Took a spontaneous trip to see the back side of the Bolsa Chica Wetlands area that is undergoing restoration. I know I shared a photo or two of the new inlet that was built, well, that feeds into the wetlands. Now the wetlands are more beautiful than ever, with much more water and wildlife. People are also replanting several areas with native plants, so I look forward to watching those mature over time. I had a very strange experience around sundown; way back in the last bit of accessible trail, I was looking into a protected fenced in area and noticed a large animal. I realized it was a coyote, likely hunting some of the rabbits and squirrels I’d been watching. He started ever so slowly making his way towards me, never looking away from my face. He was a backlit, so I couldn’t really see his eyes, but I felt as if they were locked onto mine. He was big and very healthy looking. I felt truly sorry for him, because I could plainly see house construction going on not far from the edge of the protected area, just at the ridge of the nearby hills. I knew his area was diminishing fast, and his very life could be at stake. People buying brand new million dollar homes don’t generally take kindly to coyotes. I was kind of lost in the moment, watching him, feeling compassion, feeling sadness, when he suddenly lifted his head to sky and began wailing. He looked back at me and continued to bark in an agitated way. Then I noticed a second, possibly even larger coyote moving quietly towards the first one. It was time for me to move on. While what the Amigos de Bolsa Chica have finally accomplished after 30 years is wonderful, it’s still sad that developers can not see how important it truly is to have open space, and that this scaled back version of their project is still going to heavily impact the ecosystem. It has been extremely hard for me to watch the steady development of Southern California over my short lifetime.