Point Lobos
I marvel all the time that we get to live in such a beautiful place. It is a true privilege to live in California, with the acknowledgment that we are on the unceded lands of Esselen, Rumsen, Costanoan and Ohlone people. Last month, Alex and I were able to borrow a California State Parks Pass from the library, so we decided to make use of it for a midweek visit to Point Lobos for a hike. What we found was actually even more rewarding in wildlife watching than hiking. It was a wonderful day of appreciation for our world and our place in it.
We began on the southern end of the reserve, with the aptly named Bird Island.
Right away, we saw tons of pelicans, seagulls, cormorants, and a pair of white crowned sparrows, and a pigeon guillemot (thanks to my Marlin app for the assist; it’s like Shazam for bird sounds). Then we spotted a group of seals lying on the beach in a cove.Look closely, it’s hard to tell them from the blobs of kelp in the photo below.
A before & after, when all the pelicans were on this one beach and then they all left and flew over to Bird Island. I’ve been reading about starving pelicans and seal pups, so I hope everyone is doing ok!
Deer sighting!
We joined a guided tour of the cypress grove.
Learned about lichen and some of the native and nonnative plants in this area.
Coastal sage and sticky monkey flowers.
I also managed to spot 12 different sea otters! The photos all look terrible though. Is it time for us to buy a pair of binoculars? And also, another deer, standing very close to the trail.
We also learned about this algae called Trentepholia that coats the trees and turns everything a bright orange.
A brief look into the tide pools, but it was high tide. Just a crab skeleton and a dried up salt pool.
And finally, a late lunch at Sea Harvest before heading home!
Anna Wu is a wedding and portrait photographer based in San Francisco. She compulsively documents and blogs all of her daily adventures. Follow her on instagram and view more of her professional work at annawu.com.
