Our San Diego's Pacific Rocky Shores Trip (San Diego Bird Festival) took us to bird at Cabrillo National Monument, located on the southern tip of the Point Loma Peninsula in San Diego, California. The monument and adjacent area commemorates the landing of Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo at San Diego Bay on September 28, 1542. This event marked the first time that an European expedition had set foot on what would later became the west coast of the United States. We saw numerous Brandt's Cormorants (Phalacrocorax penicillatus) roosting and nesting along the craggy shores. This is an interesting species because of its social habits and its physical characteristics. Males and females are similar with long, hooked bills, long tails, long, thin necks and a gular region that is blue with yellowish lower border during breeding. Brandt's Cormorants often perch with their wings spread in order to dry them. This photograph shows the typical flight pattern of this species, low over the water in lines. Short tails and straight, thick necks are also characteristic of the species. It was a partly cloudy morning with temperatures in the mid-50's.