The photo above does not do justice to the California Poppies dusted over the hillsides. I took this out the window as a drive by actually so I am pleased I'm alive to even post it. I'll back up a bit; I was in Monterrey County for work over the past few days. Visited with Barb & her fractious household. Spent as much time as I could get a way with, birding & checking out the wildflowers & sea life.
I spent most of Wednesday at Moss Landing for a meeting. I was amazed to discover a flotilla of around 25 Sea Otters at the mouth of the estuary. Some of the dots above are gulls, but many more are Otters, floating along on their backs. Occasionally they dive and pop back up like corks, with take-away lunches of clams, oysters and what-not.
Only a few hundred feet from the otters there was a pier with about a hundred lazy, lay-a-bed Sea Lions. Honestly, as lazy as I am I think I would have been happier had I come into this world as an otter or seal. Lots of nap time, food more or less at one's flipper tips. However, given a choice which of the two species I would be born into, I would opt for the Sea Otters; much easier babyhood.
Here is Baby, his head to the left, nursing from patient Mom, whose head is to the right.
Yes. If I had to choose, I'd go for being a bratty Sea Otter with most meals served up on the half shell.
