san simeon elephant seals giving birth

females
I'm not gonna include a lot of info about these animals simply because there is a dedicated group of individuals who donate their time and efforts to cataloging the ongoings and schedules of this group of elephant seals in san simeon california. The group refer to themselves as friends of the elephant seals and their website is elephantseal.org. Another interesting site is noaa.com where they tag and track seals with gps tags, the title is tagging of pacific pelagics.

male

mirounga angustirostris

young males

seasoned vet

 The best time to witness the births taking place is in january at the elphant seal viewing area in san simeon ca. on highway 1. check on elephantseal.org for full schedule

beginning of birth

first breath

nursing

Royal Terns and Curlew

 On a recent trip to show my son the elephant seals in san simeon ca we were lucky to come across a few unexpected birds as well. the first thing i noticed was the bright bills of the terns in the fog. Using the zoom lens through the fog doesn't exactly leave a crisp image but it's identifiable. the terns are not completely uncommon in our area but i dont always see them especially with a camera handy.

 Then in the foreground the movement breaks the camoulflage and i see a curlew searching for some sand crabs. both the terns and the curlews nest on the ground leaving their eggs exposed and it's hard to imagine their eggs laying around with all the hundreds of seals rolling around everywhere.

diggin for some fresh crab

hangin with the terns

 

American kestrel

    I often see these kestrels around our area but they are usually so skiddish that getting close enough to get a photo never pans out these two were on fence posts on highway 1 in san simeon, zoomed in through the fog then cropped. The kestrel is the smallest of all falcons and by far has the coolest patterns and colors. Like the pergrines that nest at morro rock to the south these kestrels dont build nests either but instead locate cavities to inhabit often taking up abandoned holes of woodpeckers.