Gulls! Gulls! Gulls!

The loud and clear calls of gulls is my “comfort” sound. The sound fills me with joy. It brings to mind the feel of warm sand beneath my feet and cool waves engulfing me.

Seagulls / Anacortes, WA / July 2016

Seagull prints / Seaside, OR/ July 2016

I can almost feel the hotter sun upon me and, the closer you get to the water, I can imagine the brighter sun which sparkles on all it hits. I spent the majority of my growing-up years in San Diego. There are so many places of water beauty that provided happy memories - Torrey Pines State Park, Mission Beach, La Jolla Shores, Mission Bay, Shelter Island, Coronado Island, San Diego Harbor, and Point Loma. 

The call of the gulls is something I have missed in Hawai’i. For some reason there are no gulls flying over the beaches of Hawai’i. Perhaps gulls are not strong enough flyers to have established populations in Hawai’i. 

Luckily as I have camped and traveled, I have visited many places that provide me with my gull call “fix!” 

Seagulls / Patrick’s Point State Park, CA / June 2015 

Seagull flying / Seaside, OR/ July 2016

Something that is very interesting to me is that many of the gulls I saw, from coast to coast, appear to be the same gull! 

It is the iconic seagull featured in models and statues. 

Herring Seagull / above Bodega Bay, CA / June 2011

Herring Seagull / Venice Fishing Pier, CA / December 2015

Herring Seagull / outside Freeport, ME / June 2016

I can’t definitively tell the gulls in my photos apart but after examination of my sources, I believe even the iconic gulls I saw in California, were actually Herring Gulls as opposed to California Gulls. Gull comparison information 

There are many gulls which look a great deal a lot, even many species with red dots on their yellow beaks! I remember learning about the red dot on the beak in college. When feeding stranded baby gulls, the red dot had to be present on the stick beak to instigate the feeding behavior of the young.

Herring Seagull / Priest Point, WA / July 2016

Herring Seagulls / Carl Washburne State Park, OR/ June 2015

Herring Seagull / Acadia National Park, ME / June 2016

I determined these photos of gulls all showed Herring Gulls as the gulls all appear to have pink legs / feet. Herring Gull information It was very difficult to identify the gulls in my photos. I cannot believe I still have not learned to carefully take  photos with attention to feet, beaks, wing coloring, etc. as noted in a much earlier blog! [January 21, 2016 - California beach … birds!]

I should have known there were many types of gulls, as with most birds! So for time, and sanity sake, I will not try to identify any of the other gulls in my photos! 

Seagulls / Patrick’s Point State Park, CA / June 2015

Seagulls / Carl Washburne State Park, OR/ June 2015

To complicate matters even more, I learned that it takes about two years for gulls to fully mature. As the gulls age, the gulls may look like a completely different species and some will even change from season to season! Gull variation  So in many of my photos there may be Herring Gulls that are in their first or even second summer!

Seagull / Seaside, OR/ July 2016

 

Seagulls / Astoria, OR / June 2015

Seagull / Cape Lookout State Park, OR/ June 2015 

I believe the gulls pictured above / around do have to be different species as there is not a predominant red dot on the gulls’ beaks. The beak tip is black.

I also am fascinated by how gulls group together. I also think, surprisingly, gulls group with many gull species together. This fact is reinforced by one of my sources. Gull groups

Seagull prints / Seaside, OR/ July 2016

Seagulls / Seaside, OR/ July 2016 

Seagulls / off Guemes Channel Trail, WA / July 2016

Seagulls / off Guemes Channel Trail, WA / July 2016

I have even observed unbelievably large groups of gulls!

Seagulls / near Astoria, OR / June 2015

They will also group in the middle of the ocean. I think this is most likely due to a food source.

                                                 Seagulls / off Washington Park, WA / July 2016

Seagull / Seaside, OR/ July 201

I have observed gulls using many modes of feeding. Unfortunately one food source is human food, either wastes or provided. 

Seagulls / Carl Washburne State Park, OR/ June 2015 

Seagull / off Bar Island, ME / June 2016

Luckily, on less populated beaches, I have seen gulls relying on their own resources whether eating tiny sea creatures or using their intelligence to eat larger shelled sea creatures - mollusks. 

