Stromboli's Rolling Log: Day 51, Wed. May 23, 2018 , New birds on the rocks. California coastline Photos

Today was a slow day bird wise until the last few hours. We tried a number of different spots and each seemed to be devoid of bird activity. The birds are nesting now so that is part of the problem as they stay close to the nest except to feed.They are not looking for mates out in the world!

The most exciting moment for me, came We were when pulled up to a coastal pullout facing the Ocean. Ruth said. "There is ... I believe a PEREGRINE FALCON." I looked up and just over the car, was a Peregrine Falcon, hovering on the wind off the cliffs and enjoying the day. I quickly put down my sandwich and grabbed the Camera (the Panasonic Lumix, 25mm wide) and started to take a video. That led to a very fine series of photos of the Falcon in video and some still shots. It was about 200 feet over the Ocean. What a moment to have it so close.

The Peregrine Falcon

Before that we had seen just a few birds, but many Ravens. They seemed to be congregating on posts, in fields and on rocks.

One Raven of many.

Four more Ravens.

Perhaps the highest number of birds occurred just before we went to fill the tank with gasoline for the trip tomorrow to Crescent City, CA. That location was in an area that is accessible for autos as at most of the headlands, the parking is a distance from the cliffs over the sea. This one is closer. The reason of that is that they encourage the use of the thousands of miles of trails that are along these coasts. The Californians are great hikers and bikers. We did a little walking here and were amazed as we saw many COMMON MURRES, which we had not seen as yet. They were in small groups as they like to huddle close together like Penguins to keep the heat in, I would suppose. That was a treat to be sure.

The Common Murres scattered on the ledges.

The Common Murres huddled in groups

Many of the creeks and coves made by the creeks and ocean waves have been used for many years to in order to get across them. This was a problem in the early days when in order to get across them a circuitous winding way had to be built. Drive down from the heights and wind around down to the creek, cross on a small bridge, and wind your way up to the top again. Now the bridges that span these crevasses are immense. One example is now the Pudding Creek Bridge.. It was built in 1870 and ceased to exist as a vehicle bridge in 1951. Today it is a pedestrian bridge only. The California Pacific RR line runs here but further inland through the area.
The creek itself provided water for the Union Lumber Company and is crossed by this trestle and bridge that has carried trains, logging trucks and now people only.