Last week I was in Santa Barbara for almost the whole week -- I went a day later than planned because of wind gusts of 100 mph between here and there, but otherwise followed the plan.  It was nice to be away from home after working so hard on the conference I co-chaired!  One afternoon, there were numerous errands to be done, after which we visited the Santa Barbara History Museum.  Photos were not allowed inside the building, so ~ ~ ~ The current featured exhibit is one of paintings and photos of the adobe-style houses that are still spotted throughout the town.  In addition, there were exhibits related to many of the original names of the town -- Covarrubias, Rubio, Winchester, Hollister, Flying A Studios, Richard Henry Dana, and many others -- names that I knew of as a child, but not all the history behind them and the connections between them.  In that respect, it's a pretty interesting small museum.  I was having a problem with the camera (on one of our errands, a technician had changed many of the settings, and I couldn't find them all), but did succeed in capturing a few shots of the outside of the museum.  This courtyard is an example of the adobe style of the mid 19th century in Santa Barbara.

The museum itself utilizes the indoor rooms along this wing of the building.  In front of the museum is the anchor from the Aggie Norge, a sailing ship that ran aground off the coast of Santa Barbara County in the mid-1800's.

After a thorough review of the camera settings, we set out again, and visited the Santa Barbara Mission -- that will be the topic of the next post.

Yesterday's visit to the herons was most heartening.  There were several more birds there than I have seen this year, and the treetops were bustling with activity.  I spent a few minutes just watching, then brought out the camera.

This bird would land on a twig, with his eye on a reachable twig, then move gently to the position required for his quest.

Back in the next nest --

Still on his mission

got it!  Look at that reach!

Stealth heron on his way back to the nest.

Back again.

These two nests were interesting, one above the other.

Here comes another twig ~ ~

and off for another!

I know there's a bird somewhere in that tree -- I saw it fly in.

There it is!

And one last shot, looking straight up!

 

This afternoon there was one nest full of chicks and several others with birds in them.  I couldn't see the chicks, although I may have seen wing tips, etc, as they moved around in the nest.  It appeared that other nests may have had eggs that were about to hatch.  And at one point a bird joined another in a nest; a moment later another came and shooed #2 away, joining #1 in the nest.  Remember that these birds are almost straight above me, about 50 feet high in the treetops!

There are at least 4 birds in the next shot.

They are unique in their flight -- very quiet takeoff to this sleek aerodynamic position, and they don't flap their wings much.

I see 3 birds in the next shot.

Sometimes I really have to look hard to differentiate the birds from light fixtures -- or are they umbrellas?  This bird's head is hidden by its wing feathers in the next shot -- you can see a beak in the second shot.

This lone cormorant was perched in its tree waiting for the sun to set.

Continuing along the beach to the next cottage, it appears that homes that are a little farther back from the sand have been a little less battered by storm that those right on the edge of the sand.

Between homes, a mailbox.  The first time I saw this, it was covered with green ivy.  It appears that the ivy is not surviving at this point.

A single pelican flew by.

The next cottage has lost a good portion of its porch railing, as well as its staircase from the beach.

Paint, porch rails, windows, all damaged or missing.  The bench/picnic table on the porch is still ini about the same condition as before.

This house is a real jumble!

But the one behind it with the green siding looks pretty good in comparison -- at least on the right hand side.

Another upper cottage -- with less damage, except for the porch railing.

The garage has lost its doors and part of the side. 

The closer we get to the end, the more damage there seems to be.

What's that white thing I see? -- the nasturtiums have really taken back the area.

The first time I was here, this kayak was sitting on top, looking ready for somebody to grab it as they ran out to the water.

There's the garage again -- I don't think I'd want to try the stairs from there down to the cottages!

Oops!

But the under-porch plumbing is still there!

Another staircase to the garage.

And the last cottage to the northwest.

And you cannot go to the beach for half a day without seeing some form of advertising!

This was a wonderful day, sad as the cottages are -- I hope that we can repeat it the next time @RighteousBruin comes to Orange County!

