Our morning didn’t start out serene — quite the opposite! Around 4:30 a wild call from outside aroused both Jello and me. “Loon?” — I wondered — “not at this time of day!”  Then the yips started — little barks between the cries — Coyote.  Of course we couldn’t see it from the deck, but after satisfying our curiosity we both tumbled back to bed and sleep until our normal wake up and walk time!

Yesterday’s storm drove the tide close to the dune-berm, leaving behind wrack and sea-foam that looks like snowdrifts.

With no rain or wind to contend with, serenity filled me as I ambled up the shoreline trying to identify specific shorebirds that were working the surf.

Sanderling

Ring-billed and California Gulls

Dunlin

Dunlin

Once home, before I was able to hang up my coat and hat, Jello was growling at the sliding door. “Hope it’s not the Coyote!” I thought. Happily it was a young Columbia Blacktail Deer — the first I’ve seen on the grounds since May. Notice how its coloring matches the meadow — and how calm yet cautious it seems.

Serene