They Are Just Seagulls.

Just?

I arrived in San Diego yesterday. I took a road north of the interstate in order to drive through the mountains. They were absolutely beautiful. The habitat and vegetation associations that changed as I ascended and then descended in elevation promise some incredible areas to explore and take in during off days from the island. From desert scrub mountains with Bighorn sheep up to areas of Ponderosa Pine stands with the Acorn Woodpeckers flying about. Certain hillshades still containing bits of packed snow. Such a familiar welcoming to the county. Thoughts of my time in the Davis Mountains and Big Bend area of far West Texas immediately came to mind. I will be back.

Later in the day I went on down to the ocean. There she was. The Pacific. The Blue. A warm embrace from a Provider, a Confidant, a Protector, a Constant reminder of nothing and everything.

I've returned to you.

Now, the La Jolla beach area of San Diego is not exactly a 30+ acre atoll over 500 miles away from civilization. It is ofcourse quite developed with condos, hotels, shopping, and people. But through the cacophony of human activity, the familiar hum, that siren song of the Pacific draws the gaze, the senses, the being back to her attention.

California Harbor Seals



Newness brings various emotions; excitement, nervousness, anxiety, enthusiasm. Different thoughts for different people I suppose. Undoubtedly we do share many of them though.

Seagull are new to me... again. Seagulls (Larus spp.) largely frequent coastal waters or inland wetlands and lakes. During my near month between jobs, I spent time in Waco and Central Texas. There we did/do have some Ring-billed Gulls (L. delawarensis) and large numbers of the quite lovely Bonaparte's Gull (L. philadephia).

Still when most people generally think of gulls they think of coasts. Its part of the visual, the audio remembrances we all have where continent meets water.


A common question, and a good one, that I was asked about my time in the Northwest Hawaiian Islands was "Where were the seagulls?" One would think that the Hawaiian archipelago would be full of them. Not a single bird. Once in awhile perhaps, and those would be vagrants that perhaps a storm blew over.


Seagulls inhabit continental coastal areas rather than waters off remote islands due to the key factor of food. Seagulls' food sources comes from the comparably "shallow" water of the continental shelf, rather than the water of the deep ocean.

Seagulls. What comes to mind? Common noises. Commonly being fed as if pigeons by humans. Common birds.

Common.

Sometimes in life we just need to take a closer look.

Amongst the numerous California Gulls (L. californicus), there were these standouts:

Heermann's Gull (L. heermanni)


From San Diego, at the moment, good morning.


-mwyork