This rare visitor to the lagoon is about 5 feet tall.

The View from Malibu Lagoon State Beach

On the west side of the intersection of Cross Creek Road and the Pacific Coast Highway, or PCH as everyone here refers to it, lies a beach and estuary with over hundred species of winged creatures. That's in addition to the occasional earthbound human traipsing along in wide-eyed wonder. It costs $8 to park here, but nothing to cruise in on your bicycle, as I have repeatedly since I first discovered this place. The beach is popular with local surfers, though not because the waves tower all that high. Unlike Venice (the heart of southern California surfing) where you get to ride a wave for ten measly seconds if you're lucky, in Malibu surfers breeze along the water for a hundred meters or more before their rides are over. I suppose that's because the creek that meets the ocean here. Even more astounding, when the tide is out, an inquisitive soul can spend hours sifting through all the colorful rocks, shells and sea vegetables that reveal themselves near the mouth of the lagoon.

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I was surprised, however, not to see any professionals birdwatchers here. The waterways are populated by countless sandpipers, ducks and mallards, pelicans, egrets, seagulls and other birds I can't begin to name. In fact, I have never gotten so close to a pelican or egret before in my life. I don't own a telephoto lens, so getting a good picture required tromping through the marsh and exercising a fair amount of stealth. Below are photos of two snowy egrets, one of my favorite birds.

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How on earth do they stay so clean? As for that picture of the big bird at the top of the page, not sure if that's a heron but that's my guess. I remember getting close to one in Golden Gate Park once, as he patiently waited for a gopher to venture out of its hole. Below, the egret in the righthand photo wandered under that bridge just as a group of tourists happened to be crossing.

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The smell of the dune scrub and other coastal plants is oddly fragrant.

Now the pelicans are another story. Not so delicate and dainty as the egrets, those beaks act like harpoons when they dive in the water to snag a fish. I felt sympathy for them, however, having to cart that cumbersome appendage around 24/7. Try picturing what a pelican nest must look like in order to accommodate the bizarre geometry. I imagine it's constructed more like a manger. But the beak does make for a good pair of grooming shears.

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With those fog-capped mountains in the near distance, palm trees and sprawling hillside villas, the whole panorama of Malibu is like nowhere else . I never tired of coming out here in October and November. Trips to L.A. always turn out to be something of a slog for me, since it's tough to land even a casual job. It's harder still if you're trying to break into the "industry" as a writer, especially when your specialty is woman-driven historical pieces. So whenever I lapsed into a state of futility and/or resentment at the stars (in the sky, that is), I would catch the #534 in Santa Monica and come out here. Whether it was sunny or gray, my troubles seemed to fly away as I meandered around, engaging in small talk with the natives.

Of course, that starter cup of coffee in town helped things along. But there were still places to go and wildlife to spy on, so I put my shoes back on ventured across the highway overpass that straddles. Malibu Creek. I had one other destination to check out on my daylong itinerary.

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