Last week I had a visitor from Arizona.  Gary (aka righteousbruin) was on a quick trip to collect a small amount of sea water as a gift to a grieving friend, so we met at the Crystal Cove Cottages for lunch and a walk on the beach.  It was a warm day, and the cafe is always busy — we had a wait of about 20 minutes for a table, so spent that time walking along the cottages to see how they had fared through the winter.  It’s been 2 years since I’d been there, and there has been considerable degradation due to weather and neglect during that time.

Crystal Cove is a State Park.  The cottages were erected in the 1920’s and 1930’s by ranch hands on the Irvine Ranch as weekend cabins.  The Ranch allowed its workers to build here, using whatever materials they wished (including driftwood, pieces of wrecked ships, etc.).

When the ranch was subdivided and developed, the workers were allowed to remain in their cottages until the area was donated to the State in 2006, which decided it would be best to renovate them and make them available as vacation rentals for all the citizens.  The workers were evicted, and funding was sought to renovate the cottages.

We walked the undeveloped portion of the ‘colony’ first, to the west of the cafe.  This group of cottages have been unoccupied and unmaintained for several years, awaiting funding and permission to rebuild.  The State Coastal Commission has finally granted permission, which will now allow for the cottages to be demolished and rebuilt; funding is ongoing through a special Foundation.

In the meantime, they have been blueprinted, so that the reconstruction can be done in a manner to preserve the ambience of the area.

As we walked back, our buzzer called us for lunch.  We sat at a nice table on the patio, looking out at the beach and the sea, watching the day go by as we chatted and caught up with each other’s news.

After lunch, we wandered along the beach in the opposite direction.  These cottages on the southeastern side of a small stream were renovated early in the process, and have been used by renters for several years.  They may be rented for a week at a time, and the waiting list is at least 6 months long.  Crossing the stream,

we followed the beach past several more cottages.

and meandered down to the waterline.

We found shells embedded in rocks,

and gifts of feathers lying on the sand,

and enjoyed a short walk along the beach.

The visit ended with a walk back to the cafe and up the canyon a short distance, where we caught a tram to the parking lot.  It was a delightful day, and I was honored to be along on Gary’s quest to find a jar of sea water!

 

Moving on from the pronghorn exhibit, we walked to the elephant enclosure.  On the way, we ran across a couple of interesting birds — one a resident, and the other possibly an interloper.  The resident, a Secretary Bird, was fascinating as it sat on its nest.  The other, a magpie that looked as if it may have flown in or a visit with Mme. Secretary!

The feathers of the Secretary Bird were intriguing, and showed themselves off in all poses.

And the magpie, more familiar to all of us in North America, has beautiful feathers as well.

Turning and walking a short distance, we passed tapirs and capybaras.

A couple of sleepy lions.

Llamas and alpacas

And the elephant enclosure.

On the left you see a glimpse of the area where the elephants are bathed and their feet are inspected and groomed.  The bars keep the animals enclosed while the keepers do their work through the bars.  We watched one elephant walk up to the enclosure as if waiting her turn, while we could hear the keepers washing down another elephant in a different section of the exhibit.

By this time, the animals were all moving indoors, and we could only see empty exhibit areas.  The keepers were preparing the enclosure for the next day, placing food in bins for the elephants, and adding enticing nibbles to hanging logs to keep the animals curious and alert.

We had hoped to take the sky tram back to the entrance — because of construction, the path was closed, and we had to walk all the way back past the elephant exhibit!  One more elephant caught my eye,

And I couldn’t resist the meerkat protecting its hole!

This was a wonderful visit to a world-class zoo — we were tired, but very satified by the time we left.

Moving on from the pronghorn exhibit, we walked to the elephant enclosure.  On the way, we ran across a couple of interesting birds — one a resident, and the other possibly an interloper.  The resident, a Secretary Bird, was fascinating as it sat on its nest.  The other, a magpie that looked as if it may have flown in or a visit with Mme. Secretary!

The feathers of the Secretary Bird were intriguing, and showed themselves off in all poses.

And the magpie, more familiar to all of us in North America, has beautiful feathers as well.

Turning and walking a short distance, we passed tapirs and capybaras.

A couple of sleepy lions.

Llamas and alpacas

And the elephant enclosure.

