Final Blog Post of 2024: Cuesta Inlet, Los Osos, Late December

I think I’ve reached the limits of what a WordPress blog with photos can do. I’ve noticed tremendous delays in loading images over the past few months, to the point where the blog was unreadable for weeks at a time. I let it sit for a month, and it seems to have improved somewhat, but the experience was enough for me to look for a different platform. I think I’m going to archive this blog and code my own site over at kolstad.com. Look for Benweb 4.0 in 2025!

Until then, here are a few shots from Morro Coast Audubon’s final field trip of 2024, a guided tour of Cuesta Inlet over in Los Osos. It was a beautiful Saturday morning, and although we didn’t find any rarities, I enjoyed the rare opportunity to get up close and personal to a mixed flock of peeps along the shoreline.

Least Sandpiper, Los Osos, CA, December 28, 2024

Least Sandpipers feeding in the Cuesta Inlet, Los Osos, CA, December 28, 2024

Least Sandpiper, Los Osos, CA, December 28, 2024

Western Sandpiper (center) and Least Sandpipers, Cuesta Inlet, Los Osos, CA, December 28, 2-24

Western Sandpipers bracketed by Least Sandpipers making a living in the Cuesta Inlet, December 28, 2024

Lesser Scaup, Los Osos, CA, December 28, 2024

Lesser Scaup flying in formation, Los Osos, CA, December 28, 2024

Brants in Morro Bay, Los Osos, CA, December 28, 2024. If you look closely at center near bottom, you’ll see a lone Northern Shoveler photobombing the scene.