Cherene, Jake and Nathan joined us in Ventura for the last long weekend before summer officially starts.
Today the wind blew relentlessly and churned the ocean into a frothy foam.
So we decided to walk inland to our secret sea glass spot along the estuary where fresh water comes down from the mountains and meets the ocean.
It was slightly protected from the howling wind and blowing sand and a great area to explore nature.
We gathered in our buckets: rocks, bottle caps, and a torn piece of paper with burnt edges that we were sure was the weathered remnant of a Pirate's map. Oh, and some tiny dead minnows that would be bait for a late afternoon crab catch off the dock. Precious booty to be sure!
Bundled up against the wind we came across an area cordoned off to protect nesting birds from people and pets. A nice gesture from the Ventura Audubon Society.
Evidently the birds hadn't read the signs though because down the shore a ways, beyond the protected roped off area we found these...
Actually we would have totally missed the drab, almost ugly eggs laying directly on the sand had it not been for the birds squawking at us from overhead. I told the boys there must be nests nearby since the adults were having such a tizzy.
Sure enough there they were. It's no wonder these Least Terns need a little protecting and are endangered. I'm sorry but they aren't the brightest birds of the bunch.
If they'd just kept quiet we would have walked right on by, not even noticing them.
But they had to fly overhead and announce that we were intruding. Then when we got too close the female would flop around on the ground as if she had a broken wing in an attempt to lure us away from the eggs.
There must be a good analogy regarding motherhood here somewhere but I'm not exactly sure what it is right now.
Anyway. It was a great day at the beach sans the sea glass.
Encourage one another,
