Unfortunately, Melinda had to stay and do homework without distraction today. She got to see from our balcony the following:
Yellow-rumped (Audubon's Race) Warbler
Ruby-crowned Kinglet
American Crow
Prairie Falcon
I had a very different view from my favorite seat at the conference center. There were librarians as far as the eye could see… I ended up eating lunch at the hotel restaurant. If you love fish and chips Monterey is THE place to get them. I got back to the hotel around 4:00 pm and we headed for the Monterey Bay Aquarium walking to the aquarium we spotted an Anna’s hummingbird. We got there late enough that they gave us tickets good for that evening and the next day. I love this aquarium. I’m constantly surprised by their innovations and displays. Every time is different, and yet there are constants, like the jellyfish displays, the kelp gardens and Melinda’s favorite shorebird habitat and my favorite Sea Otter area.
The birds were pretty fun to watch. Buffleheads are one of my favorite ducks and the juvenile in the exhibit was quite active and entertaining. We were able to see up close (which helps in identification later in the wild).
- Empidonax Flycatcher
- Semipalmated Plover
- Ruddy Ducks
- Bufflehead, juvenile
- Black-necked Stilt
- Sanderlings
- Least Sandpiper
- Semipalmated Sandpiper
- Killdeer
- Avocets
- Black Oystercatcher
- Willet
- Whimbrel
- Snowy Plover
- Short-billed Dowitcher
- Black Bellied plover
- Marbled Godwit
- Ruddy Turnstone
- Black Footed penguins
- Common Murres
- Red phalaropes
- Red-necked Phalaropes
From the decks of the aquarium, overlooking the bay we saw:
- Great Egrets
- Pelagic Cormorants
- Brandt's Cormorants
- Brown Pelicans
- American Crow
- Rock Doves
And Sea Otters
Melinda took a lot of pictures, this is one of the very peaceful looking jellyfish. I however know that not all jellyfish are peaceful. The trip we took to Hawaii in 1978 made it impossibly clear that Man-O-War jellyfish are not to be trifled with. Ow, Ow, Ow!
We made our way to a nearby restaurant by the name of The Fish Hopper. Here, I think we had steak. Ironic, I know.
So we’re sitting at this table near the windows, looking out at the ocean when a Western Gull comes up and lands on the sill near our window. His mouth is packed with this fairly large pink starfish. There’s much laughing and pointing and picture taking from the tables around us, until he flies away. Later as we’re eating, he comes back with his jellyfish walking around, mouth full, showing off. He takes flight again only to return and deposit the starfish near the window. This time he flies away for good. Apparently it is hard to eat a starfish.
Meanwhile, during the first visit by the starfish bearing gull, I struck up a small conversation with an Indian woman at a nearby table. When Melinda got back, I asked her (the woman alone) if she would like to join us. She did. Come to find out she’s a librarian too. She’s from New York City and is a librarian for a commercial real estate office. WOW. That’s a library job I didn’t know existed. Her name was Vandy and she was fascinating. After dinner we dropped her off at her hotel (she had walked over from the conference center and it was quite dark).
As we exited the restaurant, we found (or rather Melinda found) a date palm tree full of birds. Min was able to identify them as noisy roosting starlings.
When we got back to the Hilton, I got online and posted all of my blog entries as Melinda continued with her homework. Later we went over to the Hotel restaurant for dessert. Then back to the hotel for sleep. Okay, I got sleep. Min got homework. She finally got to sleep somewhere between 5 & 6 in the morning, after she emailed her paper to her professor’s assistant. EEEEEE
More later
Jenny
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