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 There is a comfort in the familiar. Then there is interest in the unfamiliar, as familiarity does often breed contempt. But what happens when the familiar is presented in unexpected variation, when there is discordance? This trick is often used in art, but also found in the study of nature. It is actually necessary because it sparks the imagination and brings questions. Questions that learned biologists would never think to ask and can't answer for you.

 

 In New Mexico, harbor seals are not common. Still, everyone knows what they are, how they act and where to find them. In Monterey they are not easy to see unless you know their hangouts. The process is called hauling out, but the factors behind this behavior are surprisingly detailed.

This sea lion has a more defined, articulated neck, external ears, and flippers that tuck under the body. It also appears malnourinshed for some reason, and is acting solitary. The backbone ridges can be seen. The weather is unusually cold and rainy due to the weather conditions which may be affecting the ability of this mammal to hunt for food.

Many of the differences noted between California and New Mexico are simply due to mountains and oceans. Oceans moderate the temperatures because water does not change temperature quickly. Coasts also just have more diversity because of the larger variety of biomes. California has done a good job of promoting the biology of its coasts and many people earn a living teaching tourists about the value of protecting them. This worthy cause has the unfortunate downside of convincing the general public that protection can be left to the professionals as long as the public uses paper bags and avoids plastic straws, which is only a tiny part of the truth.

While New Mexico only sees hummingbirds during the summer, California has them year round, but the Anna's hummingbird is special. This species of hummingbird has adapted well to bird feeders and cultivated flowers and has begun to move into central New Mexico in recent decades, spreading it's range inland and also south into Mexico. Anna's hummingbird eat more small insects than any other species of hummingbird which helps expand its food options in lean times.

 This Anna's hummingbird in a Californian garden of this restaurant was cold and miserable and was using cultivated cigar plant flowers to stay fueled up in the rain. There were no hummingbird feeders around, but these flowers need less maintenance than a feeder.

It is very unappreciated just how many types of wasps there are. 85 new wasp species have been identified to science this last year. That number can be added to the 30,000 odd species already known. We mostly notice the large yellow and black species like this Alaska yellow jacket queen. Wasps, especially paper wasps, have extended their range by adapting to living around people and their associated dry buildings.

800 species of wasp in North America are parasites of oak trees, creating these weird but benign tree growth on oaks in Monterey. They do not often need sexual reproduction, but create a generation through parthenogenesis before producing males again. The process is so remarkable, that in humans, a religion was founded around the concept. Gall wasps are usually not only working in concert with specific plants, but also need specific microbes and symbiotes to feed and breed inside the nutritive tissues of these plants.

The woolly leaf manzanita is endemic to the sandy soil on the slopes of the Del Monte forest mostly composed of Monterey pines. This genus is a remarkable plant in many ways but is mostly known simply for having red stems to most people.

The heavy rainfall and high average temperatures means that the Del Monte forest has very fast decomposition rates for fallen wood. These dampwood termites rely on water saturated wood structures to feed and breakdown wood. Their risk to treated wood is rather overblown. The tunnels the create are often used by other species such as beetles, spiders, and centipedes.

Constant moisture is very important to salamanders such as this ensatina because it breathes through the skin without a need for lungs. It can get away with this by being very small, not very active, and constantly moist.

Jelly fungus are not found much in the arid southwest. They avoid the attention of mushroom hunters not because they are poisonous, but because the vast majority of the species taste of dirt. This pictured species is known as an orange jelly spot which has a flavor listed dryly as "not distinctive".

This snail is the predatory California Lancetooth. Molluscs in general are little known and almost alien in their morphology and behaviors. This one can scrape food from surfaces like most snails, but it also can scrape flesh from other snails using its modified toothed tongue as a harpoon. Other snails use a harpoon called as "love dart" as a mating organ

California has its own share of invasive species. While we have Russian thistles and Ravenna grass, the coastlines have ice plants and gorse, like this specimen. It seems to be viewed the same as Russian thistle, being flammable, spiky, and fast growing.

While hard to see, this picture is showing the turkey vultures like those that visit New Mexico is the summer. Populations in California are a little trickier to follow, as some populations migrate and other might not. Their numbers have rebounded since they crashed in the 1970's for several reasons, all involving humans.

False widow spiders are very beautiful and engaging spiders that are not as dangerous as their relations. Like all widows they are shy and retiring, unfortunately also easy to spot because they are large, shiny, and sit near large webs.

Mule deer are found all over the coast, but are fairly shy and retiring during good dog walking weather. They are usually out foraging after sunset, or in wet weather. This one was being less cautious feeding as it was in a large marshy area where humans would never walk their dogs.

The coastal marshes and wetlands are not much to look at, but house some of the most complex, valuable and variable ecosystems on earth. Their productivity is truly mind boggling. However the California Government now has to manage them to mimic the conditions that used to exist before the coastal rivers became channelized and dammed.

Birds such as this pelican are able to adapted to local conditions by migrating widely up and down the coast following the shoals of fish and weather conditions.

 

Egrets take advantage of many different environments, but hunt in marshes easiest. The grasses also provide them shelter from predators. They can frequently be seen in Corrales in the summer.

This Ross's goose winters on golf courses in Central California before migrating back to northern Canada for breeding in the summer tundra and wetlands. Their short neck and stout legs are well designed for grazing on short grass.

Coots are an adaptable species, but these ones seems to look and act very differently than the secretive species we find in New Mexico in the summer. These ones are much bigger, bolder, and are grazing on grass in large flocks.

 

With only 2,500 birds in the wild, and numbers continuing to dwindle, the future does not look bright for these shy birds. The snowy plovers at Carmel river state beach hunt flies in the sands and use human footprints to hide in like little soldiers hunkered down in foxholes. With their bright white breasts hidden, they blend in perfectly with the sandy shadows from the setting sun.

The receding tide exposes the intertidal zone to seagulls who seem to prefer hunting for the easy to pick up sea urchins. The large number of mussel shells among the rocks require an impressive amount of tugging to dislodge, but the sea urchins are easy to snag and carry to a place out of the rough waves.

Almost all crabs near Pacific grove are small, camouflaged and hidden under rocks. However, they do not seem hard to find or catch if you can pick up a rock, which most birds can't do well.

Sea urchins use their mobile spines to ward off star fish, which are specialists at eating bivalves, but also eat sea urchins. Both genus have specialist pincers on their skin for grasping, except for the bat stars species like this sea star. These stars are vegetarian and mostly scavengers.

Chitons are fascinating molluscs. This is a mossy chiton. It has eight overlapping plates and a broad "mossy" mantle. Often found in the inter-tidal zone, it's plates allow it to conform to uneven surfaces as well as roll into a ball if it becomes detached from the rock.

Sea anemones exist in huge number on the rocks at Pacific grove. A testament to the huge amount of food floating by from the land run-off into the ocean, as well as the coastal upwelling from the 2 mile deep trench just off shore.

Once, this sea urchin species was set to wipe out the protective kelp forests found along the coast. Now that the sea otters are protected, the sea urchins are also fed on by Sheeps-head fish, sunflower stars, sea gulls, humans, as well as the otters. The protect themselves by forming large groups to reduce the chance of them all being eaten. While most people can recognize a general sea urchin, the subtleties of red versus purple species, their use as a water quality indicator, or how populations are skewed by climate change is not knowledge that should only be left to marine biologists, knowledge of these things affect us all.