Magdalena Bay, Baja California
After a calm night at anchor, the ship motored a short distance north to a mangrove habitat laced with shallow channels. It was an ideal location to kayak and Zodiac. This nutrient-rich area attracts migratory shorebirds as well as resident wading birds and a multitude of fishes and invertebrates. Oysters and other marine life encrusted the stilt-like roots of red mangroves that arched above the low tide. Night-herons and the larger great blues and egrets either rested in the branches or hunted on the exposed mudflats. The kayaks slipped quietly through the rippled water, each paddler free to spend as much or as little time in one spot as he or she cared to. Zodiac riders searched for different species of birds and for photographic opportunities within this maze of water and tangled mangroves.
While enjoying a pasta buffet for lunch, the Sea Bird relocated to the afternoon’s destination. The goal was to walk across dunes of shifting sand to a beach on the Pacific side of Magdalena Island. We passed mounds of brightly colored shells and lavender flowers of silvery locoweeds. Stories were written in the sand. Footprints told of coyotes that had trotted near shore, of a tiger beetle that paused between flights and that a lizard had detoured around a cockle shell. Clinging roots of sand verbena, sea purslane and wolfberry plants had gained a foothold in the loose sand and stabilized it into tall hummocks. In other areas, the sand blew freely. The wind acted as a giant sculptor, lifting uncounted grains and shaping them into great crescents and ridges that constantly transformed and moved over time. Sand Dollar Beach displayed not only sand dollars, but also skulls and other bones of birds, marine mammals and sea turtles. There was time to photograph beach treasures and spectacular scenery. When we started back towards the ship, the deep shadows of late afternoon contrasted with subdued sunlight that illuminated the landscape. Before long, the temperature dropped, and a warm ship sounded quite inviting. The Sea Bird remained in the quiet shelter of Magdalena Bay for the evening before heading south for Cabo San Lucas and the Sea of Cortez.
After a calm night at anchor, the ship motored a short distance north to a mangrove habitat laced with shallow channels. It was an ideal location to kayak and Zodiac. This nutrient-rich area attracts migratory shorebirds as well as resident wading birds and a multitude of fishes and invertebrates. Oysters and other marine life encrusted the stilt-like roots of red mangroves that arched above the low tide. Night-herons and the larger great blues and egrets either rested in the branches or hunted on the exposed mudflats. The kayaks slipped quietly through the rippled water, each paddler free to spend as much or as little time in one spot as he or she cared to. Zodiac riders searched for different species of birds and for photographic opportunities within this maze of water and tangled mangroves.
While enjoying a pasta buffet for lunch, the Sea Bird relocated to the afternoon’s destination. The goal was to walk across dunes of shifting sand to a beach on the Pacific side of Magdalena Island. We passed mounds of brightly colored shells and lavender flowers of silvery locoweeds. Stories were written in the sand. Footprints told of coyotes that had trotted near shore, of a tiger beetle that paused between flights and that a lizard had detoured around a cockle shell. Clinging roots of sand verbena, sea purslane and wolfberry plants had gained a foothold in the loose sand and stabilized it into tall hummocks. In other areas, the sand blew freely. The wind acted as a giant sculptor, lifting uncounted grains and shaping them into great crescents and ridges that constantly transformed and moved over time. Sand Dollar Beach displayed not only sand dollars, but also skulls and other bones of birds, marine mammals and sea turtles. There was time to photograph beach treasures and spectacular scenery. When we started back towards the ship, the deep shadows of late afternoon contrasted with subdued sunlight that illuminated the landscape. Before long, the temperature dropped, and a warm ship sounded quite inviting. The Sea Bird remained in the quiet shelter of Magdalena Bay for the evening before heading south for Cabo San Lucas and the Sea of Cortez.