In Part 1, I showed cottages that have been restored to the condition they were in when the State evicted the people who had built them -- clean, nicely painted, well maintained, and with some natural landscaping.  Part 2 looked out at the view the people had from the cottaages.  This post will take a look at those cottages on the northwest side of the group that have not been restored.  The State has allowed these cottages to weather while they restored the first two phases, saying that they have full photos and blueprints of these from which to restore them -- my suspicion is that they will need to demolish some of them and rebuild them from scratch.  I wonder if the Coastal Commission will allow them to do so.  We walked the length of the cottages, taking closeup shots along the way out, and taking photos from the water line on the way back.  I'll attempt to match them as I prepare this post.

There are more signs now advising that the area is dangerous and closed to the public.  This first house is pretty sad -- the awning roofing over the front windows is falling, and the porch on the right end is about to fall in, taking the entire room with it.

 

There was a lovely boardwalk that went past several of the cottages -- this is what is left of that boardwalk (the brown fence is what the State has done to protect the cottaages from sand!)

A flock of pelicans flew by --

but on looking back at the next cottage, the condition is even sadder!

Next door, this little one isn't too bad, except for the staircase between houses.

The roof looks a little shabby on this one, but otherwise not too bad.

Next, one that looks a little disturbed but not too badly weathered.

At this point, I exclaimed, "Shame on the State!"  They evicted the people who had built these cottages on the promise that they would restore them to be rented to the public so everybody would have a chance to enjoy them -- and several years later, this is what remains of about 1/2 the cottages.  To be fair, the auxiliary Foundation has done what they could to restore cottages as funds were provided by private donations (including a large amount from a member of the Irvine family), but very little has been done to protect the ones that have not yet been restored.

In Part 4, we'll follow along to the last of the cottages.

Once Gary arrived at the beach, we began our time together with a long walk down the beach, past the restored cottages towards the tidepool rocks.  The tide was out, and we were able to see the interesting rocks and some of the critters that live in and around them.  This rock had some lichen and a fair number of barnacles, as well as a few small sea anemones.  The upper right side is bare rock that apparently never gets wet enough for the barnacles to find it habitable.

A few seagulls flew over.

The next group of rocks were heavily covered with seaweed, a type of algae.

Many of the rocks were heavily covered with mussels -- these are quite young; the last time I was here, they were tiny specks on the rocks.  If you look closely, you can see a few sea anemones on the bottom of this rock, in the shadowed area.

As usual, there was lots of seaweed that had washed onto the beach -- this was one of the prettier pieces.

On this beach there are several rocks that have a very unique shape -- some look almost like petrified wood, or petrified stumps of trees.  They vary in size, and must have been in place for many years.

And all along the walk, the sea was just on the other side of the rocks -- as the tide came in, our feet got wet a couple of times as we stood admiring the rocks or the critters!

Hmm -- a couple of black helicopters flew over!

And a couple of whale watching excursions came up and turned off their engines.  Although we saw no whales, they were clearly watching something -- probably a small group of dolphins feeding in the waters offshore.  The boats are required not to harass the animals -- they turn off their engines or put them in neutral and let the animals play nearby.  The boat on the right actually tilted a little as the people all went to starboard to see the animals!

Next post: more cottages

On the way back from San Diego to Arizona, @RighteousBruin stopped by for a visit, and suggested we meet at the Crystal Cove Cottages.  It was a lovely day, having threatened rain overnight, but with the rainclouds travelling east through the day.  I got to Crystal Cove a few minutes early, and took a few photos to orient myself once again to this wonderful California State Park.  I've posted about the cottages several times, but it's been a couple of years since I walked the beach to see how they are weathering.

First a little background.  The area was, for many years, a part of the Irvine Ranch, which occupied a major portion of Southern Orange County, California.  During the early part of the 20th Century, the ranch hands were offered the opportunity to build cabins along Crystal Cove, on land owned by the Ranch.  They could use whatever materials they had available, and design their cabins as they wished.  Towards the end of the century, the Irvine Ranch incorporated and became the Irving Company.  As they did so, they deeded Crystal Cove, including the part of the cove that had been developed with these cabins, to the State to use as a State Park.  After several years of public debate, the residents (the ranch hands and their heirs) were evicted from the cottages, so that the State could renovate them and make them available to the people of the State.  With the help of a Foundation, the State has currently restored only about half the cottages -- those are rented out a week at a time by reservation.  One must call six months ahead, and there is so much demand that is almost impossible to obtain reservations for some weeks.  It is one of the few State Parks that truly earns its keep -- cabin rentals, a franchised restaurant, a shuttle service from the parking lot across the highway all bring in monies that go to the State treasury -- and the Foundation must raise funds for the restoration of the cottages.

