Surf's Up at Hendry's!

A change in the weather has made the leaves fly all over town, folks are digging for that blanket they put away in April and surfers have headed into the water. A quick sunset look at Hendry's Beach/Arroyo Burro County Park at sunset Friday evening showed decent waves and a dozen or more surfers in the water.

As you can see, the waves were large enough to have some fun, although they didn't appear to be too predictable or regular to me - a non-surfer.

The waves provided enough fun to turn this surfer board-over-teacup - or some other equally cool surfin' lingo-speak....

This wave had a size and shape to attract more riders than it could hold. Surprise, here we all are!

Now who's gonna ride and who's gonna watch?

Well, maybe we both watch...???

All's well that ends with a grin.!.




This guy had some nice rides!

I found him on several waves.

Just another grand day on Hendry's....

Update on the Theory of "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow"

Devereux Slough November 8, 2007. The fall rains have filled the Slough to about 80% capacity. The Slough will 'break through' during the occasional heavy winter rain as high water builds up against the back of the Pacific shore and dunes. This break through will allow the Slough to become tidal for a period until a another storm moves enough beach sand to re-create another 'plug'.


I've found birding to be so unpredictable - which adds to the charm, adventure and amusement. Even with today's cell phones, Yahoo Groups (that can be instantly checked while in the field with your connected cellphone) and Google Earth, the birds just may not be there when you are.

Earlier this summer I was birding at Devereux Slough - a remarkable piece of coastal estuary - altered by many years of development and still functioning reasonably well. Owned by UCSB and protected, it is also under 'renovation' by many local groups, including the Santa Barbara Chapter of the Audubon Society. Agricultural run-off and expedited siltation are the major culprits, and new native plantings plus eradication of non-natives will go a long way to relieving both run-off and siltation.

This rich environment attracts many shorebirds, ducks, geese, swallows, kingfishers, pelicans, cormorants plus herons and egrets. In fact the most dependable 'good bird' of the summer was a juvenile Reddish Egret. This bird was seen more often than not for the months of July and August, 2008.

Reddish Egret in a calm moment.

The feeding/hunting habits of the Reddish Egret involve much activity, bouncing around the shallows as if fueled with amphetamines and having a serious case of 'ants in the pants'.

This hunting behavior is very engaging to witness and can be quite amusing to watch.

The sudden movements and flapping of wings as it chases fish make it identifiable at a distance from other more sedate herons and egrets.

In speaking with a friend this summer, she stated that "finding this rare bird (only the fourth Reddish Egret recorded in Santa Barbara County) was just too easy!"

Usually birds - and the egrets and herons below are a great example - can be "here" one moment and "somewhere else" the next. I was birding with a small group of similarly afflicted friends in the morning of 12Aug08, hoping to see something unusual at Devereux. What we saw was quite amazing. The normal summer dry period had begun to seriously dry up the Slough, creating smaller and smaller areas for fish to hide. The herons appeared to be pretty good at finding those places and gathered in numbers totalling nearly a hundred.

Mixed group of Great Egrets (larger w/yellow bills); Snowy Egrets (smaller w/black bills); and a single Great Blue Heron (at far left) at 9:30am.

Same spot of Devereux Slough as above, 11:00am.

Another earlier view in a nearby location within the Slough - 9:30am.

Again, the same view as above, just an hour and a half later, 11:00am.

So, when your buddy calls and says, "A White-bellied Fish Eagle has been seen at Devereux" you either need to know he is foolin' you - or get down the Slough PRONTO!

First SoCal Rain of the Season!

Chase Palm Park with the Wharf hiding in the mist

Fall has come to the Central Coast. Today was the first 'rain' I'd seen since the end of April. And that's normal! Growing up in the Tampa Bay area of Florida - one of the Planet's Thunderstorm Capitals where there can be up to 100 thunderstorms in a year - the idea of rain was a regular one. Here in Southern California, the Mediterranean climate results in virtually NO rain for six months, and then when it does rain, thunder and lightning are a rarity.

Ice Plant covering the misty dunes at East Beach - the Wharf is there - somewhere!

So when the first rain does come, it can be a big deal. Rain = Storm in California. Officially, this 'rain' was little more than a daylong off-again, on-again mist with light rain. No wind. No lightning. No thunder. But enough moisture to use the wipers! However, I NEVER got higher than 'three clicks' (of five) on the intermittent wiper setting, and that was on 'the 101' at 55mph. Yet in a short drive to a favored beachfront restaurant for breakfast, I observed THREE bizarre driving occurences. One car passed me on the right along the waterfront, almost clocking a parking car, another purposely broke loose the rear axle around a turn, then spun tires at the next light and the last one simply spun their tires in the rain. Locals say "Stay home!" during rainstorms.

Colors are super-saturated on a sunless and moist day, as seen in the 'cool colors' in the garden of friends where we are house-sitting in Santa Barbara.

While some good birdin' may be found when the weather changes, the light is not so great for long-distance photos, and the contrast is nearly nonexistent. Yet the colors are fantastic!

With similarly cool colors, enhanced by the weather, the Society Garlic makes a nice focus in the garden.

Remember, this 'rain' was officially a trace, although I bet a least one local/weekly paper will call it a storm. Heck, the 'rain' didn't even bring the little kids off the street in my neighborhood!

Kids in the street in the rain.

And upon closer look, the 'rain' didn't even penetrate a rather sparse Coast Live Oak along our driveway. You can see the dry pavers and soil in the center of the photo. So you see? Our first rain was more of a 'mist event'.

Dry pavers and soil under half-leafed out Coast Live Oak

One of the unfortunate happenstances of the rainy season's onset is the subsequent polluting of nearshore waters. All the oil drippings, transmission fluid drops, coolant overflows, and gas station topping off-overfillings lay around on the asphalt all summer waiting for rain to move them downhill - and into the ocean. So today when I parked at the 'honor-pay' parking lot enjoying the views at East Beach, I took a look around.

East Beach with the Pavilion in the mist - I promise!

The following view of the wet parking lot (with a support team for a local 'walk-a-thon' that was not deterred by the mist storm) shows how the water begins to collect on the pavement. The continuing photos show the water as a carrier for road-borne oil and dirt.

East Beach parking lot with accumulating water

The water collects and begins to show telltale signs of the summer's oil accumulation.

The water runs downhill, towards the ocean, through the curb-cut and collects in the sand - still bearing oil.

As you can see above, this collecting polluted water doesn't have far to go to reach the ocean. And that's not too bad unless you prefer to have life in your oceans and on your beaches - oh, and use them for recreation as well.

Oil - so far we can't live (well) with it, and we can't live (well) without it. Yet another reason to find a balance of energy sources to sustain our standard of living and power our transportation so that we can live with a lighter footprint on our Planet, the WATER Planet.

With the mist storm about most all the day, and having enjoyed the beach views in the morning mist/light rain/haze, the only thing left was to get to your little house and have your best buddy nearby.

Carbon allowing her dog, Cody to bunk down in her Little House.