Sometimes when I’m birdwatching

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anonsally
replied to your photo “Sometimes when I’m birdwatching”

Also, I would like to say that I like to think Point Sal is named after me. Is it short for something?

I don’t know the name’s origin. A lot of the place names in California are from the era of early Spanish exploration; hence all the saints (San Francisco, Santa Catalina, Santa Clara…) because it happened to be that particular saint’s feast day when they came across that island or river or whatever. 

There are a number of Salsipuedes Points or Point Salsipuedeses, which I don’t have to translate for your impressively polyglot self. Those often refer to places that were prone to becoming a dangerous lee shore, which was a big deal when you were exploring in an 18th-century sailing ship that didn’t go to windward very well. So they sometimes gave those places scary names as a safety tip to future mariners. I wondered at one point if “Point Sal” was just a shortened version of one of those. Though thinking about it some more that seems unlikely.

Point Sal might be a reference to salt? There are some high dunes just north of it; maybe they looked salty from the sea? Or maybe there were salt deposits in the area?

I’m going to headcanon it as named after you, though, if that’s okay. Because that’s cool. And because you “moo”ed at the cows. 🐂👍😀

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Sometimes when I’m birdwatching

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Sometimes when I’m birdwatching

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Sometimes when I’m birdwatching

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Sometimes when I’m birdwatching

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Sometimes when I’m birdwatching

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I’ve set my alarm for 3 a.m.; hopefully by the time this posts I’ll be asleep.

There’s a really neat beach that I’ve never been to. I was planning to try to get there this weekend, but we’re traveling on Sunday, which means I’d need to go Saturday. And at this point I can’t not participate in the local protest, even though it will probably be small, even though my own contribution will be pathetic and inadequate.

So I’ve decided to use a day of PTO and go tomorrow instead, spend some time by myself with just the wind and the grass, a few cows. And the birds.

I’m hoping for Grasshopper Sparrows. I’d never seen them IRL until this year, when I found out you can see them in SBA; you just have to work for them.

It’s nice to be able to achieve something.

Grasshopper Sparrow (Ammodramus savannarum) by Flickr user Dominic Sherony

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