April 21, 2009

Temperature: 60 F. Cloud Cover: Sunny. Wind Velocity: Calm/Light. Wind Direction: NW. Tide Level: 2.0 feet.

No human activity (except me)

Mile 31April 21, 2009There are not many places in the “lower 48” where you can be on the beach for an hour (around 10am) and not see another person. And on a sunny day!Migratory birds are starting to move thru the area. I saw a group of about 40 Aleutian Geese in a big vee, headed North.The Curlew have arrived. I saw one yesterday, a dozen today. They are a migratory shore bird, brown in color, with a long bill that curves downward at the end. Many of them winter in the estuaries on the Pacific side of the Baja Ca. peninsula. We used to hunt them there. They’re good to eat.A large number of a small shore bird have arrived. Brown on top, white belly, some with a narrow but prominent white ring around the neck. (Possibly a Leff Tern (Enid Leff, Calif. Academy of Sciences, Dept. of Ornithology and Mammalogy). But I’m not sure. That could be the right tern or the wrong tern. It looks similar to one that is seen on perched on the back of sheep, eating parasites in the wool (a Ewe Tern).

Seaweeds and seagrass, Animal casings (e.g., crab, shrimp molt), Shells, Small rocks, Wood pieces.

There has been an occasional truck on the beach, with someone cutting driftwood for firewood (but not today).