California Day 2 (cont.): Point Pinos

Heerman's Gulls are common but to an East Coast gal they are really fun to look at. This one was found north of Monterey near Point Pinos.


The rocky shoreline was perfect habitat for some target birds. I kept hoping to pick up a Black Oystercatcher but instead I found a weird Western Flycatcher on the rock above. I digibinned a photo. I have never seen a flycatcher on the beach before. It was unusally approachable and I thought at first maybe it was injured but eventually it took flight and went across the road.

At the point I hopped over rocks and scrambled around looking for new birds on the trip. I was very happy to finally see my lifer Whimbrel at Point Pinos. It gave me some great looks before flying behind some large boulders.

In the area below was a large flock of gulls. Mostly they were Western but I did manage to find a lifer Sabine's Gull. I had excellent looks but the gulls were far away and I withdrew back down the beach.

Geraldine and I were starving so we left the coast near dusk and went in search of food. We found an excellent resturant on Yelp! and called it a night. The following day we continued south to Big Sur. Check back tomorrow to continue the journey!