Sentri Lane Info

Sentri Lane Directions and Info: http://www.sentripasslane.blogspot.com/

La Bocana Society Page

Recently, La Bocana residents were fortunate to be invited to an enchanted evening of a gourmet sushi dinner hosted by the distinguished Lt. Commander Dallas Smith and his lovely wife, Sushi Master Chef Emily Smith. The guest list included long time residents Jack and Marlene Birdsall, Cathy Lydon and Paula Crawford who were summering in La Bocana, and Joseph Darrough without his better half, Sharon.

The evening started with a surprise announcement that Emily Smith had been trained as a Sushi Master Chef during her multitude of visits to Japan. She proceeded to enlighten her guests with a skillful display of the preparation of a variety of tantalizing delights using snapper, shrimp, mackerel, and salmon. Then, the guests were all invited to learn the craft of sushi making. Jack and Marlene learned with skill and depth. Cathy and Paula, after struggling with following directions, picked up the craft after the third round of Saki. Unfortunately, Mr Darrough had no chance of becoming successful and just mooched off the other guests.

The Commander was stunningly dressed in a designer outfit from the exclusive men's clothier Magasin D'économie in San Diego. Emily was appropriately dressed in Master Sushi chef attire accented with a manolo blahniks. Mr. Darrough was dressed in such a casual way that guests commented that he looked bon marché.

Bon appetit!

Photos by Paula Crawford

This Beautiful Bird

If you haven't heard, the pelican has been voted the Official Bird of La Bocana*.




Many pelicans have been landing and taking a breather at the lagoon lately. They are a sight to see, with their awkward landings. I tried to get a picture of a splayed legged pelican making his final descent, but there were no incoming pelicans the day I brought my camera. I did stalk this guy for a while and watched him preen himself.

Let's get to know our official bird the Brown Pelican:

Size: 39-54 inches
Wingspan: 6 - 8 feet
Weight: 70.6-176.5 ounces (roughly 4 to 11 pounds)
Official Name: Pelecanus occidentalis

Unique among the world's eight species of pelicans, the Brown Pelican is found along the ocean shores and not on inland lakes. It is the only dark pelican, and also the only one that plunges from the air into the water to catch its food.

The nest location varies from a simple scrape on the ground on an island to a bulky stick nest in a low tree. These birds nest in colonies, usually on islands.

After nesting, the birds move in flocks further north along the coasts, returning to warmer waters for winter. Their young are hatched in broods of about 3, and eat around 150 lbs. of fish in the 8-10 month period they are cared for.

Unlike most birds, which warm their eggs with the skin of their breasts, pelicans incubate their eggs with their feet. They hold the eggs under the webs that stretch from the front toes to the hind toe, essentially standing on the eggs to warm them. This peculiar incubation method made them vulnerable to the effects of the pesticide DDT. The DDT made the eggshells thin, and the incubating parents frequently cracked their eggs.

Normal pelicans can live more than 30 years.

*I'm sorry if you weren't there for the vote - it was kind of an impromptu election held on the bluff above rock beach. If you have another bird to nominate, please submit it for the next round of elections to be held... well, I'm not sure when but I'm pretty sure the polling place will remain the same.

It's not too late

The flowers are still in bloom - it's incredibly beautiful. And I didn't think it could get any more beautiful there.









Photos by Lucy Holman.

Miss these guys?

Imagine this sunset with some whale spouts and then you will know what it was like in La Bocana this past week!

Photo submitted by Carol

Senor Tortilla and Lisa Marie

Two friends visited La Bocana with us last weekend. Before leaving San Diego, we looked at this blog and I showed them Margery's beautiful photo of the wild horses. Lisa Marie was immediately taken by the idea of seeing the wild horses while we were in La Bocana. Joe and I explained that we have only seen them few times over the years and each of those times, they were far up on a ridge.

We arrived on a Saturday and talk of seeing the wild horses persisted all weekend. On Sunday evening, Lisa Marie and Nancy decided that the next morning, they would hike up the road over the hill behind the fishing village (where there is often a guard) as that was where Joe and I saw the horses in December. We stressed that the horses could be anywhere in the valley and it would probably be a fruitless endeavor. And we planned to leave on Monday morning. I suggested that we all think positive thoughts and encourage the horses to come to us so we don't have to go on a wild horse chase.

Sunday night, we didn't shut the gate to our property since we hadn't seen any cows around and we were planning to leave the next morning. And, well, we were feeling a little lazy.

Monday am, Joe woke up early to take photos of the blooming flowers and what did he see?

A horse in our yard! Joe ran in to get us and we all went out to see the horse. Was it a wild horse? We didn't know.

Lisa Marie grew up with horses and she decided to investigate. Armed with a head of romaine lettuce, she proceeded to inch closer and closer to the horse.

This took more than an hour. She saw that the horse was un-shoed, unbrushed, and the tail/mane was not trimmed. There was no brand or tag on the horse. Eventually, Lisa Marie was able to pet the horse.

He even seemed to like it. Note the white dot on his forehead. She coaxed him out of the yard and shut the gate. We named him Senor Tortilla.

After cleaning and packing up, we had about 45 minutes until we had to hit the road. We decided to drive over to the port and perhaps take a short hike up the hill to see the view. On the way there, Lisa Marie shouted, "Look! There's Senor Tortilla!" Sure enough, there was a horse up on the ridge.

We parked the truck and went up the hill with Lisa Marie running ahead of us.

As she neared the top, she saw several horses. She waited for the rest of us to catch up. We turned the corner and what do we see? 10 beautiful animals, including Senor Tortilla. Nine horses and one burro.

The horses wouldn't let us get close but Senor Tortilla stayed at the tail end of the group, often looking back at his new friend Lisa Marie. Eventually, they all went over the hill.

Could Disney have written a better horse story?

And yes, we did call Lisa Marie the Horse Whisperer.

Kayaking in the river

Have you ever seen it this green?

January Showers Bring February Flowers

Bocana is GREEN and full of FLOWERS! If you can get down there any time soon, you will be amazed at the transformation our little piece of paradise has made. Here are some photos to give you an idea:

Click on a photo to make it larger.

Photos taken by Nancy O'Brien, Lisa Marie Bader, Joe Darrough, and Sharon Darrough

New Year's Eve Party

And, so we will remember each other when we meet again, here's a guide to our names:

Thank you Art, Jennifer, and friends for the wonderful firework display on New Year's Eve - it was a great way to welcome in 2008!

The New Year's Eve Dinner Gang at Cathy and Paula's. Thank you Cathy, Paula, Doug, and Rhonda for a wonderful evening!

Happy New Year to one and all! Hope to see you in La Bocana!

(click on photos to make larger)