June 7, 2015

  • Dana Point -- June 2

    Finally feeling much better, last Tuesday I drove to Dana Point to see if there were any birds.  As I often do, I began at the top of the bluff, and saw a lot of activity in the channel that looked like a class in paddle-boarding and kayaking.  From the top, this is what it looked like:

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    At water level, I was only able to capture a couple of shots -- this looks like a lot of fun!

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    I looked up at the trees, and found no great blue herons, and the trees looked rather sad as well.  There was, however, one white heron at the top of a slightly lower tree.  The bird sat there for a long time, watching and grooming itself -- I shot several photos of this guy as he moved around.

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    As I left that spot, I took one more quick look, and saw that a huge black bird had landed in a nearby tree -- I shot this through the car window, and it was the only view I could capture.  I'm not sure if it was a cormorant, or perhaps just a large crow or raven.

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    The bait barge was back and more populated; the boat that supplies it was also in the harbor.

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    A smaller boat came by to purchase some bait.

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    The trail of birds are pelicans, waiting for some food from the bait barge or its boat or its customer.  There were also more pelicans on the smaller breakwater.

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    I love watching the pelicans skim across the water.

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    And a seal floated in the harbor.

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    Spring is turning into summer here -- the temperature got over 80 today, and may get as high as 90 for the next few days.

    And for those who have watched our oil spill, the cleanup is progressing, but there's a long way to go.  The absorbent booms used to collect oily water from the surface have done their job and have been sent home.  They are keeping a couple of boats on site, just in case more oil floats up, but now the work is collecting the water that has settled on rocks, either under water or on shore.  This can go on for years before the rocks are all completely clean.  The beach parks are still closed to campers, and will be until 6/27 (this may change to include July 4).  There are still impacted animals being found each day, some of which are dead, and some of which will survive.  Oily blobs have been found on beaches as far away as Long Beach, approximately 100 miles south of the spill (each of these beaches has been closed for up to 4 days; they are currently all open), and they are monitoring a 95 mile stretch of shoreline.  Exxon-Mobil has storage tanks just south of the spill; those tanks are filled by oil pumped by offshore rigs.  The tanks are almost full, and Exxon-Mobil has requested permission to put 5,000 tanker trucks on the highway to transport the oil that would have been moved through the pipeline, now closed indefinitely!  This is particularly ironic, because the pipeline exists only because the County refused such permission many years ago!

Comments (25)

  • wow... love to see the seal by the harbor... we only see those in the water parks here in the Philippines

    • I've seen this guy a number of times, but never his face -- usually I see a tail or a flipper, and wonder what it is that I'm seeing! There are several that I think live in the harbor -- I always hear them when I'm there.

  • I'm glad the spill clean up is progressing though sadly it will take years for good recovery. Beautiful pictures.

    • Thank you. Yes, sadly, it will take years for the sea to cleanse itself -- the pipeline company is doing a pretty good job of cleaning the sea's surface and the on-shore rocks, but there's a lot of oil that has sunk to the bottom, or has moved down the coast.

  • The white heron must be rather lonely. I am glad to see some progress being made, on the oil spill, and hopefully SB County will see fit to give LIMITED permission for the tanker trucks to help expedite the clean-up.

    • The white heron was not on a nest, but just in a tree. It could have friends at the state beach park, or in between -- I've not explored that area! The oil in that pipeline came from an offshore rig; it is brought ashore and stored; it then is moved to other parts of CA through the pipeline. They are still bringing oil ashore, and the tanks are now nearly full because the pipeline has been shut down. Unfortunately, I think the county will have to ok the temporary use of tanker trucks, since otherwise the production of oil would have to be shut down. Santa Barbara would love that alternative, of course, but it would have other consequences. The trucks will not be helpful in the cleanup -- and could cause other problems of their own. I can't imagine 5,000 trucks on the coast road to Gaviota 24/7! Yes, at least there is some progress in the cleanup, but it will sadly take years for the sea to cleanse itself.

  • As usual your pictures are delightful. I've been looking at cameras and hope to find one I can learn to use and get some good shots. Thanks for sharing all your birds and boats and water with us. Glad to hear that the clean-up has progressed. I remember when we were inundated with oil here in the gulf a few years back.

    • Thank you! I use a Pentax DSLR with either an 18-55 lens or 50-200. This oil spill is nowhere nearly as huge as the one in the gulf, but it is just as disastrous in the destruction of pristine coastline!

  • I'm so glad you were able to photograph that heron. It looks so brilliantly white - not at all affected by the oils spill (at least on the exterior). It is troubling that the cleanup will go on for years...

    • Thanks, Val -- yes, the heron is brilliantly white. The oil has not yet floated as far south as Dana Point, and may not actually move that far south -- I hope not! The pipeline company can clean up the surface of the sea, and, to a large extent, the oil that attaches to on-shore rocks and sand. It is more difficult to clean the oil that has sunk to the bottom, attaching itself to rocks (some animal crusted), or to kelp -- that is the part that will take years to recover. It's very sad!

  • The heron is beautiful. I also like the pictures of the pelicans skimming the water. When I was a kid sometimes the beach in Long Beach would have tar. I wonder where it came from then? We knew one teenage boy who was particularly hairy. He was swimming in Seal Beach one day, and came home all tarry. I think he had to have most of his body shaved.

    • I love that heron and the pelicans -- I'm glad you do too!! We used to have tar on the beaches in Santa Barbara when I was a kid, too. Most of it came from natural seepage, although some might have got to Seal Beach from the Ports of LA and Long Beach. I love your story about the kid who came home tarry -- we used to have a can of Energine by the back door, and would have to inspect before going indoors, and remove the tar if we had any!

  • Great pictures. I would have enjoyed being with you. :) I spend so little time next to huge bodies of water.

    • Thanks, Doris! I would love to have you join me sometime when I go to the beach! This is all next to a pretty huge body of water -- the Pacific Ocean -- with just a couple of islands, there's not much shelter here for the shoreline!

  • Is it a great white heron (pale legs) or a great egret (black legs) ~ can't tell for sure ~

    • I think it must be a great white heron -- in most of the shots, its legs are hidden by leaves/tree, but I was able to blow up one shot and see gray legs -- definitely not black. Thank you -- I had hoped you'd know!

  • Beautiful place to be. We're having warmish days too. Good swimming weather!

  • The white heron is really beautiful and let you admire him
    But I envy you to see so many pelicans ( I have never seen one of them in the nature )
    You have a so beautiful coast and the oïl spill is really an ecological catastrophe.
    Love
    Michel
    https://fauquetmichel.wordpress.com/

    • Thanks, Michel -- yes the spill truly is an ecological catastrophe. The beaches are still closed, though they are about to open one of the 2 parks this weekend, and the fisheries (where much of our seafood is caught) will be closed for some time to come. Eventually, it will all resolve, but it will take a while!

  • wow, look at those pelicans! I love seeing them. Especially when a bunch of them are in flight together.

    Hope you are having a great weekend Janet.

  • Hi Janet. Love the bird photos---great shots. You and f w r e n should work for National Geographic.

    Sad about the oil spill---needless for sure. I feel sorry for the wildlife and the ocean being so damaged

    • I'm so glad to read that the pipeline company is paying for the cleanup, along with whatever other penalties will be levied!

  • I just wrote you a letter and after I sealed it, I realized I didn't answer your question about the railroad bridge in Harper's Ferry. There was a pedestrian path attached to the side of the bridge and separated from the tracks by a chain link fence. The pedestrian path is how the Appalachian trail crosses the C&O Canal.

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