Part 1 of this post provides some overview shots that I took quickly as I waited for RighteousBruin to arrive -- future parts will concentrate on individual cottages, a few at a time.  Walking down from the tram stop, one passes several garage/barns, at last coming to the first rental cabin, on which restoration was just being completed the last time I was there.

Behind this cabin is a stairway up the hill to a snack shack, where I took some overview shots of the upper layer of cottages which I posted a month or so ago.

Continuing toward the beach, there are nasturtiums that were planted years ago and have taken over some parts of the area.

I took a path behind some of the cottages that led out to the beach.

The cottages to the left, or southeast, have been completed, and are among those rented out for a week at a time.  Some are small -- enough for two to four people -- and others large enough to be configured in a dormitory style.

Stepping out on to the beach, I took shots looking southeast to some of the wonderful tidepools along the coast.  There were lots of people on a field trip to the tidepools, as the tide had just turned and was now at its lowest level for the morning.  You can walk for miles down this beach.

And looking upwards, one can see umbrellas at the roadside snack shack along the highway (at the top of those steps).

And turned around and took shots looking northwest to the cottages on the other side of a small creek that is beside the path leading down from the garages.  The turquoise house is a part of the visitor's center -- just beyond it is a cottage which has been turned into a restaurant

Next to the restaurant is a waiting area and a snack shack open in the summer for those who don't want a full meal.  The white cottage is the first one that hasnot yet been renovated.

Looking northwest from the restaurant, a few cottages have been restored and are rented weekly.  An upper layer of cottages has also been restored.

From the front of the restaurant, a few more shots,  first looking southeast,

and then northwest -- you can already see the difference in the condition of the cottages on the northwest side!  These shots begin at the far end, and come progressively closer to where I was standing. 

Future posts will look more closely at these cottages on the northwestern side of the beach.

This morning when I went to the kitchen, this guy was walking around on the fence top between my home and my neighbor's.  He nicely stopped to pose for me!

It rained overnight, but by noon the clouds had moved on towards the mountains and the sky was blue -- the temperature was about 70 degrees.

This was my view at the restaurant where I stopped for a late lunch.

It was a quiet day for me. 

Today was a gray day until about noon, when the sun came out and the temperature rose to about 75 degrees.  I decided to drive through Laguna Beach to Dana Point, where I would visit the birds again.  Waiting for a stoplight, I spotted this vista, typical of the landscape just a little inland from the beach.

At the junction of the "Canyon Road" and Pacific Coast Highway, in downtown Laguna Beach, there is a new Mexican restaurant -- again waiting for a stoplight, I caught a shot of their doors.

When I arrived at Dana Point, a group of sailboats was sailing with the wind towards the harbor -- I captured some shots of them and the others in and around the channel before visiting the birds.

   

The sailboats were sailing on a reach (with the wind) under spinnaker jibs (balloon sails, used to catch the maximum possible amount of wind).

Thresher (I think a Coast Guard cutter) came in to the marina.

And this smaller boat was sailing up the channel, into the wind.

Something disturbed the birds on the breakwater!  It turned out later that there were some people on the breakwater as well.

And the great blue herons calmly sat at the tops of their trees (do you see one just to the left of center?).

Oh, my -- there are three up there!

 

While I watched the critters playing and foraging, there was a lot of activity on the water.  Here's the Clemente coming in from a fishing trip (you can tell the difference between this boat and the whale-watching boats by the fishing poles lined up along the cabin!).

Small sailboats and others

mixed in the channel with the whale watching boat Dana Pride

and the Sheriff's Department.  On the breakwater, the pelicans and cormorants and some seagulls hang out and enjoy the quiet warmth of the day.

Hmm -- different breakwater!

A catamaran (double hulled sailboat)

and a mixed jumble of boats all entered the channel.

But what's that funny red blob?

Aha -- it's a jet ski!

And there's another one!

