Monthly Archives: May 2011

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And X-rated sighting for you today! Craig Tooley took a lovely photo of a pair of Western Gulls mating on Black Point Island. This rocky island sits just offshore of the southern edge of The Sea Ranch. Western Gulls nest there. I will post a photo of the island in the days to come. You can see this tiny island for yourself by going on the Black Point Beach public access trail of The Sea Ranch. Once you reach the bluffs and see the beautiful beach, look for a trail that winds off to the left. That will lead to the island. Approach it quietly - it is a place of beauty and serenity.

Here is the link to Craig's web site to see more of his photos:

http://web.me.com/theruffians1/RufImage

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Rick and I were taking a walk with our golden retriever, Huckleberry, looking for spring wildflowers when we came across this bird's nest. You can see it has quite a bid of mud in it. I sent the photo to Richard Kuehn. He's known as the Birdman of The Sea Ranch. He believes it is an American Robin nest. We saw no eggs so I hope it was last year's nest. I heard a Robin singing yesterday. Oh my, what a lovely song it was!

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On a drive down Highway One yesterday I took this photograph of just one of the many spectacular spots on the beautiful Sonoma Coast. We are expecting a storm later tonight but you wouldn't know it by this afternoon's sunshine.

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Frank Terlouw and his son are fishermen who fish off the Mendocino Coast. They were out in their boat on the Pacific Ocean when they saw this unbelievably strange and beautiful cloud formation overhead. Frank later found an explanation for the rare phenomenon in an article by Victoria Tang in Earth Science magazine. An airplane can punch a hole in a cloud and actually change the weather below, causing that part of the cloud to snow. Frank never saw an airplane but the photo in the article was nearly identical to the one he took. With Frank's kind permission I've posted his fantastic photo below. Notice that in his photo Frank also captured a rainbow. Enjoy, enjoy!

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With the early minus tides this past weekend, cars lined Highway One as abalone divers came to the Mendonoma Coast with abalone on their minds. Local diver, Jack Likins, has told me conditions so far this season have not been good due to the wind and strong currents. Jack has had some fabulous days hunting red treasure. He once got three ten inch abalones in one day. Many divers would give their left fin for one ten inch ab. Jack graciously has allowed me to share the photo commemorating his feat.