Long Trip Coming

Tags

atsion, Black-crowned Night Heron, cassidy arch, curlew, garrapata, marked godwit, photography, postaday, potash

Busy preparing for an upcoming long trip, I have not had a chance to go out and take any photo. The following images were taken many months ago, but have not yet been published on these pages. There is no rhyme or reason to them, just interesting shots of landscape and wildlife that I have seen.

Long-billed Curlew on Moss Landing beach in California.

Marbled Godwit at Moss Landing, CA.

Eagle taking off at Garrapata State Park, CA.

Controlled burn at Atsion, NJ.

Cassidy Arch at Capitol Reef National Park.

Black-crowned Night Heron at Ocean City, NJ.

Unidentified flower at Sayen Gardens, NJ.

Potash mine ponds at Dead Horse Point State Park, UT.

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Moss Landing Pelicans

Tags

brown pelican, garrapata, oss l;anding, photography, postaday, surfer, white pelican

On our first day in Moss Landing, driving over Jetty Road, I saw a band of White Pelicans standing in Elkhorn Slough. They were the first white ones I ever saw, and the rest of the time that we were in the Salinas area, there were only Brown Pelicans visible.

White Pelicans in Moss Landing.

Brown Pelicans flew almost all the time above us, in squadrons or solo. They were at Moss Landing, Garrapata State Park, and all along that windy road down the coast to McWay Falls.

Part of a squadron of Brown Pelicans flying over the beach at Moss Landing by Jetty Road.

Brown Pelican.

Brown Pelican.

Some were giving surfing lessons to humans.

Brown Pelican coaching surfer.

The humans learned fast!

Surfer at Moss Landing beach.

Surfer at Moss Lading beach.

Brown Pelican over Garrapata State Park.

Garrapata State Park

Tags

garrapata, photography, postaday

If you drive south from Carmel toward Big Sur, Garrapata State Park is on your right after about 6 miles. Many people usually hurry on to Big Sur without stopping, which is what I used to do.

However, on this last trip, I did some research and discovered that over a distance of 2 miles (3.2 km) Garrapata has 19 access points called gates, each with several trails that lead you down to view points or a beach. Other trails turn inland toward hills with excellent views of the coast from more than 1,000 ft (300 m). I did not go inland, but found the scenery along the ocean simply stunning with its colors and physical features. Spring flowers were in full bloom, and birds and other animals could be seen practically everywhere. If you read this, be sure to click on any photo to see it in a larger size.

View from gate 1 at Garrapata State Park. Pelicans, seen as a faint line in the center of the picture, were flying toward us from a distance.

View of the shoreline from Garrapata State Park gate 1. No idea what the two men in orange suits were doing.

View from the end of one trail at gate 4, Garrapata State Park.

Gate 7 is my favorite because it has two small waterfalls created by Soberanes Creek as it flows toward the ocean.

First waterfall at gate 7, Garrapata State Park.

Second waterfall at gate 7, Garrapata State Park.

Looking down at a cove at gate 7, Garrapata State Park.