February 9, 2016
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Spring?
It's been so lovely here that, on Super Bowl Sunday, I took a short drive to Dana Point to see what the weather has brought. I found that the hills are alive with the green that follows even a small rain. Wherever there is space, the grass seeds have been collecting, and they all sprouted during January's rain.
Having not seen them last year, I was quite pleasantly surprised to find a great blue heron at Dana Point Harbor.
There are only a few nests remaining, but it was worth taking the time to look at the others as well.
These were three solitary birds, sitting quietly in their nests. At this point, I don't know whether there will be others during the spring or not -- there was only one yesterday.
Along the inside of Dana Point Harbor there are very tall cliffs, with houses on top. Rainy weather often serves to erode the tops of cliffs, and if houses are built too close to the edge they may be subject to damage from this erosion. It looks as if this is beginning to happen along this clifftop as well as those in the San Francisco area.
The storms also tend to move sand rather rapidly. The channel into the harbor is gaining quite a sandbar (to be sure, the tide was pretty low when I took these shots).
And the barge has been moved into place to bring in a dredge and remove at least some of this sand.
We expect to have another week of beautiful summer weather -- and no rain until at least the end of February!
Comments (17)
Encouraged to see a heron again!!
There were 3 today -- no good photos, but one of them is larger and almost a blond color -- will post what photos I could get, probably tomorrow1
It is wonderful to see the green hills. The year Tom and I were married there had been a lot of rain and the hills were so green and beautiful, at least until summer. We got married in March.
It doesn't take much water for the hills to turn green -- but the green doesn't last when we have 2 weeks of Santana winds right after the rain!
Love the herons and I'm glad at least a few have returned to Dana Point! The hills do look very green - almost like Indiana in the summer!
There were 3 herons there today, although I could only get photos of one -- will post more tomorrow! The hills green up very quickly when it rains -- then brown again quickly when we have 90 degree weather like we have this week -- that green won't last!
I would not like a house on that cliff! Scary!
It looked to me as if they had evacuated that house -- one day I'll have to drive the top of the cliff and see if it's "red-tagged"! You can imagine the view, though, looking out over the harbor, the channel, and Catalina Island -- quite a place to live when they built the house 50 feet back from the cliff!
I am so happy you were able to see the herons. What a treat! I see the emerald green on the hills. Very pretty and soothing to the eye. Janet, I think I saw the same house on the cliff during the national news; the talk about the cliffs eroding and the danger to the houses. Has to be very scary.
It's exciting to see the herons perhaps coming back -- and the green is wonderful on the hillsides for however short a time it may last! That house on the cliff may have been on the news -- there was a similar situation on the news in Pacifica, just south of San Francisco, where an apartment building is about to fall off the cliff. It is a scary situation -- I'll take more shots as time goes on if there are changes! Xanga's grannykaren talked about a house that was falling off the cliff -- another house in the same general area -- cliff front erosion is a constant, and this is a very high cliff!
Having been on that ledge, I am a bit worried that there may be a collapse, from the erosion. The area around Dana Point does have a healthy green, though. I will need to pay a visit there, the second week of March, to see the herons again- at both Dana Point Harbor and Doheny.
@slmret: That is just so sad. The houses when they were built, were probably very exclusive and prime property, having ocean view and beauty around them. To see them crumbling down has to be devastating to the owners.
@ZSA_MD: I agree -- but apparently there's only so much one can do to prevent wholesale erosion of the cliff-tops! It's still pretty prime property -- though that whole row looks pretty imperiled to me!
It was good to some herons again.
There aren't as many yet as there were a couple of years ago, but it's good to see them coming back!
Love your herons. Nice living in perpetual summer. We are (maybe) if we are lucky at the very front edge of the beginning of spring. Won't see any of our herons until it's warm. I'm sure they are out there, but I'm not
The herons are part of a much larger colony that became friends 2 or 3 years ago. They are quite fearless, and beautiful to watch. Unfortunately, somebody was allowed to cut several trees that housed their nests, and the colony didn't come back at all last year. It's very exciting to see them come back this year! I hope your spring will be an easy one, beginning now!
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