Monthly Archives: March 2012

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Gray Whales, mostly mothers with their calves, have been spotted every day this week. On Thursday Rick and I saw spouts from Highway One.

This is what you look for - two spouts seen on the calm ocean.

 As we drove into Gualala we saw more spouts just off the mouth of the Gualala River. Here is a big spout (behind the rock) of the mother and a little spout of the calf.

 Below the calf has spouted again and you can see the back of the mother Gray Whale

 And here is the tail of the calf.

Clouds may obscure our view for a while as several storms are headed towards the Mendonoma Coast. But we know the whales continue on their long journey, the longest migration of any creature on Earth.

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Judy Mello photographed the full moon rising on March 7th at the B. Bryan Preserve in Point Arena. The Grevy's Zebras aren't paying any attention though, getting a little more dinner before darkness fell.

 And I took this photo early the next morning of the moon setting over the Pacific Ocean. A few wispy clouds decorated the moon. It was mesmerizing!

There have been lots of Gray Whale sightings this past week. I will share a few pictures with you tomorrow.

If you'd like to learn more about the fabulous B. Bryan Preserve in Point Arena, here's their link: http://www.bbryanpreserve.com/

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Tina Doughty noticed this rather scary-looking spider weaving a web near her front door in Gualala. After learning that this spider is harmless - really a good guy in the spider world - she let it be. Her friend, Megan Wilson, photographed the spider, which they named Charlotte Moonface. They became so enchanted with this spider that they brought flies for it to eat.

The Orb Weaver Spider family has more than 10,000 different species and they make up about 25% of the entire spider population. They are among the most colorful spiders and, as you might guess from their name, their beautiful webs are oval.

Thanks to Megan for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

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Last Friday and Saturday the Mendonoma Coast experienced offshore breezes and there was a green flash each night at sunset. Tom Eckles manged to photograph Saturday's Green Flash. I am quite jealous as I have tried and failed to capture this phenomenon. I console myself with the fact Tom is a professional photographer. Thanks, Tom, for allowing me to share your photo here. Yes, the Green Flash is NOT a myth!

To see more of Tom's photography, here is the link to his website: www.tomeckles.com

To see a photo of the Green Flash by Richard Kuehn, here is the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2012/02/07/the-green-flash-was-photographed-by-richard-kuehn/

And one more Green Flash photo on this site, this one by Frank Vaskelis: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2011/04/28/the-green-flash-its-not-a-myth/

And perhaps you'd like to learn how to make a green flash cocktail! Here's the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2012/01/01/dawn-of-the-new-year-as-photographed-by-coastal-photographer-craig-tooley-and-the-green-flash-cocktail/

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Last night's nearly full moon shone like a beacon in the cold, clear night sky on the Mendonoma Coast. The full moon tonight should be just as bright as there isn't a cloud in the sky today. Exactly one month ago Joni Goshorn got a lovely photo of  February's full moon with a raptor in a tree.

Thanks to Joni for allowing me to share her photo with you here.