Forget Me Knot

Banyan tree root, Waikiki, Hawaii. Someone tied a know in one of the Banyan tree aerial roots along the beach in Waikiki. It will probably keep on growing until it's another trunk with a knot in the middle. The tree, at least, will not be forgetting that knot any time soon.

One for the Bird Lovers

Yellow-Rumped Warbler, Dendroica coronata, Mission River, San Diego, California. These breed way up in Alaska and Canada but Winter in the Western U.S. and down to Guatemala. We're lucky enough to get a lot of the migratory birds spendng their Winters here in San Diego. As you might expect, these are the Winter colors on this little Warbler, having a bit more yellow (on the head and above the tail) in the Spring.

IDing these little guys takes a while. It kind of started off like this --> Brown, is it a Sparrow? Little pointy beak, is it a vireo? No, too small and spots on the chest. Is it a fly catcher? No, body's a little too robust. Bit of yellow...could it be a Warbler? No yellow patch on head/rump (aka, didn't quite match the picture but real close) but has the white halo around the eye; could it be a juvenile? Awk, wrong time of year... Oh, Winter, duh. Dull colors in the Winter and, okay, Yellow-rumped Warbler with Winter colors.

On the photo... I have a lot of trouble getting pictures of these little guys. They tend to not let you get as close as say a duck would. They also tend to hide in the middle of the bush rather than perching where you can snap a picture. Typically, I hear them and see little flashes of brown and that's the end of it. Even if you can see them in the middle of the bush, getting an autofocus camera to focus on the middle of a bush is like pulling teeth! So, while not the flashiest little bird, I was pretty happy to get his picture. Now, if only I could get a picture of a vireo...

Paddleboarding Mission Bay

Newbies Paddleboarding in Mission Bay. We were laughing about whether I would tip my kayak or he would fall in first trying to get that picture.


...and then there's paddleboarding. Not to be tried by beginners... Sure looks like fun though.

Jaws

Black Tip Reef Shark, Carcharhinus limbatus. Not a man eater I say. Seriously, they're not...mostly small fish, squid, shellfish...and an occasional bird or two. They might accidentally bite someone wading in shallow water, but only by accident. Hmmm...what does limbatus mean anyhow? ;-P

They are fished for meat, liver oil and fins and are considered "near threatened." It is one of the more common sharks you'll see swimming over deeper reefs although I've never seen one in shallow water. Of course, that might have something to do with people eating them and the fact that they are somewhat territorial [takes a while for a new shark to move into a given territory].

The Shark Boat

The shark boat with willing, paying volunteers onboard as it heads out of Haleiwa Harbor. Note surfers in background. Now, if you were a surfer, would you be anywhere near the shark boat when they started to chum for sharks? No #$% way, right?

Food for Thought

Shark Tours! [Haleiwa harbor, Oahu, Hawaii] You pay these guys to take you out on a boat, toss you in a cage and chum the water for sharks! Oh boy! Do you think these guys are insured? ;-P

...stay tuned.

Oh Why Not?

Surfing Sunset Beach! North Shore, Oahu. Wow!...

Big Waves

Surfer on huges waves at Sunset Beach, Oahu, Hawaii. I thought about doing a little zoom and crop on this one but I figured I'd leave the whole wave there to help you see what it was really like on the beach that way. The waves were HUGE. They were even bigger the day before.

Got Milk?

Great Blue Heron with feather on beak. This picture reminds me of the mild ad! He probably just pulled his head out from under his beak. It's kind of a bird version of hat hair! (Beak feathers?)

Mr. Owl

Athene cunicularia hypugaea, Western Burrowing Owl, Tijuana Slough Preserve, California. This little own is under extensive pressure throughout its range in California, especially on the coast where housing development has eliminated much of its habitat. This particular owl is living in the lawn of a local military airbase where they have graciously posted sign posts to warn off would be lawn mowers and vehicles from their burrows. That helps us photo-bugs figure out where to snap pictures. As the airbase is fenced in,however, this is the best picture I was able to snap. Ironically, I shot the picture of the base of the sign from perhaps over 150 feet away with a 500 mm lens. It was so far away, I didn't even see the owl until I was able to review the picture on the computer. Ironic or perhaps serendipitous.

