Another Day at the Beach – October 10

After my previous morning photo-shoot at Campus Point, I knew that the light would be even better if I got there earlier.  This time I arrived just as the sun was rising over the mountains.  Indeed, the light was better, but the birds were harder to come-by.  That didn’t stop me from getting some nice shots.  After that morning, I don’t think I saw the sun for a solid week.  The moral of the story… get out and shoot when you can, since the weather and wildlife might not cooperate and you might not get another chance.

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“Sunrise I”

North County – October 9th

Last Saturday, we headed North and hit some hotspots along the coast.  I believe this was the first time that I’ve ever seen sun at Oso Flaco.   It was still early for the wintering ducks, but there was a small group of Cinnamon Teal and several Eared Grebes at the lake.  We even managed to find one American White Pelican and a lone Osprey at the far side of the lake.  However, the highlight was the nearly tame Raccoons we ran into.  I know that they mean trouble for the nesting Least Terns, but they are so darn cute!  After Oso Flaco, we headed up to Morro Bay to look for the Sea Otters.  Initially, it appeared that they weren’t around, but eventually they swam over to check us out.

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“Double-Trouble”

Campus Point – October 8th

More and more shorebirds have been making their annual trek south and I figured it was time to head to the beach with the camera.  Last Friday I grabbed my backup camera and went down to Campus Point for  a quick look before work.  I was rewarded by finding hundreds of Terns roosting on the beach and rocks at the point.  Getting a good shot of them at the point was pretty much impossible due to the backlighting.  Instead, I focused on the birds resting on the east facing beaches.  The early morning sun made for some great light.

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“Elegant Tern”

First Front of the Fall

It was only a little over a week ago that it was well into the 100’s here in So Cal.  Now, our first cold front of the season is heading our way.  It probably won’t bring much in the way of rain, but it certainly brought the wind!  It also brought some interesting clouds to the local mountains.  Here are a few snaps from the brief evening walk.

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“Clouds I”

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“Clouds II”

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October… already???

Most people would lament the ending of Summer, but I’m quite happy for it to be over.  Summer is the least interesting season here in Santa Barbara and I’m glad to see it go.  I did get in a bunch of traveling over the summer, and hope to post some images that haven’t already made it to Flickr.

The first weekend of October has been a Jekyll & Hyde affair.  We have had crazy weather since the middle of last week, with large thunderstorms over the mountains and gorgeous clouds floating by overhead.  Not to mention, the bolts of lightning dancing across the mountain tops.  This is not something we normally see here.  The interesting weather abruptly ended sometime last night, with the return of the marine layer which has yet to burn off today.

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“Ground Fog at Sunrise”