Easy Reader & Peninsula

Bob Shanman

Author

The Littlest Plovers
Hermosa Beach

The Littlest Plovers

“Snowys” winter along our beaches are usually found in depressions, the “wrack,” or high tide line. So, watch your step  by Bob Shanman California is the  “birdiest” state in the nation. Currently, 709 species have been recorded here. It also has the two birdiest counties in North America. Los Angeles has 544 species and San […]

Bob Shanman
Birds of the Bay:  Size, beaks and feet distinguish three familiar gulls

Birds of the Bay: Size, beaks and feet distinguish three familiar gulls

by Bob Shanman Last month, I introduced you to one of my favorite birds, the Heermann’s Gull. They are white-headed like most gulls. But with their slate-gray bodies, red bill and black feet, they are easily sorted out from the rest of the gulls. They have now left for their breeding colonies in Mexico, leaving […]

Bob Shanman
Birds of the Bay: Heermann’s Gull
Breaking News

Birds of the Bay: Heermann’s Gull

by Bob Shanman  So, two friends were walking along the beach in Hermosa when a large flock of gulls suddenly lifted off the sand and flew right in front of them.  “Darn seagulls,” said one friend. The other friend, a birder, corrected him. “Those are not seagulls” he said.  “We are on Santa Monica Bay, […]

Bob Shanman
Birds of the Bay:  A Tail of Two Wits (Godwits)

Birds of the Bay: A Tail of Two Wits (Godwits)

by Bob Shanman This is a story of four bird “cousins” (well, really, only two), who rarely, if ever cross paths. One summer in central Europe to Western Asia, and winters far to the south in Africa and southern Australia. One summer in the high arctic from western Alaska to Greenland, and winters as far […]

Bob Shanman