More Morro Bay

Look who joined me in Morro Bay! Daddy-o and the kids drove down Friday evening to join me for the weekend.

Saturday was another beautiful day.

And Bug got to cash in on a Christmas present--he and I signed up for the all-day Nature Journaling class with John Muir Laws.

We've done a couple of his online classes, but it was so much fun to spend the day with him and learn from his vast experience and understanding of birds and how to capture them on the page.

Mine aren't perfect, but I feel like I learned a lot.

And got a lot of anatomy information, as well.

It was so much fun listening to all his stories as well. He's been doing this for awhile now and has a great understanding, and is a good teacher.

We had a lunch break and enjoyed this view while we ate.

And then headed out for a walk along the bay after dinner.

We'd met back up with the rest of the family and got to enjoy some time together.

Next day, Bug and I went to do some bird watching with the conference, while Daddy-o and the other two headed out on their own walk along the slough where I'd kayaked the day before. 

Our excursion that morning was actually the most disappointing event of the whole conference. It had been advertised as beginning bird watching spots around Morro Bay, and I'd expected to be taken to a few different places with lots of birds, but the leader of the event didn't seem to have an actual plan and when he started talking with the group, one dad and son mentioned an oriole that had been spotted in the campground by the bay, and so they derailed the event and we spent the whole time searching for this one bird (which we never found) in a busy campground. We did see a few other birds, but I think we would have been better off just going with the rest of the family.

Later, we got to see the burrowing owl out at Morro Rock.

He was so cute!

And the peregrine falcons that are also in that area. 

It's fun that there are just birders everywhere in Morro Bay for the weekend, and everyone is happy to share what they've found and let you look through their scopes.

We spent some time watching the otters, too. This mom and baby pair were so cute.

And then Daddy-o had to head home for work the next day, while the rest of us got a little more time thanks to the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

We spent the evening down on the bay again,

finding a few birds,

and invertebrates, like this chiton.

The kids found a swing set to play on for a bit, and then we went to one last lecture. They were nice enough to let in all 4 of us, even though Bug and I were the only ones who bought the conference passes. It was in a big hall and wasn't full, and Bean was happy to get to hear one of the younger birder tour leaders I'd heard on Friday. He's a lot of fun and taught us about the New World tropics, one of the main areas he specializes in for his tours.

Monday morning, we went to check out one last birding spot--one of the ones I thought our group would explore on Sunday morning, and were rewarded with a few new waterbirds.

There were quite a few different ducks, including these green-winged and blue-winged teals.

It's hard to get good pictures through the scope,

But I tried to get a few to capture some of these birds that I'd never seen before--

I didn't get a great picture of the Eurasian Wigeon, which is not very common, but it's swimming away from us here.

It was such a beautiful weekend, filled with exploring and learning. I'm so glad that I got to do this, and will definitely be seeking out more of these conferences.

 

Morro Bay and Goldrush Apples

We made a quick trip down to the central coast to pick up our favorite apples. I didn't think we were going to be able to squeeze this in, but when I realized that Mike Cirone, the one guy I've found who grows Goldrush apples in CA, comes to the Morro Bay farmers market on Mondays. Bean had Veterans' Day off, the apples were ripe, and we decided to drive down Sunday afternoon for a 24 hour vacation.

We walked around downtown San Luis Obispo that evening, visiting Bubblegum Alley (notice Bug isn't in the picture--still not his favorite).

We found a fun soda and candy shop--Daddy-o picked up a few new root beers for his collection.

We walked along the creek and the restaurants there.

The mission looks pretty at night. It isn't open then, so we just saw it from the street, but we've already been to this one anyway.

We stayed in a hotel about a block from the Morro Bay harbor so I got to run along the water the next morning. It was so foggy--absolutely beautiful!

It's not a great picture, but the little dark spot in the water is an otter. I saw a couple of them swimming back and forth.

 After everyone else got up, and we had breakfast, we went to Morro Bay State park for the morning.

We started near the visitor's center, exploring the hill.

Grinding hole from the Native Americans

View of Morro Rock from across the bay.

It was such a beautiful day!

The boys worked on the Jr. Ranger badge for the park.

Bean sketched, Daddy-o just enjoyed the view.

Then, we did a short hike along the wetland area.

The thing I love about the Jr. Ranger booklets is that they help us look for things that we might not notice otherwise, like these pickleweed plants that were everywhere, but if you don't look up close, they just look like some green and red plant. Up close, they're pretty cool.

So many different birds--this is a great spot for bird watching.

 

 We watched huge flocks maneuver at the edge of the estuary, and lots of birds searching for food in the mud. It was perfect weather for sitting out there, just enjoying the beauty.

Last exploring stop was further down the coast--Spooner's Cove in Montana de Oro State Park.

The beach was beautiful with amazing rocks--it was a couple hours before low tide, so not the best tidepooling, but we did find a few crabs and limpets and barnacles.

I love this family of mine who are pretty good about letting me drag them around to all the places.

The rock layers were incredible--so defined.

And then the smooth rock down at the water's edge.

There's a cave,

with a fun (and small) exit out the side. I'm surprised Daddy-o and I didn't get stuck leaving this way, but we all made it through.

So many pretty rocks! I'm not usually tempted to bring home rocks, but if this hadn't been a state park with no collecting allowed, I think we all would have had pockets full when we left. 

We could have spent a lot longer here, exploring all the different areas of the rock and beach,

but it was afternoon and the farmer's market had opened, so we headed back up to the Baywood-Los Osos Farmer's Market and bought a box of apples, got a late lunch, and then it was time to head home. It was a quick trip, but completely fabulous (way better than the trip I made with the kids a couple years before!)