Bluffside Life
The bluffs, beaches and shallows along the central California coast are teeming with wildlife of all kinds.
Other aquatic mammals you might see in the Pacific Ocean off the central coast of California are: sealions, harbor seals, sea otters, dolphins, porpoises or even migrating whales.
When the tide goes out, you can look for starfish, sea anemones, mussels, hermit crabs, black crabs, jellyfish, and small fish in the exposed tidepools.
On the bluff itself, you might be fortunate enough to spot land mammals such as a coyote, fox or bunny, or reptiles such as a western fence lizard, gopher snake or even a skittish racer snake.
Apart from enjoying the colorful butterflies and moths of the insect world, if you have really sharp eyes, you might also be able to catch a glimpse of the various smaller insects and arachnids that call this part of the world home.
Then there are the numerous birds, with more than 200 species that come to or live in this area throughout the year. Many of the more obvious shore birds are present year round like the California pelican, the cormorants, egrets, herons, and various gulls. If you look and listen closely though, you can also see well-camouflaged shore birds like the black turnstone, the black oyster catcher, the various plovers and sandpipers just to mention a few.
Birds of prey that can be seen soaring along the coastal bluffs and fields in search of food include the California turkey vulture, as well as varying hawks and falcons.
In the winter months, you can also see the many migratory birds like terns, geese, and ducks.
The bluffside plant life, both native and invasive, is also highly diverse and colorful, especially after life-bringing rains.
Click on the link below to see photos of some of the wide variety of its fauna and flora.
