As far as I can tell, there's pretty much always something blooming in Humboldt County, but even so, it was nice to see the dunes dotted with colorful spring flowers. Beach Morning Glory (Calystegia soldanella) and Beach Evening Primrose (Camissonia cheiranthifolia) spread their blooms out over the sand:
The many American Silvertop (Glehnia littoralis) plants looked weirdly flat, like squashed shrubs:
The Beach Pea (Lathyrus littoralis) blooms were very pretty indeed, floating over silvery leaves:
And carpets of invasive Ice Plant (Carpobrotus chilensis) were putting on quite a show:
I kind of love the colors on this Ice Plant blanket at the base of a cliff:
Several Northern Rough-Winged Swallows were swooping around the cliffs, vying for nesting spots. I love watching swallows in flight, but I was also happy when this one perched briefly so I could take its picture:
Doesn't this look like a nice place to raise a family?
Surf Scoters were foraging near the shore and handling the waves with ease. Watch out, funny duck:
Big waves aren't really a problem, I guess, when you can dive right through them:
Many people come to the beach next to Big Lagoon to look for agates, and indeed I got sucked into picking up and sorting through all sorts of beautiful stones (and this wasn't the first time either!). The closer you look at the ground on this beach, the more stones with gorgeous colors and interesting patterns start to stand out. So many cool rocks! This picture doesn't do them justice:
I even found my first agates on this trip (one is right in the middle of the above picture). They're tiny, but very shiny, and oh so intricate:
What a great -- and relaxing -- morning with beautiful weather and interesting nature on the beach!
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