On the left you see a glimpse of the area where the elephants are bathed and their feet are inspected and groomed.  The bars keep the animals enclosed while the keepers do their work through the bars.  We watched one elephant walk up to the enclosure as if waiting her turn, while we could hear the keepers washing down another elephant in a different section of the exhibit.

By this time, the animals were all moving indoors, and we could only see empty exhibit areas.  The keepers were preparing the enclosure for the next day, placing food in bins for the elephants, and adding enticing nibbles to hanging logs to keep the animals curious and alert.

We had hoped to take the sky tram back to the entrance — because of construction, the path was closed, and we had to walk all the way back past the elephant exhibit!  One more elephant caught my eye,

And I couldn’t resist the meerkat protecting its hole!

This was a wonderful visit to a world-class zoo — we were tired, but very satisfied by the time we left.

Continuing on from the bears at the San Diego Zoo, and passing by more plants,

we came across a Meerkat habitat.

Meerkats are a type of mongoose, and they live in burrows.  When there animals out of their burrows, there are always sentinels, looking out or the safety of those who could be endangered by predators.

Around the corner was an exhibit of early American animals, including an enclosure with pronghorns and a camel.  There were three pronghorns, two of which engaged into a dominance match while we were there.

The camel came out, and the pronghorns backed off into a tense truce.

Along the path, more flowering plants.

There was a group of people gathered around a bush -- it took a moment for us to spot the sign explaining this.

Next up -- birds, lions, and elephants.

Last week Thursday, a friend and I visited the San Diego Zoo.  Leaving home in mid-morning for the 1-1/2 hour drive, we arrived just in time for lunch before walking through the zoo -- and, having seen less than half the zoo, we left just in time to join rush hour traffic!  This the first of two or three posts about the collections of this zoo.  The zoo is very proud of its collections, not only the animals, but the plants as well --I'll include some of the plants as we walked along the way.  First a hibiscus that caught my attention alongside the path.

Our first goal was lunch -- we didn't dally, but paused to see if there were any gibbon apes outside.  The animals in most of the displays have the option to be outside on view or indoors away from view.  There were only a couple of apes outside enjoying the cloudy and slightly breezy day.  A mother lay in her hammock with her baby, and two other apes were out in the display area.  These shots are fairly heavily cropped, and don't all show the scope of the enclosures - the zoo is excellent in its provision of sufficient space and natural habitat for the animals.

There was a white bird of paradise along the path.

And this was the view from my chair in the restaurant, a copy of what I imagine a Southern plantation house to be.

Bottlebrush,

a chestnut tree,

bananas,

.

and ginger graced the path as we headed to the bears.

There were sun bears and several others along the way.

And our goal in this area was the pandas -- there were two out on display.  This zoo is one of several working with China to display and propagate pandas.  There have been several born here, each of which returns to China at age 4 years to join the conservation efforts of the Chinese.  They grow all the bamboo that the pandas enjoy for their meals!

Moving on, we passed some sleepy grizzly bears

and other black bears.

Finishing up this section, I spotted an artichoke -- just one more plant in the collection.

In future posts, we'll see meerkats, pronghorn antelopes, some interesting birds, lions, and the elephant enclosure.

Late last week, I visited Dana Point Harbor

I needed to get out of the house, and wanted to see if any birds had returned to the eucalyptus trees where they nested a couple of years ago.  Several of the trees have been trimmed, and a few are no longer there at all.  Most of the nests have fallen, or been blown out of their perches, or perhaps disappeared with the trees that were trimmed.  I did, however, see a couple of bids, and spent a few minutes watching them.

And here's the other bird, sitting on a nest.

It's good to have even a couple of birds in these nests, and hopefully there will be a few more as the summer progresses.

Once I was home, it took a couple of days to settle in.  When I went outside, though, I found my ‘pet’ yard lizard had come to greet me.  It’s hard to see in this shot, but the lizard was inside the screen door, near the top!

A second shot shows this animal in much better light (I used the flash for this one).  I was intrigued by the length of its fingers and toes and its tail!

Still at the top of the inside of the door that night, the lizard had wedged its nose into the door frame.  I left it there, and by morning it was still there, but curled around as if to climb down.  After another hour or so, the lizard had climbed down and gone back to its proper home.