Another Pleasant Coastal Saturday II

My browser let me know I used this headline before, so I took the easy route and added the sequel tag (ie II).

Since I got my GoPro video camera, I've had this notion that it might, just might work for wildlife if that wildlife was big and close - the GoPro is wide angle, even my ugly mug fits in the frame when I'm only about a foot or so from the lens.

Today, the condors understood my plight and came in super close - providing me with some good video footage (not sure how they knew I had the GoPro with me today, but I'm not complaining) - you can see it here, though I highly recommend the HD video, even if it takes a while to load - the birds are small and the HD helps!

As for the regular camera (with the big zoom lens), photos are here.

Nesting Cormorants

A change of pace - after getting home from the condors on Sunday, I went for a wander as the weather was so nice in Monterey - wandered down the coastguard pier to look for sea lions, and there weren't any at the end of the pier.

Instead, the end of the pier was full of nesting cormorants. I didn't have a camera with me, but decided I should come back with one when I got a chance. Tuesday evening, I got that chance.

Photos are here.

June Gloom Condors - The Sequel!

Yes, after a great condor day on Saturday, I dragged my condor PIC Ali down to see if we got lucky and saw condors again on Sunday.

We did (indeed, it ended up being a better day than Saturday!).

Photos are here.

June Gloom Condors

Whereas the onset of June invokes visions of blue skies and sunshine in large parts of the world, around here, it invokes the time that the inland areas warm up, which creates a big enough difference between inland and coastal water temps (which doesn't change much all year) to cause coastal fog.

It's even on the local TV news - "June Gloom" - definitely the gloomiest period of the year around these parts. I got lucky today though - after a morning checking out the mountain bike trails at Andrew Molera State Park, I headed a few miles further south looking for condors and ended up having a treat, with what included the closest pass by a flying condor I've ever experienced.

June Gloom doesn't lead to the most colorful photos - but here they are regardless - photos.

As Bad As Big Sur Gets

Today, Monterey was in full "June Gloom" mode - low cloud, vague amounts of drizzle etc., that stopped me from heading down Big Sur way first thing this morning on the Ducati.

By the time I did head down there (around 10am), the tourists were out in full force (it's that time of year!), but I still found some empty pieces of road here and there and had a lot of fun.

Saw no condors, not even the hint of a condor way off in the distance. However, when you're presented with scenes like the one I photographed below, it's still a magical place.