Monthly Archives: September 2018

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We have a group of sub-adult Gray Whales who have stayed along our coast rather than migrating to the Bering Sea. This has been happening for several years now. It's exciting to see and it's heartening to know there is enough feed for them here. Karen Wilkinson recently photographed a young Gray Whale.

You can tell it's a young gray by the stubby head. And, if we had something to compare it with, you'd see the length of the young whale is less than an adult.

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

We had our first rain in nearly six months yesterday and the night before. It felt so wonderful to hear and see it. This morning the damp forest smelled so good. We have another storm predicted for Monday night. Could mushrooms be far behind?!?

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Michael Combs' dog, Ranger, found an unusual sighting. Michael wrote, "On Cooks Beach, our dog, Radar, was very excited by something he smelled in the surf near the shore. After a bit, I saw the tip of what was the wing of a dead Longnose Skate in the water. I dragged it to shore and took its picture."

"Including the tail, it was about four feet long, and was heavy, estimated 40 to 50 pounds. It wasn’t on the beach today, a good thing as it was starting to smell pretty bad.”

I had never seen one of these skates with a very long nose before. I sent Michael’s photo to MaryJane Schramm of NOAA. She wrote, “Cool find!  I believe this is a Longnose skate, Raja rhina, and they are found here, indeed. They're usually at deeper depths, but wildlife notoriously does not read the books we write about them.”

Thanks to Michael for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

We are beginning to cloud up this afternoon. Some rain is predicted soon, our first in nearly six months. It is so very welcomed!

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Kathryn Arnold went tide pooling during a recent low tide. She wrote: “I had a couple of unique-to-me sightings at Shell Beach. The tide was an 0.7 and I spotted a healthy juvenile Bat Star about the size of my thumbnail resting on a seaweed-covered rock at the tideline."

“When I gently turned it over for a closer look, I discovered that is was dining on a wee Wentletrap!

"Don’t worry, I put the Bat Star and its prey back where I found them! A few moments later I came across a ten-inch long Gumboot Chiton tracing a beautiful serpentine design in the sand.”

I didn't know about Wentletraps. I learned a Wentletrap was a tiny sea snail with a beautiful white spiral shell. The word “wentletrap” is Dutch for spiral staircase. Wentletraps are also called Staircase Shells or Ladder Shells. How, I wondered, did a Sea Star dine one of these seemingly well-protected mollusks.

I learned that many Sea Stars eat Mussels and Clams, also well-protected by shells. Sea Stars surround the shell, as the little Bat Star did, and use the suckers on their feet to pull the shell apart, creating a tiny opening for them to reach their prey, using their stomach to do so. Mother Nature seems to have quite a creative streak.

Thanks to Kathryn for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

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Eric Zetterholm noticed the larger Great Egret and the much smaller Snowy Egret perched on the same snag in the Gualala River. It's a rare sighting to see these two egrets perched together.

Other than their size, the way to tell them apart is Great Egrets have yellow beaks and black feet. Snowy Egrets have black beaks with bright yellow feet!

Here's a close-up of a Great Egret taken by Rozann Grunig.

And here's a photo of a Snowy Egret in flight by Beth Petit, showing those yellow feet.

Thanks to Eric, Rozann and Beth for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

Fog over the Pacific Ocean is keeping the Mendonoma coast nice and cool today!

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Peggy Berryhill told me this young Brown Pelican recently posed for her.

I love these prehistoric-looking birds. We are privileged to watch their migrations every year. Young Brown Pelicans, with brown heads and white tummies, are still flying northward. Peggy saw them feeding in the mudflats of the Russian River, along with American White Pelicans and Great Egrets.

Thanks to Peggy for allowing me to share her photo with you here. Peggy is the Co-founder and General Manager of the radio station KGUA 88.3 FM. She hosts a weekly program called "Peggy's Place." I am one of her guests every month. I'm usually on the third Thursday of each month, 9 am to 10 am, but this week I will be on Wednesday, Sept. 26 from 9 am to 10 am. You can listen in live at: http://kgua.org/