bigger and smaller wildlife sightings for today

it was another amazing day for mammalian sea creature encounters: within seconds of arriving at “our beach” for our morning meeting i noticed what looked like a spray of vapor about ¾ mile off shore. ron looked up in time to see the next spray; it was a pod of humpback whales.

they stayed between ¾ to 1-½ miles off shore, but it was another treat on back-to-back mornings that made for a great start to the day.

from that distance it was hard to tell how many of them were in the pod, but we guessed, by the distance between the spouts, that there were at least 4 of them; maybe more since they can hold their breath for great lengths of time.

i have been here for 3 months and yesterday was the first time we have seen dolphins from the beach and today was the first time we have seen whales. i did see whales a few weeks ago on the pose’s boat and ron has seen a whale come up close (100 ft.) to the beach as recently as last spring and has seen dolphins a few times, but it is the first visit while i was there to witness their appearances.

pacific grove, little more than a linear mile north of where i know sit is known as butterfly town, u.s.a. for the monarch butterflies that gather here each year to sit (fly) out winter. their migration brings them from alaska and canada to hang out around here in the milder temps.

i don’t know what it means for winter up north, but i saw my first monarch butterfly this afternoon.

pacific grove, also known as “america’s last hometown”, has an annual butterfly parade where the kids in town deck themselves out in butterfly regalia.

it must be quite a sight to see so many of the beautiful critters flying about; the butterflies not the children.

these are not leaves in the picture to the right; they are monarch butterflies that have gathered together in the monarch grove butterfly sanctuary.

and add to the wildlife encounters of the day: when i went out to get a case of water from my car i startled a black tail doe that was on our front porch. her adolescent youngster on the front yard stayed put while i walked within 15 feet of it; it’s big eyes not leaving me for a second.

dolphins yesterday; deer, butterflies and whales today; what’s left for tomorrow?

mermaids!

oh, the weather has been absolutely gorgeous with cool night for sleeping-bliss and highs near 80 with crystal-clear blue skies!