Fantastic light in a great landscape. But the hit is a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), which suddenly comes flying in on the steep rock in front of me and can be perfectly photographed eating its prey in the most beautiful morning light. First he crouches down over his plucking. He then secures and sees if the coast is clear. Then he gets the rest of his pluck in his beak and puts the prey under his feet. The claws hold the prey. Then he tears individual pieces out of the prey and eats them. Finally, he holds a bone in his beak that looks like that of a little leg. Then he holds a feather in his beak. All of this up close.
The trip to the cliffs of Andrew Molera State Park right off Highway “1” is well worth it. The area really looks like Cape Arkona on Rügen in eastern Germany´s coast of the Baltic Sea. Only wilder. The wind is also like on Rügen. The sun takes a while in the morning until it finally rises behind the mountain range and then illuminates the scenery. The area can be explored via a hiking trail along a river.
This is a picturesque backdrop that awaits you there with sandbanks, blue sea with whitecaps and rocks. Whether you then take a walk along the beach below the cliffs or choose one of the paths further up with a view is up to you.
Just offshore is a rock on which 2 species of cormorants have settled. They are common Brandt’s Cormorant (Phalacrocorax penicillatus) and Double-crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax auritus). Later, another species, the Pelagic Cormorant (Phalacrocorax pelagicus), joined them. The seagulls also use the stiff breeze and sometimes stand in the air for minutes. So you can get good pictures of the Western Gull (Larus occidentalis) of the subspecies occidentalis. The coat looks a lot lighter than the seagulls that one is used to from southern California, i.e. from San Diego, among other places.
It’s nice here at Big Sur Coast. Alternatives are the Pfeiffer Big Sur State Park and Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park.
In order to meet the growing demand for top images of the rarer species of Palaearctic Bird-lens.com has specifically made trips to remote places. Additionally every chance is used, if a rare bird is around the homeground. This to do everything to ensure excellent photos of the Birds of the Western Palearctic . The yield of pictures also of rare Western Palaearctic birds is very good. There are other nice images of birds, that you will find behind the tab “Picture Shop“. Just give a notice if you need a picture of a bird which is not online.