The Mirror Is Everyone's Tomb

A pair of Western Gulls on the North Jetty.

It was good to be in Arcata again....I have to admit, living there for most of my adult life has made me really into the whole small town thing.....which is why I have a terrible fear of ending up in Lee Vining with The Grub someday.  I think I even managed to not forget anyone's name this time around, which is ideal.  Thanks to Nice Lady, ASOC and Pinko for the hospitality.  As usual, I didn't see everyone I wanted to, but that isn't really possible without rerooting up there at this point.

Nothing rocks more than a sandpiper...a rock sandpiper.  That weird gray lump on the upper right is the back of a second one.

I did get to do some birding while the weather was deece.  The Virginia's Warbler in front of Gary Bloomfield's house "showed well" as some nerds would say, and I look forward to getting reacquainted with them in Arizona in the coming months.  The Rock Sandpipers were something I hadn't caught in a few years so seeing a couple should managed to reduce any grinding of the teeth for a while.

Behold the Virginia's Warbler.  My first Humboldt County bird in years.  How embarrassing!

A few other highlights were Greater White-fronted Geese, a flyover minima Cackling Goose in with the Aleutians, and a lone river otter taking a dirty dip at the Oxidation Ponds.

This is my last week in San Francisco, and I have to admit I'm just a wee bit stoked.  Not that I won't miss all kind, beautiful, self-righteous know-it-all people, but I'm getting the itch to move again and stare at strange birds.  I'm a veteran of southeastern Arizona, but still need to find a Common Black Hawk, a Gray Vireo, a Whiskered Screech-Owl, a Rufous-capped Warbler.......you get the idea.  I'll miss things like shows/good food/girls/any kind of social life.......but these sacrifices are generally worth it.  If I get to live and work in places that some people would gladly drop thousands of dollars just to visit, then so be it.

Oh yeah....the mystery bird from the previous post is none other than a Cooper's Hawk.  Silhouette madness.