Listed as endangered, since 1970, when its numbers were around 10,000 birds, Brown Pelicans have made a great comeback and were de-listed in 11/09. Current estimates place the population at 650,000 individuals.
I had purchased Art Morris' San Diego Site Guide and wanted to check out one of the locations that he recommended, but I couldn't find the exact spot, so I had to settle for this one. ;-) Parking was problematic, traffic was terrible, it was extremely crowded, the pelicans did not appear to be in their breeding plumage, yet, and there was a light drizzle, but the trip was well worth the effort, anyway, due to shots like this one.
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Tags: California Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis californicus La Jolla Children's Pool FRIENDS COTH NaturesElegantShots DiamondClassPhotographer flickrdiamond GoldStarAward ImpressedBeauty GoldenBee NaturesFinest AvianExcellence TopShots
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May your New Year be as happy as the expression on his face!
So many cute seals! So few awake.
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Tags: Harbor Seal Phoca vitulina La Jolla Children's Pool California FRIENDS
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Tags: California Brown Pelican Pelecanus occidentalis La Jolla Children's Pool California NaturesElegantShots SpecAnimal
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It's species name penicillatus is Latin for a painter's brush (pencil of hairs), in reference to white plumes on its neck and back during the early breeding season, though I'm sure some of the more creative among us thought that it referred to the shape of its head and neck, when it's stretched out.
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Tags: Brandt's Cormorant Phalacrocorax penicillatus Dead Man's Cliff La Jolla California
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A group of cormorants can also be called a "flight", a "gulp", a "rookery", a "sunning", or a "swim" of cormorants. These look like they're about to become a "gulp" or possibly, a "swim".
While I was shooting this, about every couple of minutes, a huge wave would break behind me, sounding like an explosion, making me more nervous than I already was. Some of the people that were brave (stupid) enough to go down to the lower levels from where I was, would get soaked by these waves and the cliffs became even more slippery. Not a place for the feint of heart or those having common sense.
I suppose this is called "Dead Man's Cliff" due to the fact that people jump off the top of the 100 foot cliff, into the water below (although that was banned in the 80's), for recreation, presumably when the surf is not so high. The cave that you can see the top of is called the "Sunny Jim Cave" and you can access it from inside of a small store, called "Sunny Jim Cave Store" (what else?) at the top of the cliff, for $4.
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Tags: Cormorant Rookery Brandt's Cormorant Phalacrocorax penicillatus Dead Man's Cliff Sunny Jim Cave La Jolla Sea Caves La Jolla California NaturesElegantShots TopShots TheBestofMimamorsGroups
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