67Steffen.com

Just like it reads in the bird guide books, the black oystercatcher is found on the rock coastline of the Pacific Ocean. As the coastline disappears because of rising sea levels, development and erosion, the oystercatcher is displaced. Yesterday, I spotted a pair on the rocks at Asilomar, three miles north of Carmel. This was my first sighting of the oystercatcher in two years. At first I didn’t see them–they are the same color as the rocks they walk on in search of shellfish at low tide. But, when they look up, their cover is blown by a bright orange bill and eyes. There is an organized effort to track these birds as their population decrease is viewed as a sign of the harm caused by global warming