Winter on the Cali Coast

I like roaming up and down the coast at any time of year, but it's perhaps most interesting in winter. The weather is changeable, and rainy, stormy conditions are always dramatic, along with the light. The critters are profuse. It's been a good winter for the elephant sloats. This pic was taken at Point Piedras Blancas on Jan 12. Blow up the pic and you'll see many pups, most born between Dec 21, when I passed thru on my way to Arizona, and the 12th.

The snowy plovers can be seen working the surf line at Del Monte Beach in Monterey on most winter days. They seem to get along fairly well with the larger bird and his friends...I think they're godwits.

The pelicans are very much in evidence, here at the mouth of the Carmel River. It's always neat to watch them cruising just above the surface waves, then divebombing the fish. On one recent morning there must have been close to 300 of them hanging in the lagoon here just inland from the surf.

Last week I drove up the coast, and stopped at the mouth of Gazos Creek in San Mateo county. A front was moving in, and the last bit of sunlight before the storm was spectacular!