Last week, my friend Carolyn and I went to Half Moon Bay, mainly to have lunch at Sam's Chowder House. I had been there once before, last summer, but didn't remember what good food they served. We both had the prawn salad, and it was possibly the best one like it I've ever had. We sat at a table facing the water...very important since we had just seen a lot of bird activity out in the Bay on our way into the restaurant. The gray skies, reflected in the silver water, provided a beautiful sea-scape for bird watching.
I love pelicans and am always excited to observe them, flying in formation just inches above the water. But this was like nothing I had ever seen. There had to be at least a hundred pelicans, along with terns and gulls, swooping and diving (crashing might be a better word) for fish. We thought there had to have been a huge school of fish to generate that much activity. We had never witnessed such a feeding frenzy and were practically hypnotized by the view. We decided to go outside after we finished our key lime pie and walk along the beach.
The sounds of gulls yapping and water splashing gave the scene even more dimension. Every now and then, we could spot a fish in the beak of a tern. The pelicans must have swallowed their catches immediately, for there were no fish tails hanging out of their bills. Perhaps the fish were in their beak-pouches. How they are able to see the fish below the water's surface and dive in on target, is a great mystery of Nature.
We strolled for a while in the sand, taking it all in. Suddenly, a squadron of pelicans broke away from the others and flew north toward the outer channel. We figured that they knew something we didn't and got in the car to follow them. At the north end of the bay, where the boats are moored, is a secluded park where you can walk along the shore to the ocean. We hiked all the way to the end of the trail. There were a few people, some with dogs, picnicking and frolicking. And, there were the pelicans, diving for fish in a much more private locale. No paparazzi for these birds.
