t find the chiton or dead fish to photograph again, but we were being watched by a more lively crowd.

In the end, I’m not sure who watched whom more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rain-soaked rock.

Rain splatters

Last flock of Black Oystercatchers I saw.

An anemone looking good in stripes! I think it might be a Starburst anemone [from Shelter Cove].

It turned out to be a lovely end to the day.

A faint rainbow!

Thanks for looking! If you want to see more Palmer’s Point and Shelter Cove photos, they are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/shainaniehans/sets/72157628078732406/