Sea Otter Seen Near San Diego

On Saturday, October 8th, our son Bill was on a boat with other birders, near the entrance to the San Diego Bay, when he spotted something most unusual for our area. He thought that if this was Monterey, that would be an otter he was observing. He had his camera on the creature so took a quick picture of it. Soon everyone on the boat was getting excited about this sea animal as it was the first sea otter seen in our area as long as anyone could remember. The boat circled the sea otter while everyone took pictures. Bill managed to take several good photos of the otter. This may have been a birding trip, but the most exciting moment of their long day was seeing the sea otter.

On Monday there was an article about this event in the San Diego Union-Tribune on page B2 with a picture of the sea otter similar to the pictures Bill took. "It was a golden moment, with the setting sun lighting the creature as it floated near the vessel for about 15 minutes and boaters took photos...The sighting sent a buzz through San Diego's network of marine experts, who on Sunday were trying to determine when the last sea otter was spotted off local shores."

Bill was enjoying the day with his friend Mark. They have been on a number of birding trips together to our mountains, desert and beaches. This was their first boating excursion together. It was a day for them to get up before the sun was out to get to the boat on time. It was a long day on the ocean and they were heading back to the harbor when they had their golden moment along with all the other birders. They had already enjoyed their day of birding and would have called it a successful trip. This event made the day even more memorable.

We have been on the go with our son here from Florida for the month of October. Even though he had traveled two days straight through from Florida with barely a break he was ready for some San Diego birding when he arrived. It was the morning of Thursday September 29th when he arrived. We soon headed to Point Loma to Rosecrans and Cabrillo National Monument for some birding. Actually Paul and Bill are the birders and I'm just along for the scenery. Laura does some of each. She likes to do a little bit of birding, but enjoys the trip much like I do.

While Paul and Bill looked through their binoculars and Bill's scope Laura and I found the sight where our friend Steve was laid to rest at Rosecrans. We had been there earlier this year with Madeline so pretty much knew where to look for Steve's grave sight in the new wall. When we were there earlier we had put flowers there and at Uncle Ivor's and Uncle El's burial places too. Usually when we go to Point Loma and to Rosecrans it is for seeing the many birds that are there. Cemeteries are good places to find birds. Rosecrans National Cemetery is on the migratory path for the birds, as is Cabrillo National Monument.

The next stop was the tide pool area at Cabrillo. The waves were splashing over the rocks and we stayed on higher ground instead of going to the beach below. I took my first pictures with Bill's digital camera and the guys did their birding. This is a good place to see shore birds. Laura walked a bit further than we did. Then we headed to the lighthouse part of Cabrillo for more birding and photo opportunities. This is always a favorite place to go when Bill is in town. Paul and have gone there by bus on several occasions.

The next week included many birding trips for the birders in the family. One day we enjoyed a trip to the Laguna Mountains with many photo opportunities. Of course this was a great place for seeing birds as well as enjoying the scenery. It was a beautiful October day. We could see the desert from several view points along the way. Some of the birds seen along Sunrise Highway and the nearby mountain area were Stellers Jay, Western Scrub Jay, Lawrence's Goldfinch, Fox Sparrow and Mountain Chickadee. Bill heard a Pinion Jay which is rare for the area. Also seen were two kinds of Nuthatch and a California Quail plus a bunch of other birds.

So far this week I have joined the family for a day trip to the desert. The main event of the day was going to the birding spots near the Salton Sea. It was a pretty warm day and would be hot before the day was over. If we had waited to go another day it would have been too hot. Some of the birds seen were Yellow Footed Gull, Laughing Gull, Clapper Rail, White Pelican and Brown Pelican as well as a bunch of other birds. Most of the birds were seen in multiples. I took pictures of a flock of White Pelicans as well as the Brown Pelicans. Burrowing Owls and Road Runners are always favorites to see when on this trip.

Last week we also went to our son Griff's in Valley Center. This is always something we enjoy doing. He has his house on top of a hill and ten plus acres. We always take family pictures there with Palomar Mountain in the background. This is a beautiful setting for his home. Laura picked some avocados to bring home with us. I'm still waiting for them to be ripe to eat. Guacamole is on my list of things to enjoy in the near future. On the way home from Griff's we stopped at Bate's Nut Farm and bought a pumpkin. It was a busy day at the farm as a lot of people were buying pumpkins and taking pictures of the pretty fall scene. We have been to this farm a few times in the past.

The family has enjoyed many of our local birding spots since Bill has been here, and we have more places we can go for birds and photo opportunities. Birds were also seen while at Griff's as he is in a good spot for all things nature including snakes. We did not see snakes this time though. Last year Bill took some good pictures of a California King Snake. That kind of snake is not a problem for me, but I do not want to run into a rattle snake. Griff used to have one in a large aquarium. It was a baby snake when he got it and it grew to be large. He finally took it to the hills to release. I'm glad he does not have that "pet" now. Was not my favorite pet of all time.