Deep in Elkhorn Slough. I can only guess at how much life goes on
underwater and in the mud. It supports a massive churning swirl of life on
the surface and in the air. Thousands of birds. Paddling and drifting with
the tide within twenty feet of the bank we watch with binoculars that make
them all seem within reach. Western Sandpipers and Least Sandpipers.
They're the tiniest littlest peeps: smaller than baby chicks. Sanderlings.
Plovers. Godwits. Willets. Curlews. Egrets. Herons. Terns. Gulls.
Falcons. Hawks. The smallest birds in the largest numbers. Progressively
fewer as the birds get larger or more predatory. A single peregrine falcon.
A red-tailed hawk. A northern harrier.
This time we got bombed by terns. Boom splash. A tern hits the water
within six inches of the dock. A look at him with the binocs. Long thin
orange bill. If it were a large orange bill it would be a Royal Tern. If
it were a very heavy red bill, it would be a Caspian Tern. Long thin bill?
Elegant Tern. A new bird.
A seal swam to see us.
