Wind on the Bay

Spring marks the windy season for Monterey Bay. It's a time when the Pacific Loons are flying in great numbers to higher latitudes where they spend the summer, Gray Whale mother's with their new calves bring up the tail end of the northbound migration, and the graceful "tubenoses" begin to arrive in immense flocks. Albatross, shearwaters, and their kin; the remaining true sailors of the great seas. The albatross, with outstretched wings locked in place like sails on a Frigate, dance along stiff breezes that jet from atop sharp white capped swells. Visitors from halfway across the Pacific, Black-footed Albatross are a common and welcomed sight during the upwelling season in Monterey Bay; a time of year when cold water packed with long lost nutrients wells to the surface and sparks a flurry of life.

Today was one of those rare events where one finds him/herself reflecting on the connectivness of this immense planet. A Laysan Albatross, similar in size yet differing in coloration to the Black-footed, decided to fly into our view just 4 miles from Point Pinos, a rare sight for such a relatively coastal location. I've seen Laysan Albatross on Kauai, one of several nesting islands along the Hawaiian Archipelago; and yet there it was, several thousand miles from its origin. I suppose that's what I enjoy most about paying attention to wildlife, and birding in particular; it really does help one see the bigger picture.