These owls range from Southern Canada south through Central America. They typically reside in old ground squirrel holes and live on small rodents, lizards, grasshopers, crickets, prickly pear fruit and miscellaneous small prey.

Ouch!

Bird feather on Prickly Pear. Ouch!

Mailbox Art!

Turtle Mailbox! I saw this mailbox on the side of the road on one of my hikes on Oahu. I thought the turtles were really cool so I snapped a picture! Notably, the turtles failed to stop the nightly Hawaiian mountain rains from rusting out the rivets...

Goatfish

Goatfish or Weke (pronounced veh keh in Hawaiian), Waikiki, Hawaii. No idea why they call these goatfish but they have these cute little whiskers or "barbels" that they use to dust through the sand and scare up crustaceans for dinner. They normally hang out in little schools of 5-20 fish.

Frigate Birds

Frigate Birds, Makapu Lighthouse, Oahu, Hawaii. Frigrate birds are normally seen gracefully gliding high overhead, their huge wings like kites in the thermals. These seabirds can be found nesting in large number on Molokini off of Maui. They're also found in greater numbers off of the hot, Waianae coast. The Hawaiians used to say that large numbers of frigate birds overhead meant that someone had died. However, as opposed to vultures, Frigate birds live on fish! ;-P

The Royal Hawaiian

The Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Waikiki, Hawaii. Waikiki used to be the beach where Royalty surfed. Nice, gentle, predictable waves... The Royal Hawaiian Hotel was pretty much the only hotel on the beach and up and down Waikiki, there were coconut palms in profusion. The low lying area surrounding Waikiki was fairly swampy. Since then, Waikiki has filled up with high rises and shoping areas and the swamp (much to the chagrin of the native ducks) was drained via the Ala Wai Canal.

First Dragonfly of the Season

Variegated Meadowhawk (male), Sympetrum corruptum, (Dragonfly), Mission Trails Park. Okay, it's confirmed. This is a variegated meadowhawk. This little dragonfly is the first one I've seen for 2010; apparently, these overwinter. Pretty and very photogenic as well. I just wish the day was a little sunnier.

The Big One

Two fisherman laughing about the catch (see blue arrow); Mission Bay.

Little Squirts

Sea Squirts under the pier, Mission Bay. Sea Squirts are Tunicates, underwater sack-like filter feeders. These were growing on a rope under the pier. When the rope was lifted out of the water, they all squirted out water like a little squirt gun and then sealed shut, ending up looking like masses of brownish jelly. I suppose that is how they got the name sea squirt. Ironically, they are classified in chordata (very primative vertebrates, apparently). According to Wikipedia, Tunicates "evolved in the early Cambrian period, beginning c 540 million years ago. Despite their simple appearance, tunicates are closely related to vertebrates, which include fish and all land animals with bones."

Some sea squirts are spreading their range aggressively and are listed as noxious pests (these CA Sea Squirts are apparently spreading up into Washington, for example). Oh, it would be such a drag (literally) to have to clean those off the hull of a boat, wouldn't it?

No Cell Phone, No Laptop, No Books, No Worries

Yours truly out kayaking in Mission Bay. I will admit, I was a little worried that the huge sea lion I paddled up on (about 5 feet away), might take offense to my bothering his leisurely sunning at the surface but clearly not worried enough to not take a picture or three.

Cormorant

Double-Crested Cormorant, Phalacrocorax auritus, Mission Bay, San Diego, California. The cormorants hang out on the buoys lining the bay by Sea World hoping to snag some free chow from the festivities. This little guy hopped into the water right next to my kayak. Oh I was wishing for my trusty Nikon...but the portable Canon in the water-proof case would have to do.

Cormorants dive for their food and propel themselves underwater with those huge flipper-like feet you see out behind. Other birds, like penguins, make much use of their flipper-like wings.