With that, it was time to say good-bye to the pigeon and head home.

And there were a couple of interesting decals on the backs of SUV's.

We've temporarily moved into a weather pattern that resembles June gloom -- gray mornings, with the sun burning through the clouds by noon or thereabouts.  This afternoon around 2 pm, I made my way to Dana Point to see what the water and the birds look like.  The sea was pretty calm, and the tide low.  There were some birds there -- I'm not sure, but I rather expect they were mostly out fishing, although there was some clacking and nesting activity going on in the treetops. 

I sat for a while, watching the channel entrance for boat activity (next post), but keeping an eye on the trees.  At just the right time for the birds to come home, one sentinel bird appeared on the top of a tree, and stood there for some time.  I didn't see any birds coming in, but I'm sure there were some that arrived after I left.  It seems that one or two birds stand as sentinels for an hour or more, as a sort of signal to the others -- it's time to come home, OR this is where home is.  In the past there were always two sentinels -- this time only one while I was there.

As I sat by the water, I was amused by several squirrels playing in and around the rocks. 

and by one pigeon in particular that was looking my way for food.

 Tomorrow I'll post photos of the nautical activity.

One of my favorite things to do is to go to the San Diego Zoo for lunch and to visit some of the animals.  For a number of reasons, it's more than a year since I've done this, and today I needed a play day as the date of the conference I am co-chairing nears.  After about an hour and a half on the road, I entrusted my car to the 'secure' parking lot (the crow's nest is usually manned with a lookout who acts as a security guard).

Because of the day's timing, the first order of business was lunch.  In the middle of the monkey exhibit is a lovely restaurant -- I sat on the back deck by the waterfall and enjoyed a nice salad with salmon on top.

After lunch, I began with a visit to the gorillas.  There was only one outside, eating some lunch.

 

The lettuce periodically was left behind for some pieces of carrot, some grubs and other delicacies picked up off the ground.

And back to the lettuce.

Again because of timing, and because I hadn't done it for a while, I took a tour of the zoo on an open double decker bus.  I won't name all the animals we saw, but there were still animals out on exhibit, and the following photos are just some of them.  They have a large flock of flamingos -- some years ago, they were not doing well, so they mixed the flocks with that of Sea World, not far away, and it has been a very successful flock ever since.

A lion naps in the shade, as do some of the other cats.

Alpacas are the first animal one sees in the Elephant Odyssey area.

There are several multi-purpose structures in the elephant area -- they have a circular top that is both a shade structure and a heater, and a bin in the trunk where hay is loaded for mealtimes.

Moving along, a camel.

The San Diego Zoo and its Safari Park (formerly Wild Animal Park) are well known in California for their successes in bringing back endangered species.  A few years ago, there were 22 California Condors in existence, most in the Zoo.  The result of a strong breeding program is that there are now more than 400, and more than 100 have been reintroduced into the wild.  They still are in tenuous existence, partly because they tend to drink whatever looks wet, including antifreeze and other poisons, and to eat such things as spent bullets.  They are big, ugly birds, but beautiful in the simple fact that they exist at all.

The zoo is very proud of its collection of meerkats.

Many of their animals are 'rescue animals.'  They recently rescued a Big Horn Sheep from the Anza Borrego State Park, a beautiful animal.

They have two baby giraffes and a "very pregnant mother," who may give birth within the coming week.

And this is one of several brown rhinos.

Having a drive home ahead of me, this was the last of the animals I saw -- very soon I will return to the zoo, and walk to see several of these animals again, as well as some that are not shown in this post.

Warning:  Do not give out personal information to anybody who calls you on the phone unless you know them.

Somebody just called me from "Windows Service Center," with a VERY heavy accent, saying that my computer is downloading information that tells them that it's uploading a dangerous virus and I need to do something about it immediately.  When he began asking questions (is your computer turned on), I terminated the call and called Microsoft Tech Support. 

As I suspected, Microsoft DOES NOT make such calls, and I was warned not to give them any information.  Further, and again as I suspected, the technician told me that Microsoft does not have the capability to download such information, and does not have any sort of link to my computer, turned on or off.  I was warned not to give out any information to such a caller, and given a number to call "to report the incident," and a link to a website.  The  phone number was an 888 number for the national Do Not Call registry; the website was also for the Do Not Call registry, but also provided more information about such scams.

