I was in the area today & swung by Malibu Beach after an appointment. So I took a bunch of photos from 12:30pm til 2:30pm. The winds were strong at 15-20 mph & ENE. The tide was high & outgoing. No sod bank exposure during my visit today.

The Black Skimmers weren't as active feeding wise as they were when I was there a few weeks ago however they are still huge in numbers. A few times the roosts took to flight & what a sight that was. I'm not sure what the disturbance was, possibly people along the Marina docks. I was at a good distance (up on the hwy) with a tele zoom lens & didn't see anybody on the beach. Perhaps it was the strong winds stirring the birds up.

There was also a roost of Amr. Oystercatchers today (on the Seaview Harbor end/beach) & a small group of 5 AMOY's feeding further south on the beach. There were also roosting Sanderlings, a few Least Sandpipers & Semi-palm plovers trying to stay out of the wind/blowing sand by taking refuge behind some plants.

The brackish pond also held a group of BLSK's & glossy Ibis, some CAN Geese, Blk ducks & Mallards.

2 cool sights today were gulls eating starfish & 1 GBB gull eating a small sandshark!

For photos from today go to the links below or “Flash Slideshows”

http://susan.thespikeranch.com/page33/page50/page50.html

http://susan.thespikeranch.com/page33/page54/page54.html