The primary reason for this trip up the coast last week was to see this bird, a Yellow-billed Magpie, for my 2018 year bird list. This bird is endemic to central California, unlike the Black-billed Magpies that are much more widespread.
Another view of the Yellow-billed Magpie. The birds were perched high up in very large oak trees, so were hard to photograph. Once in awhile one would perch out on a limb, like this one, and I could get a shot. Even so, this was cropped greatly.
This cute little raccoon was working the bottom of the shallow water at Oso Flaco Lake out of Santa Maria, CA. He was with several other raccoons that day, and was fun to watch.