The mighty wind of April accompanied me throughout my final shift as a Winter Wildlife Docent on Sunday April 28th.

I spent the day dodging rain squalls and freezing wind at the Lighthouse Overlook with fellow docent, David on Thursday April 4. We could see numerous squalls slowly moving across the ocean which gave us plenty of time to huddle under an umbrella and protect the scope from getting wet before each squall hit.

Volunteering every Thursday in March has been a great opportunity to closely observe the progress of the elephant seal weaned pups. On March 28th, I had a split shift — the Point Reyes Lighthouse in the morning and Drakes Beach in the afternoon.

It’s the end of the breeding season and the last elephant seals on the beach are the cutest ones — the chubby weaned pups aka “weanlings” or “weaners”.

Visibility was outstanding in Point Reyes on Thursday March 14 so I eagerly raised my hand to be posted at the Lighthouse as a Winter Wildlife docent for the day.