31 January, 2011

Seasons in the Sun





























The weather has been mostly gloriously warm and sunny this month. As a result, the beach is starting to be more populated by its human visitors (the State clearing most of the storm debris has also been a contributing factor).


While I will, in general, usually chose warm over cold, I do bid a sad farewell to some of the more lovely moody days we had this autumn and winter like the one above. 



Give the sun even a sliver of an opening in the clouds and it will do magic on the ocean below.

As people reclaim the beach scenes like this may become less frequent until next winter. Eleven egrets in one picture - a personal best.


I only ever see one Blue Heron at any one time so I'm not sure if it is the same one. Here it is in Dana Point Harbour.

And at low tide at Doheny Beach.

And a new fellow (or girl) who turned up last week. Thanks to my friend Jack I now know it is a Clark's Grebe. I also know it was very hard to get a picture of it because it would only stay on the surface for a few seconds before spending a long time underwater before surfacing somewhere else. Either it was very hungry or camera shy.

20 January, 2011

Changing Landscapes

No matter how often I go to the beach, it always amazes me how different it can look from one day to the next. Getting to the beach during high tide one day and low tide the next is going to result in some dramatic contrasts. Having a creek drain out into the ocean also presents some opportunities for nature to refashion the landscape on a regular basis.



























Hubby and I have been checking certain spots on the beach and on the creek to see how they are changing following the big rains last month.
The level of water in San Juan Creek is far lower now but there is still enough to attract seagulls and this egret more inland along its course.























Here is a reminder of how it looked after a week of rain.





















And what it looked like at the weekend.



























Here is the Creek where it empties into the ocean after the rain.

 At the weekend.














And a few days later.

Hubby surveying the scene with the new sandbar in the background. Once he recovers from his cold he’ll be taking advantage of the surf off the sandbar.








The progress of the Creek changes according to the amount and strength of the water flowing and new sand and silt that piles up.
I loved the effect of the water running over these rocks and golden brown minerals or other material brought down the creek.


























The sandbar is so long the water has to run quite a distance until it fully empties into the open ocean.



























Bulldozers have started to clear the tons of debris that washed up on the beach. While I’ll be glad to see it all gone (A spell of very warm weather raised the level of smell quite considerably) I enjoyed seeing what people did with some of it.



























There were also circumstances where the random position of a piece of tree ended up could have a beauty of its own.

17 January, 2011

The Art of Recycling

Recently I entered a competition run by art supply company Jerry’s Artarama. Today I found out that I was one of the winners!

The instructions were to make a piece of art from a 4”x6” card included in the 2010 Holiday Catalogue (or something similar that would normally be discarded).
This is what I came up with.





























This is very different from the two-dimensional art I usually produce. See here.

This piece represents the benefits of recycling. You put your unwanted items into the recycling bin and something beautiful or useful (as represented by the flowers on the left) is made from them.


After making an opening in the middle, I covered the card with scraps from catalogues and flyers and glued a piece of white foam core underneath.
I made up two small books of papers to simulate magazines and cut small slits in the foam core to hold the ‘magazines’, securing them with glue.
Then I attached several small images to a piece of white wire and stuck it into the foam core. I made the flowers from cardboard and catalogue pages.

My prize is a gift card from Jerry’s and an afternoon of fun creating my entry.

13 January, 2011

A Sign of Things to Come

This is the sign I'm looking for when traveling from AZ to CA.

































Beach Cities - home isn't too far away.

09 January, 2011

When the Visitors Go Home part 2

Although I always hope to see some birds, a seal or something, there are days at the beach in autumn and winter when it's just you, the sand, and the ocean.
It doesn't matter because it's always interesting and beautiful in some way. The light in the sky, the light on the ocean, the clouds, the tide etc. is different every day. There is always something to see and enjoy.

Sometimes it pays to take your eye off the ocean for a moment to see what else is going on. I took this picture after seeing someone looking up at the top of a lamp post. I didn't know what I'd taken until I downloaded it at home and a friend told me it was an Osprey.


I loved this green light when I saw it and asked hubby to stop and so I could capture it before it disappeared.

I love egrets. They stand out so white against their surroundings.

Several egrets and a blue heron all together.

This was during low tide on another day in the same spot.

06 January, 2011

When the Visitors Go Home part 1

In the summer, south Orange County roads, beaches and restaurants are awash with visitors from inland and northern California, from around the US and abroad.
But what happens when these visitors go home?



For one thing, not so many lifeguard stations are required on the beaches so some of them are removed to winter in the parking area.
Also some of our more shy residents take over the beach.



The seagulls start off congregating along the shoreline checking out conditions and catching up with what's new.


At low tide some of them decide that the rocks off shore are a good place to hang out.


Oh no, word has got around how good this spot is.


It's high tide and everyone has decided not to get their feet wet today.


Meanwhile on a rough day, the Pelicans prefer hanging out on the rocks.