A Thanksgiving Day morning hike at Rodeo Beach in Sausalito took us along the coast, where I felt truly thankful to be there with close friends and my brother, as well as dogs Bobo and Tux. Secreted into the cliffs were small bunker openings, barely discernible but large enough to stick out the muzzle of a machine gun. The bunkers were once accessed by tunnels. Two white rock formations jutted out of the water --white from the dung of cormorants. Two pelicans flew by us. On our return down the path, we had many friendly encounters with dogs and their owners. We also talked to a grizzled-looking fisherman, who said he caught a 30 ling cod the other day. He gave us a tip: use squid as bait on a big hook, because the fish cant just snatch it off with a quick bite. Back at the beach we watched surfers. No dolphins this time. One of our friends reported that two fishermen drowned recently at the far end of the beach, where it narrows between a cliff and large rock, which would make a rogue wave especially dangerous. Shudder. Sadness at such a beautiful place. Looking up, we saw that a jet had left a stream that was dissipating into the shape of a tornado. As we searched for the jet, we saw two enormous birds instead. Among the possibilities that I could think of with my limited knowledge: a turkey vulture, red-tailed hawk, and golden eagle. All three have huge wingspans of about 5-7, the golden eagle being the biggest. Those birds are also seen along the Marin Headlands, soaring on thermals, especially this time of year, when some of the raptors are migrating. We see turkey vultures all the time above freeways where road kill is abundant. They are distinguished by a naked, rather ugly red head and their wings form an upward V pattern and rock unsteadily side to side, flying in a large circular pattern. By looking more carefully we saw that this bird had none of those features. Instead, the flight pattern was smooth gliding in one direction, followed by the strong beating of wings. Squinting into the sun we could not make out the exact color of the underbody. However, my vote is for the Golden Eagle based on its size--although that may be wishful thinking. Birders, what do you think?
Posted on: Fri, 28 Nov 2014 21:19:46 +0000
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