Red-tailed Hawks at Pillar Point near Half Moon Bay

The Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) is probably the most common raptor in northern and central America (it's also endemic here, being found nowhere else in the world). I certainly see them all the time at home, living as I do in the former prairies of the Great Valley in California. They are a long-lived species as well, with at least one known to have survived for thirty years.

This pair caught my eye last weekend when we exploring around Pillar Point north of Half Moon Bay on the California coast. They were perched on the fence surrounding the Pillar Point airfield and didn't fly off as we drove by, so I stopped and snapped a couple of shots.

Little known fact: Every hawk or eagle in the entire world sounds exactly like a Red-tailed Hawk. Well, o.k., not really. But just about every movie hawk or eagle sounds like a Red-tail. It's the stock sound effect. Like the Wilhem scream, or the screech of tires when an airplane lands. The call of the hawk in the real world is wonderful to hear, however.

Red-Breasted Merganser at Pillar Point Harbor

It could be the dog days of summer or something else entirely, but there just haven't been many birds out and about in the places where I've been wandering. The pond at the campus has been dry for months, so few species are hanging out there, and I've only had a few chances to walk the river trail on the Tuolumne, and the birds were scarce there as well. We had occasion to take a short trip to the coast this past weekend though, and when we checked out the Fitzgerald Nature Preserve and Pillar Point Harbor near Half Moon Bay, we saw a few species. One was new to me (I didn't say "uncommon", it's just I haven't seen one yet). It was a Red-breasted Merganser (Mergus serrator). They are seen often enough along the coast of California, but almost never in the interior Central Valley (hence why I haven't noticed any before).

I saw the bird while I was walking the trail to Pillar Point along the shore of the harbor. The harbor is artificial, protected by several breakwaters and jetties. Because of the configuration of the ocean floor just west of Pillar Point, some fierce waves can develop during stormy weather in winter. The legendary Mavericks waves form offshore from Pillar Point.

As always, please let me know if I misidentify a bird. I'm still new at this!

Brown Pelicans at Half Moon Bay

Is there a goofier bird than a pelican? I'm sure there are some good candidates, but I don't see much of anything around here that fits the bill (literally...). And yet...is there a more graceful flyer anywhere? There are few experiences more beautiful than watching pelicans gliding over the sea, wingtips just inches over the waves. It's strange to think that we almost lost them all just a few decades ago.

The Brown Pelican (Pelecanus occidentalis) is one of the great success stories of the environmental movement of the 1970s. Many take it for granted today that our air and water are relatively clean and clear, not realizing what a mess things were 30-40 years ago. Pesticides were in wide use with no regard whatsoever to the effects on non-target species. DDT was among the worst. It nearly did in a great many bird species, including especially the Brown Pelican. The bird was nearly extirpated because the pesticide accumulated in the body tissues and caused eggshell thinning. The eggs cracked simply by being sat upon. The pesticides were banned (and businesses complained about how terrible the ban was on their profits), and the birds began to slowly recover. The pelican was the state bird of Louisiana, but it had to be purposely re-introduced there in the 1970s. 

We briefly escaped from the smoke of the tragic wildfires burning in the state interior regions by driving out to Half Moon Bay. We found a few new sites to explore, including the new coast trail at Devil's Slide, the Fitzgerald Marine Refuge, and the Pillar Point Salt Marsh. We observed pelicans at each spot.

At the Fitzgerald Marine Refuge, the pelicans were flying past the napping Harbor Seals. It was a dramatic sight. Brown Pelicans can live to be more than forty years. It's strange to think that some birds living today may remember a time when they couldn't find others of their kind (not that I would be anthropomorphizing again).

I hate to think that we almost made a world that had no pelicans.