Magdalena Bay and Sand Dollar Beach
We approached the shoreline of Isla Magdalena at 6:00 in the faintest of morning light; this must have defaulted as the “un-civilized” shore landing as a later outing was promoted as “civilized” for 9:00 a.m. It didn’t matter which time you chose as the rewards for both outings were diverse and immediate. The early morning sun shown a soft orange sherbet orb as it emerged from the delicate hold of pink cloud wisps. Walking inland from the shore, a skyline of photographer’s silhouettes provided foreground for the backdrop of sunrise. In today’s photograph, we share our sunrise with you.
As we criss-crossed the dunes it became apparent we were not alone. Along the base of milkweed tangled hummocks were rodent tracks interlaced with lizard footprints and tail drag marks. The open sands between dunes were connected with the zipper stitch designs of great blue heron tracks interspersed with the smaller prints of an unseen shore bird, as well as jack-rabbit and coyote prints.
The cool moist dunes refused to slump when teased with a footstep at their base. Later, as the floury sand dried and warmed we watched as a “dune jumper” flung his cares and himself head over heals over the precipitous edge and down the slumping slope face.
We shared our treasures and discoveries of glossy murex shells, bleached dolphin bones, a gazillion sand dollars, a completely mellow lizard and an intact spiny Venus clam with its delicate spines flaring outward from the purple-hued shell halves. We dispersed our kayaks for shoreline investigations. Our water based paddlers poked their colorful kayak noses into the tangled stilt roots of red mangrove and silently glided by shorebirds probing for invertebrate morsels in the sand. To quote one of our guests, “This is what everyday is all about with Lindblad.”
Upon our final return to the Sea Bird we fortified ourselves with lunch as the ship’s crew pulled anchor and headed us towards the open Pacific for more adventures and discoveries. While a siesta was scheduled shortly thereafter, a small group of common dolphins did not take heed of our plan, all for the better as we did the mandatory headstands over the bow to look straight down into the dolphins blow holes as they rode our bow wave.
Through the afternoon and evening we proceeded north, preparing for tomorrow with a presentation on the California gray whale and a photo presentation and discussion in preparation for our next adventures.
We approached the shoreline of Isla Magdalena at 6:00 in the faintest of morning light; this must have defaulted as the “un-civilized” shore landing as a later outing was promoted as “civilized” for 9:00 a.m. It didn’t matter which time you chose as the rewards for both outings were diverse and immediate. The early morning sun shown a soft orange sherbet orb as it emerged from the delicate hold of pink cloud wisps. Walking inland from the shore, a skyline of photographer’s silhouettes provided foreground for the backdrop of sunrise. In today’s photograph, we share our sunrise with you.
As we criss-crossed the dunes it became apparent we were not alone. Along the base of milkweed tangled hummocks were rodent tracks interlaced with lizard footprints and tail drag marks. The open sands between dunes were connected with the zipper stitch designs of great blue heron tracks interspersed with the smaller prints of an unseen shore bird, as well as jack-rabbit and coyote prints.
The cool moist dunes refused to slump when teased with a footstep at their base. Later, as the floury sand dried and warmed we watched as a “dune jumper” flung his cares and himself head over heals over the precipitous edge and down the slumping slope face.
We shared our treasures and discoveries of glossy murex shells, bleached dolphin bones, a gazillion sand dollars, a completely mellow lizard and an intact spiny Venus clam with its delicate spines flaring outward from the purple-hued shell halves. We dispersed our kayaks for shoreline investigations. Our water based paddlers poked their colorful kayak noses into the tangled stilt roots of red mangrove and silently glided by shorebirds probing for invertebrate morsels in the sand. To quote one of our guests, “This is what everyday is all about with Lindblad.”
Upon our final return to the Sea Bird we fortified ourselves with lunch as the ship’s crew pulled anchor and headed us towards the open Pacific for more adventures and discoveries. While a siesta was scheduled shortly thereafter, a small group of common dolphins did not take heed of our plan, all for the better as we did the mandatory headstands over the bow to look straight down into the dolphins blow holes as they rode our bow wave.
Through the afternoon and evening we proceeded north, preparing for tomorrow with a presentation on the California gray whale and a photo presentation and discussion in preparation for our next adventures.
