Camoflage

These pictures, taken on a northern California beach, may show Snowy Plovers. (I think that's what they are; you may know better.) Their only protection is their camoflage. I will admit I was a bit skeptical when I heard that is the only way they protect themselves from predators (see my other entry). But notice how hard it is to find them among the bits of wood and brush on the sand! Perhaps Nature did know what it was doing.

Snowy Plover?

These pictures may show Snowy Plovers, a small shorebird that's endangered because it makes its nest right out in the open. It just wiggles in the sand enough to create a shallow basin and deposits its eggs right there ... where predators can easily get at them, and people can accidentally or intentionally destroy them too.

Foggy hike

My hiking group went about 50 miles north of where I live in Calif. to the mouth of the Klamath River, where there was supposed to be a scenic overlook. The fog hadn't burned off as hoped, but I did get this nice picture of wildflowers! In the woods, the fog gave an ethereal beauty. And we ate lunch on "Hidden Beach" -- which was still grey but not quite so hidden by fog.