A Tern for the Better

September 28, 2008

Early Sunday morning I met my friend from work at La Jolla Shores. She is an avid kayaker. She owns a couple of sit-in kayaks. But today she was trying out her friend's sit-on-top Scrambler. Though she will often launch her kayak from Mission Bay and then paddle out to the channel buoy at the mouth of Mission Bay she has not often kayaked around La Jolla, leaving from a beach with surf.

So, after a brief introduction to launching through surf, we headed out through said surf. She successfully managed the surf zone and waited for me to do the same. From there we headed south to Marine Room (no Leopard sharks visible today) and then along the Cliffs. Conditions allowed us to explore and enter some of the Caves. That was fun. From there a short trip out to the Kelp bed outside The Cove and then over to Boomers. Here we had a brief visit from a Harbor Seal. Turned back toward The Shores.

Back near the Shores I heard a bird call over my head. This call is a high pitched warble. It belongs to the bird that originally made me search for a good Bird Identification web page. Looking up I pointed out the bird to my friend. She identified it a Tern. I did not get a really good look at it to identify what variety of Tern it might be. Hopefully next time I will. I see them mostly flying above me at sea. So I do not get a close look at them. And some of the most important features for a positive identification can not be seen from below. When they are flying. Leg & beak color, as well as head markings, are important. Next time. By the way, this web site has more than just sea birds. But I chose it because it has detailed descriptions of the birds as well as pictures, including pictures and descriptions from different developmental stages in each bird’s life.