Evening Sunset

(January 27th) After a very long morning with the ducks, it was time to head to the shore. Getting access to the shore where I wanted was much harder than I had thought. I kept going down side streets, but none of them had access to the ocean through the cliffs. Finally I talked with a local resident and was pointed to the one street that I didn't try and walked down through the cliffs. As I walked the length of the beach, it seemed I was out of luck - no birds anywhere. The drought lifted at a rocky outcropping where I found a Spotted Sandpiper.

The beach didn't have much in the way of birds, but there were a couple of Willets hanging around. I was treated to a little bit of behavior unexpectedly and was able to snag a few shots. Although they had the whole beach to themselves, one of the Willets decided to chase the other away. Who knows why it wanted that one spot so much.

As the sun approached the horizon, a third shorebird showed up at the beach. A Marbled Godwit landed a few hundred yards away from me. Most shorebirds make there way down to the shoreline to forage, but this godwit headed up to line of debris. It busied itself sorting through the kelp and finding morsels mixed in. The kelp on the Pacific shore is quite amazing. Huge pieces of seaweed frequently wash up, something you never see on the Atlantic shore.

While photographing the godwit, I heard a call from the brush at the edge of the beach. After a while I was able to locate the source. A Song Sparrow was perched atop some vegetation. This was yet another bird that I've seen many other places, but the plumage in southern California is distinctly different from what I am used to - in this case the markings are much bolder and the rufous patches more prominent.

In wildlife photography the perception is that you are out someplace remote, surrounded by gorgeous scenery. Much of the time this isn't true and part of the challenge is to make the environment look its best. But down at the shore here, it certainly wasn't the case. The surroundings truly were gorgeous and while the animals kept me busy most of the time, occasionally I did stop to marvel at it. To further add to things, there was a place atop the cliffs where paragliders were taking off from and flying overhead in the stiff air currents.

As I glanced across the water, the sunset was lighting up the town of La Jolla. Most of the buildings in La Jolla are relatively small, but there is one large building. Frotunately this building has a glass front adding some drama to the scene.

The sunset was magnificent, but I loved most was following the three shorebirds I had around during the sunset. The shore turned to glass that burned richly. I was very pleased with the way the shots turned out and had many successful images with only these three subjects. One of my favorites was this photo of one of the Willets. I think the photos were worth the embarassment and discomfort of lying down in the wet sand and getting drenched. It was a wonderful end to an amazing afternoon of photography.