Our “little” north San Diego beach community has been, and continues to be, impacted by development and progress. But just when I begin to think urbanization and tourism has inundated us, there’s a reminder, a moment of clarity if you will, that maybe…just maybe…the natural world still runs the show.
The white crow arrived.
He, or she, became the talk of the local neighborhood. There are plenty of black corvids around here, cawing up a cacophony of chatter. This one really stands out though. Uh, duh. To see him or her hanging out with a group of other black crow people pops one’s awareness level for sure. A friend posted a photo of the white crow online and it, the photo, “blew up.” While I knew of the white crow and our wide variety of birds in San Diego, I didn’t realize how many “birders” actually travel here to view our local birds. Well, now I know and I am more acutely aware of every bird I see.
Pelican “happy hour.” You just never know what interesting encounters await along that intersection of land and sea we call the beach. On a light wind, glassy sea surface afternoon when the clouds were split by the settling sun, I spied a whirl of 20-30 pelicans circling a hundred or so yards offshore. Within a minute, a feeding frenzy erupted. They were diving into the ocean 3…4…sometimes 5 at a time…all in a 50-60 foot bait ball circle. It seemed so coordinated too, as they circled and waited for the ones ahead to hit and then clear the target zone. After a 4-5 minutes of nonstop action, they all just were hanging out on the ocean surface, probably letting their food settle. Within another few minutes, they took off and were gone.
Here’s an example of a pelican feeding frenzy filmed off the coast of Santa Barbara, CA in 2013.
Crows “harass” an Osprey. While surveying the local surf on another glassy, late winter afternoon, out of the corner of my eye I saw three crows rapidly swooping and carving some really tight turns around the top of a nearby palm tree. At first, they appeared to be playing around but after watching for a minute or two, it became apparent that the crows were quite agitated. Upon closer inspection, a full grown osprey was tucked in and partially hidden among the palm fronds. The crows appeared to be teaming up on the osprey in an attempt to drive it off its perch. Closer and closer they came with each intimidating dive, squawking and snapping their beaks. The osprey meanwhile just toughed it out, sitting immobile in the face of the onslaught. Eventually, the crows gave up and flew off. As I walked up for a closer look at the osprey, I could see him or her hunkered down, maybe wondering how I was going to bother him or her too.
I just said, “Hi there,” and walked on past with a smile on my face. My spirit had been lifted by the thought that regardless of all of the impacts human civilization has brought to our community, a microcosm of our mother Earth, nature is still here…and nature will be here long after we are gone. Cheers!
Ok…this video isn’t an osprey. In this instance, the crows are harassing a bald eagle in Washington (2011). But the behavioral methodology is the same.