I am putting up this post to alert everybody about this particular scam, but also to warn that this type of call, no matter what the company, is a great beginning to identity theft -- do NOT respond to the caller.

 

The other day I had an appointment in Corona del Mar, about 15 miles up the coast from Laguna Beach.  Afterwards, I decided to drive home along the coast, and as I passed the Crystal Cove State Park I further decided to stop at the Shake Shack for a quick drink (diet soda).  The Shake Shack is a tiny hamburger stand that sits directly above the Cottages at Crystal Cove.  Recently I was reminded that I haven't been to the cottages for a while -- and I still need to do that sometime soon, but this was an excellent time to pull the camera out and take some photos of the cottages from above -- a completely different perspective.

It was a rainy day -- here, that means that we had intense periods of rain, interspersed with periods of gray, cloudy weather.  The clouds had lifted, and as I looked out from the parking lot I could see Catalina Island on the horizon.

Turning just a little and looking down a little, and northward, there were the cottages.

Turning southward, it was harder to find a good vantage point for the cottages.

And just as I was getting ready to wend my way towards home, the sun peeked through the clouds in front of Catalina Island!

Last week Saturday, I was feeling housebound, and went for a longer drive than usual.  I hopped over the mountains of the Cleveland National Forest to Lake Elsinore, and made a circle back through Temecula and Corona.  The camera was with me, but I took only a few shots of Lake Elsinore.  It had rained during the week, and there was still a little snow on top of the mountains behind Palm Springs (which is just on the other side of the tallest snowy mountain).

And on Wednesday I had a meeting at the Orange County Campus of Azusa Pacific University -- as I waited for the arrival of the other co-chair of the conference we're planning, I noticed these wonderful reflections on the mirrored windows of the building.

This early afternoon I found myself near the entrance to Laguna Niguel Regional Park, a large open-space park close to my home.  Since the camera was in the car with me, I decided to see if there might be Great Blue Herons there once again.  There used to be a colony that nested in the trees -- but unfortunately, several years ago the County trimmed the trees and the birds lost their nests.  They have not returned to this spot.  The park has a lower grassy section, where there are several event venues, some tennis courts, a volleyball court, and a road that goes around the perimeter.  The other section, separated by a dam, is a bit higher, and has a lovely lake.  This has attracted water birds over the years, and makes a wonderful afternoon walk -- around the lake and the lower section is about 3 miles.  There's a bridge at the upper end that is being renovated, so it's not possible to walk around the lake right now, but I did walk part of the way, beginning with a 'hill climb' up the side of the dam.

My car was parked at the bottom of the hill -- between the car and the dam, a flock of Canada geese enjoyed the field, which was full of worms and fresh grass brought to surface by the recent rains.  The geese have been somewhat squeezed out of their prior migration stopover field by houses and a shopping center that have been built over the last 10 years or so.  I'm glad to see they have found another place to rest in their long migration.

On the lake side of the dam, there were a few cormorants, an ibis, and another bird that I later identified as a pelican.

Tacked to the chain link fence were a couple of warning signs. 

This is truly an urban park -- people living in those homes can literally walk across a parkway and into the park.

As I watched, the pelican flew around the lake, returning to its original perch on the dam.

 

It's a lovely walk -- through the eucalyptus grove that used to house the heron colony, past little arroyos, and with the lake on the other side of the road.

Back in the car, I spotted something I hadn't seen before -- a ground squirrel playing sentinel like a meerkat!  He was spooked at first, but quickly returned to his lookout spot.

And in another riparian section of the park, a group of crows -- but there was one more bird.  I'm not sure who this long-billed water bird is, but he definitely was enjoying grubbing by the roadside, and completely oblivious that I wasn't more than about 6 feet away!  His iridescent wing feathers really glistened in the mid-afternoon sunshine.

EDIT

It appears that this bird is a White Faced Ibis.  This is apparently the northern end of this bird's range.  Thanks to @cjc2 for suggesting this -- I was looking at curlews and rails, and they didn't quite match!.

Over the last couple of days, I've been pretty busy, but have taken time to relax a little at my favorite spots at Dana Point.

