Maybe my bird brain was telling me that if I didn’t take many photos, I’d knock out Friday’s post lickety-split and not fall behind, but here I am on Monday, searching my noggin for any details of what we were doing just three days ago, and if it weren’t for these images refreshing my memory of our physical locations, I don’t think I’d have anything to go by. There were no notes, no whales, no trails discovered for the first time; it was a day on the coast with walks along the sea in order to collect steps and not only spend time next to the woods in the cozy house in which we’ve been luxuriating.

Since Caroline found out the path in front of the local timeshare property [otherwise a behemoth eyesore – Caroline] is open to the public, and it takes us past the rookery of murres, cormorants, and gulls on a small island just off the shore, we’ve been enjoying the commotion, nest building (a few sea gull chicks have already hatched), and the crashing waves hitting the rocky shore. This was it from our morning at the shore.

When afternoon rolled around, we showed up at Boiler Bay with my zoom lens. As we’ve had so many sightings of whales, we figured there was a good chance we’d see more today. That didn’t work out: not a whale in sight.

Having the 70-200mm lens did give me the opportunity to practice using it after an extended break from shooting with it. Am I out of practice, or am I fooling myself into believing I can use such a heavy lens without a tripod? Most of the images I took are of poor quality with far too much blur. I probably took 50 photos of cormorants nesting in shadows on a steep cliffside; not one of them was worth sharing. When the wind wasn’t blowing, plants made for good subjects.

We’ve been watching the cormorants, presumably the males, leaving their mates on cliffside perches to fetch food and nesting materials. When these birds take off after a diving session, it takes a moment for them to shed enough water from their wings to get well above the surface, and until then, their little feet seem to run above the surface as their wings continue to splash along with each flap until after about six to eight beats, they are again on their way to gaining altitude.

From our position on shore, the seals laying in the sun seemingly always have their butts facing us, while in the water, they often are taking glances at us shore things.

At full zoom, my photos do not show a fraction of how amazing these murres appear. Through our binoculars, that’s another story. The flight of these penguin-looking birds is curious as they beat their wings furiously, not anywhere as fast as hummingbirds, but comically in some way, and they fly quickly. When the cormorants return to nests, they carry food in their beaks, while the murres utilize a gular pouch which is located between their beaks and their chests and allows them to carry the food instead of their stomach, which is another method used by some birds for feeding their young.

So, this has been our version of not doing much, yet it felt like a full and complete day stuffed with wonderful experiences and sights that should leave anybody happy for weeks into their future.