We got up to the shock of wet roads and pavements. Does that mean it’s been snowing in the High Sierras? We were too late after dawn for Burrowing Owls, so gave them a miss (sorry Nancy).
We drove around the Yolo farmlands looking at the many birds of prey perched on telegraph posts or hunting over fields. These were White-tailed Kites, Red-tailed Hawks and American Kestrels with the bonus of a Cooper’s Hawk. We went to the spot where apparently Mountain Plovers occur regularly each winter. After searching lots of ploughed fields we gave up. The only other species of interest were a couple of Golden-crowned Sparrows, a Ruby-crowned Kinglet (without a ruby crown) and some Yellow-billed Magpies.
At midday, we broke off to drive into San Francisco where we were to meet Linda Wilson, a work colleague who is also going to the Pacific Seabird Group Annual Meeting. We found ourselves ahead of schedule for our rendezvous time, so made a quick stop near Oakland Marina to look at birds in San Francisco Bay. There were some birds of interest there, including Clark’s Grebe, Slavonian (Horned) Grebe, Greater Scaup, Forster’s Tern, American Wigeon, Bufflehead and Redhead.
We picked up Linda from her hotel near Union Square, and drove down Highway 1 to Monterey. It drizzled for most of the journey south, but in spite of that, the coastline was beautiful. We also drove past a number of sites we birded in during our last visit to the region in 2003 (or was it 2002?). We arrived at the conference centre at Asilomar, which is on the headland to the west of Monterey. It consists of a number of timber buildings all set in grounds with Monterey Pines set back from a beach. The layout was a b it confusing in the dark, but we managed to find where we went for the evening meal, and to catch a coach for an evening social at world-famous Monterey Aquarium.
This was a great venue for a social event. There are a number of imaginatively presented tanks containing various fish and jellyfish. The jellies, in particular, were beautifully illuminated to bring out the beauty of these creatures. Pride of place went to a huge tank with Yellow-finned Tuna, Hammerhead Sharks and Ocean Sunfish. I kept looking at a join in the glass and hoped it wouldn’t suddenly burst open, I’m sure the fish would have been thinking the same thing.
At midday, we broke off to drive into San Francisco where we were to meet Linda Wilson, a work colleague who is also going to the Pacific Seabird Group Annual Meeting. We found ourselves ahead of schedule for our rendezvous time, so made a quick stop near Oakland Marina to look at birds in San Francisco Bay. There were some birds of interest there, including Clark’s Grebe, Slavonian (Horned) Grebe, Greater Scaup, Forster’s Tern, American Wigeon, Bufflehead and Redhead.
We picked up Linda from her hotel near Union Square, and drove down Highway 1 to Monterey. It drizzled for most of the journey south, but in spite of that, the coastline was beautiful. We also drove past a number of sites we birded in during our last visit to the region in 2003 (or was it 2002?). We arrived at the conference centre at Asilomar, which is on the headland to the west of Monterey. It consists of a number of timber buildings all set in grounds with Monterey Pines set back from a beach. The layout was a b it confusing in the dark, but we managed to find where we went for the evening meal, and to catch a coach for an evening social at world-famous Monterey Aquarium.
This was a great venue for a social event. There are a number of imaginatively presented tanks containing various fish and jellyfish. The jellies, in particular, were beautifully illuminated to bring out the beauty of these creatures. Pride of place went to a huge tank with Yellow-finned Tuna, Hammerhead Sharks and Ocean Sunfish. I kept looking at a join in the glass and hoped it wouldn’t suddenly burst open, I’m sure the fish would have been thinking the same thing.
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