Today’s photos come from UC Davis ecologist Susan Harrison. Her notes and IDs are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.
Return to Crescent City Harbor
As a regular contributor to this feature, I’ll admit the obvious: bird photography, along with cat-based humor, cool new science stories, and sharing the foregoing pleasures with kindred spirits, can be a sanity saver in these anxious times. (It’s so nice that Ed Yong agrees!) In gratitude for this feature and to help keep it going, I’ve pulled together a batch of marine birds and other wildlife from a March 2024 visit to Crescent City, California. These are some species not featured in a 2022 post from the same location.
Crescent City Harbor with California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) in foreground, Harbor Seals (Phoca vitulina) in middle distance, and historic Battery Point Lighthouse in far distance:
Sea Lions on jetty:
Sea Lion that lunged at me when I walked too close with camera glued to my face:
Pigeon Guillemots (Cepphus columba) courting:
Red-Necked Grebe (Podiceps grisegena), with reflections reminiscent of Edward Scissorhands:
Surfbirds (Calidris virgata) and Black Turnstones (Arenaria melanocephala), picking small critters off of wave-washed jetty rocks:
Point George in foreground, Tolowa Dunes in distance, and Siskiyou Mountains:
So gorgeous! Thanks, and I’m glad the sea lion didn’t get you.
Ah, so refreshing – I’m making a mental note to find some good sites near me to go for a walk like in these photos.
Wow, these are great! Thank you.
Beautiful!
Love the intense red inside the Pigeon Guillemots’ mouths! Do you know if it’s always that color or a breeding characteristic?
What a great question! According to my favorite source, allaboutbirds, both the red mouth and red feet are part of the courtship and breeding display.
Thanks.
Funny, I sometimes paint my toenails red, but typically never wear red lipstick.
I remember when I first saw the interior of the mouth of a Yellow-breasted Chat, jet black! And very striking. I think it only the male, but am no expert.
Certainly the color of the interior of the mouth is very important in baby birds.
Great photos! That lunging sea lion looks pretty mammoth!
Glad you made it out okay!
Crescent City is known for sneaker waves https://crescentcitytimes.com/watch-out-for-sneaker-waves/ . Also tsunamis – ~40 including 1964.