Bird Spotlight! Brandt's Cormorants in Breeding Plumage - Natural Bridges State Beach Santa Cruz California April 2025

One of the main reasons I wanted to go to Santa Cruz was to see the beautiful Brandt's Cormorants on the colony atop the Natural Bridge!  

It was the beginning of breeding season and I was excited to see these birds in their beautiful breeding plumage.  Brandt's are black birds with electric blue gular patches to match their beautiful blue eyes so of course I wanted to see them relatively close up and try to get some photos.

I was successful and yet, unsuccessful due to hard winds and camera shake. It's so frustrating as I get older.  But luckily Topaz AI is able to help with my shaky photos without looking too artificial (I hope). 

So, after my wonderful morning at the University of California Santa Cruz Arboretum and Botanical Garden and a brief stop at my hotel which is right on the way, I made my way to Natural Bridges State Beach to check it out!

There is a parking lot dedicated to parking for viewing the Natural Bridge rock where the colony is. Time limit (I think 30 minutes?) so you can't park for the beach there. But it was perfect to back right up to where the rock is and pop open my rear door for easy access to my camera and a place to sit. 

 You feel so close to the birds and the ocean and beach is beautiful.   

Nikon D600 Nikkor 28-300 lens at 28 mm

The rest of the photos were taken at 600 mm and then cropped, at least a little and some a lot, in Lightroom and Photoshop.  

These California Gulls wanted their photo taken.  :)  But the rest of the photos are of the Brandt's Cormorants.  It's possible there are some Double-crested Cormorants in the colony too.  

And there some Brown Pelicans hanging out too!

This next one has a pretty good look at the nests which are built upon the ground out of seaweed, eelgrass, weeds, etc.  It was very cool to see birds flying to the rock carrying nesting materials. 

This bird looks like it has a red eye but it is part of the seaweed it's carrying to the colony. 

These guys are bringing fresh nesting material. 

I think it looks kind of cool that you can see the people across the cove on the tidepool shelves.  I went over there later but didn't see any tide pools such as I'm used to...even though it was low tide.  But supposedly Natural Bridges has good tide pools so I guess I just couldn't find them.  

Reliving this adventure through my photographs reminds me that I need to make another trip to see the chicks!  Hopefully I can fit that in.  

xoxo

Nikon D7200  Sigma Contemporary 150 - 600 Lens

Photos edited in Lightroom, Topaz Photo AI, and Photoshop

Birdwatching & Beaches of Mendocino Coast - January 2018

And we're back. 

This is part II of my road trip for last January's Super Blood Blue Moon where I traveled up the coast to Bowling Ball Beach and Point Arena to see the lunar event.  For those shots of the Super Blood Blue Moon, etc., just click anywhere on this sentence!

After the eclipse, I headed a bit further north to Fort Bragg to visit the beautiful Mendocino Coast of California wander about to see what I could see.  Happily I saw birds, including two species that I've never personally seen before.  And just beauty everywhere.  It was a gorgeous day.

These are two of the birds I hadn't seen before - Black Oystercatchers. 

Seaweed is beautiful!

And so is Sea Lettuce.

Here's another Black Oystercatcher and a possibly, slightly better shot.  There were actually tons of them on this particular rocky beach.

Next I moved a bit further up the coast and found these Cormorants and Seagulls.

And a lot of rocks.  And seaweed of various kinds that I have no idea about.

This kind was frequently attached to empty mussel shells.

This next photo is of another bird I'd never seen.  A Black Turnstone.  I'd never even heard of it truthfully.  But it was really pretty and cool to see.

Under the sea...

I got caught by a sneaker wave!!  This is what happens when you're looking through a telephoto lens and don't see the other, closer waves.  Haha!  Luckily I saw it and turned just in time to prevent my camera being completely soaked.  The back of my head was though. 

This is kinda creepy and yet cool!

Here's that same Black Turnstone.  It had flown away earlier, so I was happy to find it again.

It was enjoying the sunny day too and had a mid-morning nap in the rays.

This is looking back to where I was.  There was a cool, little flat pool beside where I got splashed with my sneaker wave.  I had been standing almost at the end of the flat part a bit further ahead than the people you can see in the photo.

I had a great time trying to get some cool macro shots of the dew in the grass and plants.  I'm sure people thought I was a bit strange though. 

After this I headed to the amazing Mendocino Botanical Gardens.  Even though it was January, they had so many gorgeous plants and flowers.  And it was a great walk before I spent 6 hours driving home.  :)

xoxo

Nikon D3300

Northern California Dreamin' - Road Trip to the Coast 2/6/16

"Now on this road trip, my mind seemed to uncrinkle, to breathe, to present to itself a cure for a disease it had not, until now, known it had."  ~~ Elizabeth Berg, The Year of Pleasures

It's no secret how much I love getting in my car with my camera and heading off for adventures.  

No matter how many times I've been someplace before, it still seems like finding a bright, new shiny penny.  Finding a random penny might not have value to a lot of people...but it does to me. :-)

For instance, every time I see the "mothball fleet" I'm fascinated.  

And seeing it enshrouded in fog made me think of ghosts that might still be roaming the remaining ships, waiting for the call to protect the Pacific shores. 

But I did kind of wonder if the day was going to be spent under the marine layer.  

Spoiler alert:  It was not.

My drive to Ano Nuevo was beautiful and uneventful.  And I was greeted by such beauty!  I'll let the photos speak for themselves.

Quoth the Raven "Nevermore!"

Northern Elephant Seals sunbathing.

They were joined by an inquisitive California Sea Lion.  

He was absolutely dwarfed by his much bigger cousins (see the picture above...he's sleeping just above the water line near the center of the picture).

I saw this hill with what looked like rows of planted yellow flowers.  I left Ano Nuevo and drove South on PCH, but couldn't find anything that resembled a planted field.  It's quite possible that you just couldn't see if from the highway. 

I did, however, find yellow flowers in abundance!  

I stopped at a little turnout on the side of the road because the edge of the road was filled with flowers.  I thought they were just near the road because there was a little hill.  

I was amazed to look over the edge and see a field completely filled with the beautiful pineapple-colored blossoms waving in the breeze.  They meandered through the fields almost to the edge of the cliff overlooking the ocean.  

Turning to the North, South, and West, my eyes drank in the stunning vistas of sea, sky, and earth. 

I walked the pathway to the cliff's edge, thinking I couldn't find anything more beautiful than that field of green and gold.

But I was wrong.  
The dazzling Pacific was waiting to display her charms.

I sat on the edge, listening to the ocean speak and watching the flowers and birds.  

Feelings of gratitude for these splendid sights and experiences washed over me.  I felt like a small, but loved, piece of the universe as I made my way back to my car.

As I was driving homeward, I saw another strip of beach that I wished I had time (and energy!) to explore.  But I didn't so I had to content myself with one photo which I like to call Love on a Beach. 

We shall not cease from exploration

and the end of all our exploring will be 

to arrive where we started

and know the place for the first time.

~~ t.s. eliot

xoxo