American Goldfinches nest later in the year than most birds as their favorite food source, thistle seeds, appears later. Rozanne Rapozo recently captured this beautiful photo of a young Goldfinch in flight. "Look, Ma...I'm flying!"
Thanks to Rozanne for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
Clouds drifted up from the hurricane far to our north. A few raindrops gently fell this morning. Sunshine is peeking out between clouds this afternoon and it's very mild, near 70 degrees.
Laura Baker photographed cute Chipmunks recently.
She wrote, “I got a kick out of watching these Yellow-cheeked Chipmunks through my window today. They were feeding on Himalayan blackberries. They're often too shy to see, but we can hear their two-note call. As the summer's gone on, they've gotten bolder and have shown themselves more.”
These blackberries are abundant this year, and delicious!
Thanks to Laura for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
Today we celebrate that the heatwave is over. Temps are mild with just a slight breeze. Nice!
Several weeks ago many Humpback Whales passed our coast, heading north. Most were quite far out but several photographers got interesting photos. Eric Zetterholm photographed this big Humpback breaching near a fishing boat.
And Ron Bolander caught this beautiful sight.
One last great share from Shari Goforth-Eby.
Any day you see Humpbacks...or any whale!...is a good day!
Thanks to Eric, Ron and Shari for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
It's hot here today. Overnight temps were in the mid 70's. It got up to 93 degrees this afternoon but suddenly dropped 10 degrees - hooray! The sea breeze is trying to kick in.
Laura Baker wrote, “Here's a photo of a Barred Owl I snapped today up here in Annapolis. It's peeking behind a strand of Usnea lichen. I have to admit having mixed feelings about seeing it. On the one hand, it's a beautiful, powerful bird. But as you probably know, the Barred Owls are driving out our local and less aggressive Northern Spotted Owls.”
This beautiful owl used to be an owl of the eastern part of the United States but in the 20th century it started to migrate towards the Pacific Northwest. For better or worse, the Barred Owl is here. These owls fly noiselessly so it's often difficult to spot them.
For comparison, here's a Northern Spotted Owl, photographed some years ago by Craig Tooley.
Thank to Laura and Craig for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
No fog today and temps are very warm when you get away from the ocean!
Peter Baye found unique-looking Steelhead in the Gualala. He wrote, “On my list for show and tell is the return of those rare pale juvenile Steelhead that look almost silver-gold ["sub-leucistic"?] on the Wheatfield Fork. I haven't seen any in years. They stand out in dark pools where their typical dark olive-backed peers, other Steelhead parr and Gualala Roach, are well-camouflaged against the dark algae-covered cobbles and gravel."
"In past years, I have seen sub-adults with this pigmentation. More often, if I find atypical adult pigmentation, it's almost blue-black. I think the folk name is actually "blueback" steelhead. The Kingfisher predation seems to be very low this year, so I guess it's not a big hazard to glow in the dark like this! It's from a deep, dark pool with cooler water stratified -layered- at the bottom.”
Here's a photo showing young Steelhead and Gualala Roach.
Thanks to Peter for allowing me to share his photos with you here.
It's sunny, breezy and warm here today!