Jam-Packed Morning

(January 24th) Today I had some full plans. My list of places to photograph at in San Diego was extensive and I wanted to have enough time to return to the best locations. Since I hadn't even been to many of the locations, I was planning on going to a few places today. Early morning I started out with the Brown Pelicans again. They were as cooperative as ever. This time I was already cueing in on some of their behavior. They have this really cool behavior they perform here on the cliffs that I have never seen pelicans do before. But the background was less than perfect on these shots, so I'll be trying again for that shot on future mornings. With the great light, the portraits of these stunning animals came out well. Unfortunately the spray of water from its beak doesn't quite come out at the small size here.

I didn't spend too long with the pelicans, but headed down to a rocky section of the shore. What drew me to the location was a group of my favorite gull species, the Heerman's Gull. They were resting on the rocks. Between the rocks, the waves, and the kelp, I really liked the backgrounds for the shots. My pants got quite wet though lying down on the rocks, but I was fortunate that no waves caught me.

With wildlife, patience always pays rewards. Ok, not always, but you certainly get nowhere by rushing. As I worked the gulls, a few extra visitors showed up. A pair of Ruddy Turnstone scoured the rocks looking for food. I had photographed these birds before in Florida and Ohio, but always against sandy shores. It was great to see them on some rocky shores. Next time I see some, I hope I can get them in breeding plumage.

Last year I had visited a different part of California's coast. On that trip I saw a few Black Turnstones, but they were always on distant rocks too far off shore to do much with. This time I was treated to some up close and personal. They don't have as much color as their Ruddy cousins, but their wings show the same scaled look. I felt lucky to get so many great photos of this great bird on only my second time seeing them. It doesn't usually happen that way!

As midday approached, it was time to find someplace else. I had heard about Torrey Pines State Park. There was supposed to be a good amount of wildlife there, but I had a feeling that it was going to be one of those places where there would be lots of wildlife, but all of it pretty shy and difficult conditions to photograph. But there were supposed to be great scenics. So the middle of the day seemed like the best time to give it a try. If it was great, I could come back when the light was better. At least I would get a nice walk in amongst some gorgeous scenery. Here are some of the cool rock formations that I saw at the beginning of my loop.

The scenery in Torrey Pines was fantastic. As I guessed, it was going to be near impossible to get any wildlife photography done there. The biggest barrier was that the trails were packed! It seemed like all of southern California flocks to this park to walk, run, picnic, etc. I don't think I went 30 seconds on a trail without someone else passing me. The place has a lot of steep hills. The climate gives it a mix of chaparral and lightly tree-covered areas. The rocks make for some nice lines in the scenery. If I had more time in San Diego or lived nearby, this was definitely a spot I would return to in better light to heavily work the scenery.

Torrey Pines is most famous for its namesake - a rare pine tree that only grows in this one area on the coast and on a small island off the coast. It's the rarest pine tree in the US and the second rarest in the world. There's only about 2000 of them total. Part of their rarety comes from slow growth that is restricted to sandy soil like at the reserve. I'm sure that the other part comes from human destruction of habitat, etc. One of the remarkable traits of these trees is that the wind shapes them into unusual shapes. Here was one individual that I photographed for a while from a myriad of angles and perspectives. This was my favorite composition by far - framing the smaller tree and capturing the amount of hill and ocean I wanted.