It appears that spring is coming -- there are several buds on this cactus.

The sun was out, the water calm, and the sailboats out for a weekday afternoon race.

At the other end of the breakwater, the channel opening saw a lot of activity.

And the birds enjoyed a calm day as well.  A seagull had taken over the crows nest.

   

And the herons stood watch in the golden hour of sunset.

During the day, there are large numbers of cormorants that sit on the breakwater.  At sunset, they fly across the channel and find perches in this tree.

A few days after my last post, I visited the herons again.  The day was breezy and cool,

and the birds were pretty much settled down for the afternoon.  It appears there are three birds here -- but there are also 2 nests.

The friendly black crested night heron sat quietly in its nearby tree.

 

A great blue heron came in for a landing

and sat on the nearest twig, waiting to switch places with its mate.

Today was a sunny but cool day after a storm yesterday that brought a lot of rain and hail, and probably snow on the mountains, though the mountains were still covered by the clouds leaving the area.  After doing chores at home, I took off with the camera to see what the day looked like.  The sun was low on the ocean -- so low that it was too bright to photograph.  The sea was at low tide, and there were few waves.  So I kept going till I reached Dana Point, where I could see if the great blue herons have yet returned.  At first, I had a hard time seeing nests -- the trees have either been pruned or, more likely, they have suffered the wind and rain that we've been having recently.  I did see a couple of birds, and as I watched them I began to find the nests again.  There were two birds in each of several nests, and single birds elsewhere in the grove.

This pair had just changed places in the nest -- one bird had been out feeding, and came back to relieve the other in the nest.  This behavior would imply that the nests have eggs in them.

As I watched this guy on the top of a a tree across the road,

he decided to fly back to the nest!

And across the parking lot, in the marina, one lone bird sat in a crow's nest of a fishing boat, watching the activities.

Cabrillo National monument is a recognition of the fact that Juan Rodrigues Cabrillo was the discoverer of San Diego Bay. 

As we walked away from the visitor center, we spotted an impressive statue of Cabrillo.

Coincidentally, he has his back to Mexico. The islands in the distance are also in Mexico.

As we walked closer, we could see the wonderful detail in this sculpture.

 

 

Moving back towards the parking lot, we could see glimpses of the National Cemetery, with its absolutely straight rows of headstones and its spectacular views.

  

There were a couple of unique trees in the parking lot.

And a bird that caught our attention by running like a roadrunner.

So that I could drive the 1-1/2 hour drive home before dark, the day's sightseeing came to an early end.  We drove back into town past the zoo and parts of Balboa Park -- I have posted photos of these ini several previous posts, so didn't take any photos this time.  When we returned to Kristen's hotel, her husband, Jere, was waiting for us, and took this one more parting shot.

It was a wonderful day -- and I really look forward to seeing Kristen again, and to meeting more of her family.

After lunch and a little walk along the edge of the park, we got back in the car for some sightseeing in San Diego.  I love it that in San Diego one can get lost easily, but find one's way out even more easily -- and I've discovered some neat places that way.  On Wednesday, though, we headed for Point Loma, on the outside of the bay, a place where you can see some of the best views that there are of San Diego Bay.  We headed around the west end of the bay, past Sea World,

and south to Point Loma, through the National Cemetery to Cabrillo National Park, where we stopped to take in the sights of San Diego.  In the foreground is the National Park, and in the middle of the Bay, North Island Naval Air Station on Coronado Island.  In the background is Lindbergh Field, the civilian airport for San Diego.

Part of the Navy base is situated on this side of the bay, too, with a big gray drydock in the center of the next couple of shots.

Here's another shot of North Island, with the downtown San Diego skyscrapers on the right hand side of the shot.  Those skyscrapers are a mix of hotels, office buildings and condominiums.

As we walked around to the other side of the point, we saw the edge of the harbor, and some sailboats on their way out for a Wednesday afternoon sail.

In the left side of the next photo, you can just see the arc of the Coronado bridge, just over the low line of white buildings.  That bridge takes you from the southern end of downtown around the southern end of the bay and across to Coronado Island.

Beneath that helicopter is Mexico and the northern part of Tijuana.  On the left is the bridge again.

 

North Island with downtown behind.  To the right of the high-rises is Petco Park, home of the Padres baseball team.