Although not captured in film, I have seen gulls fly by and drop clams on asphalt and rocks to get to the soft flesh within! But I was very lucky to observe this gull preparing to dive and diving, presumably to "fish!"

                                      Seagull “hunting” / Fort Stevens State Park, WA / July 2016 

Seagull and baby / Seaside, OR/ July 201

Just recently I was lucky to observe, my favorite, a parent with its baby! 

I love how the juvenal calls to the adult above. And of course, how the young bird, still relying on its parent for food, is nearly the same size as the adults. This seems to be a pattern in the world of birds as noted with my cardinal photos. [May 19, 2016 - It’s twins - twice! Cardinals that is!]

Seagull and baby / Seaside, OR/ July 2016

We observed the parent and juvenal on the same house over a number of days.

Well, “that’s all folks!” This “laughing” gull is a nice closure to this week’s blog where yet again I explored birdlife as I “watched out for nature.”

Seagull “laughing” / Port Townsend, WA / July 2016

Nature's water conservation at its finest!

This summer we traveled to Arizona, as mentioned previously in a geology blog [July 07, 2016: Earth’s changing surface - across the United States!]. In Arizona, I was very captivated to see the birds and plants there. Both living things are quite different from what is seen in Hawai’i, and probably in any other non-desert environments. 

Great-tailed Grackle / Queen Creek, AZ / June 2016

Suburban cultivated plants / Queen Creek, AZ / June 2016

I dedicate this blog to our relatives in Arizona. It takes hardy and positive souls to live engulfed by that desolate summer-month-heat and the unbelievable haboobs!  Our relatives graciously showed us the beauty of the high desert and how it is that one can live in such heat from day-to-day.

Mourning Dove / Queen Creek, AZ / June 2016

In those harsh, dry conditions certainly plants need some special adaptations. But I am not so sure about the birds. Surprisingly I saw some of the same birds that are found in San Diego! 

The first such bird I heard before seeing. It was the common Mourning Dove which makes a very distinctive sound that I associate with Southern California. Mourning Dove sounds and information  (We do not have these doves in Hawai’i.) Even in the Arizona heat these delicate doves gave their morning greeting. 

Great-tailed Grackle / Queen Creek, AZ / June 2016

Shortly thereafter, in our morning walk, I saw this unusual “skinny crow.” It was very prevalent in our travels and had an unusual song in the “cool” (probably 90 degrees plus!) of the morning. 

It was a type of Grackle whose identification I might have guessed because of its beady yellow-circle eye. 

Even further in our walk, away from the housing development we saw the stereotypical desert bird, the Turkey Vulture. It eventually joined a circling group high above the trees making one wonder - what died?

Turkey Vulture / Queen Creek, AZ / June 2016

The plants around the housing development were all similar with their small leaves, some with silver gray coloring, succulent-type leaves, and incomplete flowers. These are all adaptations to preserve water. The silver gray actually comes from hairs on the leaves which help to collect the available moisture. 

Unknown tree / Queen Creek, AZ / June 2016

Unknown bush / Queen Creek, AZ / June 2016

Unknown bush / Queen Creek, AZ / June 2016

Palo Verde / Queen Creek, AZ / June 2016

Palo Verde / Superstition Mountains area, AZ / June 2016

We were able to see native plants in the Superstition Mountains and Canyon Lake area. [Discussed in: July 07, 2016 - Earth’s changing surface - across the United States!] 

There the local Palo Verde, cactus (primarily Saguaro), and Ocotillo prevailed. They were fascinating plants to see and we were lucky that it was early summer so many of the desert plants were still in bloom!

The fascinating green-barked Palo Verde is Arizona’s state tree and can be found around the towns also. Our relative pointed out that in the towns, the cultivated Palo Verde is more tree-like while it is bush-like in the wild. 

Most of the rest of these native plants were succulents or cacti. The latter has the extreme in modifications for water conservation with their thick water-filled stems and very low surface area, modified leaves or plant parts - spines! 

Saguaro, 1st type  / Superstition Mountains area, AZ / June 2016

Saguaro, 2nd type / beyond Canyon Lake, AZ/ June 2016

Saguaro, 2nd type / beyond Canyon Lake, AZ/ June 2016

One of the cacti was the tall, stately Saguaro. I believe there were two types of Saguaro as the flowers were uniquely different. 

