I have made a new friend at the Heron Rookery and it is a Black-Crowned Night Heron. He is quite comfortable around me and as long as I don’t intrude on his space, he poses so elegantly and goes about the business of hunting and standing on his perch without fear. Night Herons are notoriously shy, so I feel quite amazed that he is as tolerant of me as he is. I am reminded of my relationship with Sweet Pea, a Costa’s Hummingbird that I have known for years in the desert. I get up early most mornings and head over to the rookery or the marina for a couple of hours of photography, and then I return to the RV for photo editing while Michael focuses on his research papers. We both enjoy life in our cozy 24ft RV and the setting is conducive to uninterrupted quality time to focus on our passions that we work on side by side for hours at a time.
Morro Bay has managed to coexist with wildlife and it is rather unique if you ask me. Many of the eucalyptus trees that line Main Street are filled with Black-Crowned Night Herons, and to turn the other cheek when it comes to the massive amounts of bird poop that falls below is the exception to the rule. When you park your car here, if you see a white discoloration all over the sidewalk, find another space to park your car or you will have poop on it too. Most cities would find a way to scare the birds away in favor of people, and it does my heart good to see the tables turned with animal nesting sites instead of the other way around. We have encroached so much on wildlife habitat that they have been forced to nest within city limits, but a balanced approach is necessary. The herons are very messy, so I do hope that they don’t over stay their welcome and force the city to evict them.
Michael and I also bike over to a look-out south of Morro Bay towards Cayucos every day for exercise and Callie is back walking on a leash because she became too bold when left to her own devices. She has rough and tumble playtime every day and her asthma is controlled again with a chicken-free diet and prednisone cream that is applied to the inner ear flap. We will be here until the end of the month and head north to Monterey for a month after that.
Happy Father’s Day to all the men out there who have raised or who are raising children. It can be a difficult but rewarding job, and a very important one too. Our society seems to be tearing apart at the seams, but hopefully we can vote Trump out of office and bring civility back to the United States. Vote Blue in November as if your life depends on it.
Believe in the Black Lives Matter movement; racism needs to be addressed and stamped out once and for all. BLACK LIVES MATTER!