And at the very end of the point is the lighthouse.

Part 3 will show a little more of this National Park.

A couple of days ago, I received a message asking if I live near San Diego.  When I replied that I do, @cerwindoris messaged me back that her son Jere and his wife Kristen were there from Pennsylvania for a conference.  One of the things I really enjoy doing is sharing my environment with visitors, and I knew I would enjoy it this time as well.  This morning I drove to San Diego, and Kristen and I spent the day together.  We began with lunch at Harbor House, a seafood restaurant in Seaport Village, on the edge of San Diego Bay.

 

The front of the restaurant was nicely decorated with geraniums, bird of paradise --

and cabbages!

 

as well as a row of steel chairs with delightful backs.

We were led to a table with a lovely bayside view.  As we chatted and ate our sandwiches (we each had a delicious tilapia sandwich), we noticed a seagull sitting on the sill with a huge roll that it had picked up somewhere else.

Our view included portions of the Naval Air Station, North Island,

as well as a shoreline park where a man was attracting attention with his tropical birds.  After lunch, we walked around to see the birds.

Also in the park, a sculpture that captured my attention.

The overall image of the sculpture was a little strange, but there was some wonderful detail.

And this is a view of the restaurant looking back from the park.

Looking across the bay from the park, this is what we saw.

From this side of the bay, we drove past the airport, around the western end of the bay, and out to Point Loma at the southern (left hand) end of the hill in the background of this shot.  In my next post, I'll show you what we found there.

Today was a rainy day -- well, in the morning it was, which means that the afternoon was cloudy as the wind blew the clouds eastwards.  It was fairly breezy -- a good day to visit the beach.  I began with Dana Point, looking to see if the herons have returned for nesting season.

A sailboat motored by on its way out past the end of the channel, running flag flying and pelican following closely.

As I got out of the car I noticed a bird on each nest in the treetops.  It was pretty breezy, so they were not very active except to maintain their balance.

There were a pair of white birds (maybe egrets, or some sort of white heron?), one on the edge of a nest and the other on a nearby branch -- they're both in the photo below.

The rest were either Great Blue Herons or Night Herons.

I enjoyed watching this guy struggling to maintain his balance on a branch in the top of the tree.  Look at those spindly legs that he's standing on!

The flags at the Harbor Master's Office were really blowing.

And the boats were motoring out of the harbor past the end ofo the breakwater.

From Dana Point, I moved up the coast, through Laguna Beach, to Crescent Bay.  There is a pocket park on the bluff that looks out over a lovely little cove, Crescent Bay.  After parking, I noticed one of the houses nearby.

The view of the sea was lovely, with moody clouds, fairly calm seas, and interesting lighting.

As I walked down the hill to the edge of the cliff, I heard the tiny little cheep of several hummingbirds.  Standing very still, I could hear them well enough to identify where they were -- can you see the one in this next shot?

Maybe another shot will help.  I love the bright pink ring around his neck.

And when I turned around, there was another one, this time with iridescent green feathers mixed in with the gray.

Over the course of the last year, I've been involved in planning a conference to be held in March.  This has involved numerous meetings in Orange, a town just north of Santa Ana.  To get there, I drive north on the Santa Ana freeway, north on a major road through part of the city of Santa Ana, past Children's Hospital of Orange County, and through an area of strip malls and lower middle-income housing.  On one corner, about a block away from Children's Hospital, there is an open lot with one small structure sitting near the corner. The building is completely its own style -- it stands apart from modern strip mall buildings, older homes, and the multi-story hospital.

Today I had my camera with me, and stopped to take a few shots of the building.  I could not park and walk around, but I drove around the block and took this shot as I approached from a 90 degree angle to the main road.  From this angle, it's just a rather unassuming little building with an interesting roof.

 

After crossing the main road, I was able to turn and find a small space where I could stop for just a moment.  The sun was directly behind the building, but I rather like this shot.

And then, diagonally across the street, from a spot in the parking lot of the strip mall.  This shot probably shows best why the structure caught my attention.  It is completely empty.  The two sides are identical, even with the window box on the upstairs window.  It appears that it might have once been the office for a gas station -- or is that just a billboard just over the property line?