Saguaro wood / Tortilla Flats, AZ/ June 2016

Did you know there is Saguaro wood? My relative also told me that more branching indicates greater age of the Saguaro cactus.

Ocotillo / beyond Canyon Lake, AZ/ June 2016

There were also the unusual long-stemmed Ocotillo with flower remnants. Apparently these plants can have small leaves if there is enough water. Ocotillo information

Barrel Cactus / Apache Junction, AZ / June 2016

There were also two less frequently appearing cacti. Both had the expected water-filled stems / trunks covered with water conserving spines. 

Chain Fruit Cholla / Superstition Mountains area, AZ/ June 2016

One had drooping thick stems and hard fleshy fruits (the Chain Fruit Cholla) and another was small and barrel-shaped (Barrel Cactus). These latter characteristics also show water preservation.

chain fruit of the Cholla / Superstition Mountains area, AZ/ June 2016

If you are lucky enough to go to Arizona (hopefully in the Spring!), as always, “watch out for nature!” In the desert there you will see plants which are unique to see in their perfected adaptations for water preservation. 

Great igneous rock - not red or black but pink and white!

eroded granite rock / Sabbaday Falls, NH / June 2016

eroded granite rock / Cadillac Mountain, ANP / June 2016

This summer as we traveled in North New England, especially into Maine, we saw pink granite nearly everywhere we looked! 

This evidence of volcanic activity takes on a very different form then the dark black and red formations here in Hawai’i.

In Acadia National Park in Maine, the granite appeared in great stacks of large flattened boulders. Some were inland and most were on the coast.

eroded granite rock / Ocean Trail, ANP / June 2016

eroded granite rock / Ocean Trail, ANP / June 2016

This sign explained how the granite rocks (and the mountains!) are harder layers which were exposed after softer rock above was eroded from many forces including glaciers. According to the sign, the currently exposed pink granite rock comes from a hardened magma chamber which crystallized deep below the Earth surface's. 

Cadillac Summit sign / Acadia National Park, ME / June 2016

In contrast, the geologically brand new rock formations of Hawai’i comes directly from the lava coming out of a chamber. This probably explains the difference in appearance of the igneous rocks.

block cliffs / Ocean Trail, ANP / June 2016

block cliffs / Ocean Trail, ANP / June 2016 

Along the coast in Acadia National Park, there were these interesting cliffs formed by layer upon layer of block shaped granite. How did those seemingly geometrically perfect rocks get formed?

block cliffs / Ocean Trail, ANP / June 2016

Further inland the rectangular prismatic rocks formed in such a way to look like walls. 

blocks above the trail / Ocean Trail, ANP/ June 2016

blocks above the trail / Ocean Trail, ANP / June 2016

Among all these pink granite slabs could be found another, probably basalt, dike as found at Sabbaday Falls. [July 07, 2016: Earth’s changing surface - across the United States!]

dike in rock / Ocean Trail, ANP / June 201

eroded granite rock / near Seawall, Southwest Harbor / June 2016

At another location (at left) were a line of easily seen crystals (below) within a rock among the layers of pink granite flattened boulders. 

crystals in rock / near Seawall, Southwest Harbor / June 2016

It was great to see the pink granite being used to make the trails and walls in New Hampshire as well as in Maine. Apparently granite quarries in Maine have an extensive history. Perhaps the nature of granite causes it to break easily along lines to make the large blocks for building. 

steps of granite / Sabbaday Falls, NH / June 2016

walls of granite / Sabbaday Falls, NH / June 2016 

sedimentary layers / Shore Path, Bar Harbor / June 2016

sedimentary layers and granite / Shore Path, Bar Harbor / June 2016

Then in Bar Harbor, Maine, between the two tidal lines, were these sedimentary rocks. I did not see any of this sedimentary layering along the roads and mountains of New England we passed. Perhaps the sedimentary rocks were formed during geologically different sea levels.

In this same area, there was also a balancing rock. The informational sign pointed out the rock was probably moved to its current site by a glacier as it was a different composition than the surrounding rock. Perhaps that is another basalt dike on the left side of this traveling rock!

balancing rock / Shore Path, Bar Harbor / June 2016

balancing rock up close / Shore Path, Bar Harbor / June 2016

If you ever get a chance to go to the Northeastern United States, “watch out for nature” beyond the many birds and beautiful ocean sights - observe the great geology too!