Memories of San Luis Obispo Bay

On Monday, 2022-02-28, I was eager to get on the road after months of preparation, and not wanting to face Los Angeles traffic on a weekday, I left my Poway home early Sunday evening and began my journey north. I made my way as far as Woodland Hills in the San Fernando Valley before fatigue caught up with me. I slept in a Denny’s parking lot until about 4am and continued my way up the coast. I had breakfast in Santa Barbara, and found a grocery store to stock my pantry, then I continued driving north.

When I reached Avila Beach, I drove out to the public pier (Port San Luis Pier). It was a clear, sunny day. I’d first thought I’d spend a few hours there before driving on to Morro Bay. But I could not tear myself away, and I stayed until the light failed. Surf Scoters first caught my eye and lured me to gather my camera gear. Those I saw mostly kept their distance from the pier. Occasionally, they would forage on the water closer to my position. When they did, they provided opportunities to observe them bringing shellfish and other mollusks to the surface and working them over until they could swallow the meaty morsels.

Western Gulls of all ages were a steady presence on the water, on the dock, and in the skies. Cormorants aplenty rafted on the water. I had to review my images for identification. Most of them were Brandt’s Cormorants, though I also saw a few Double-Crested and Pelagic Cormorants. Brown Pelicans shared the skies with the gulls, and Harbor Seals and Sea Otters swam with the cormorants.

On 2019-07-28, I left Highway 101 to explore the beach route, traffic along the coast approaching Pismo Beach (just south) remained clogged, but I endured and drove the road as far as possible. It carried me to a wooden pier that reached a long way into the bay, and after a break to eat some yogurt, I walked out on the pier to see what things were like there. I had been scanning the water from my shore-side seat for unusual birds, but my survey revealed only the Western Gulls and Brown Pelicans gathered near where the anglers were cleaning their catches. Barn Swallows zipped by, but the light did not tempt me to get out my camera gear, so I explored the pier with only my binoculars.

About a third of the way out, I regretted my decision. I saw a Pigeon Guillemot fly in and land under the pier. *THIS* was unexpected, and the possibility of capturing this bird with my camera enticed me to walk back and collect my biggest lens and tripod.

As I walked back to the pier, I saw the bird floating a short distance from the pier, but I was not yet close enough to get a usable image. Before I got within range, I watched the bird rise and fly away towards the horizon beyond my view. I continued my walk with my gear out to the end of the pier, making no further sightings of the shy bird. Resigned to having missed my opportunity, I walked back towards the shore. While visiting with a fisherman and explaining my quest, I saw the bird again as it picked up from the surface and flew away and disappeared in the distance. <sigh>

I continued searching the area where I first sighted the bird, and happily, I found it (or its friend) fishing the waters a hundred feet off the pier. I watched the bird play with the small fish it captured and I thought this was a perfectly satisfying encounter, but the visit got *much* better. Eventually the bird swam to me with its catch, and played in the waters under the pier only a few dozen feet from my position. As if it was showing off its catch, the bird put on an impressive performance for me.

I met my first Pigeon Guillemot while on my 2005 Alaska adventure, and it was not on my radar for California waters. Surprises as nice as this do not come to me every day.