Author Archives: Jeanne Jackson

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Michael Reinhart checked the bluffs on The Sea Ranch and found several Pelagic Cormorants paired up and already building nests. This is very early, experts agree.

Here is a cormorant with nesting materials in its mouth.

And here is a Pelagic Cormorant in flight. Beautiful, don't you think? The white patch on this seabird's flank shows it is in breeding plumage.

Pelagic Cormorants are mostly silent but they do make some sounds, including groans, when breeding. You can listen here, a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pelagic_Cormorant/sounds

Thanks to Mike for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

Today the weather story is WIND! It's sunny but the wind is howling. It's no fun to be out on the bluffs today!

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Joining Slink Pod in blooming in winter, Western Trilliums are up. Frank Lalle sent in this photo of one.

The white flower will turn pink after some days, and then purple. Promise me you'll never pick this wildflower! At the very least, it would set the plant back years, and at the worst, picking it might kill it.

The first Milk Maids, aka Spring Beauty, are up too. I saw a group of them at Gualala Point Regional park, by the steps from the parking area that lead to the Visitors' Center. Here's a photo taken by Amy Ruegg.

The first Bracken Ferns have poked through the ground. And the first Douglas Iris have bloomed in a sunny meadow.

Thanks to Frank and Amy for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

It sure feels like Spring today. Temps are warm, and there is very little breeze. It's a magnificent day on the Mendonoma Coast.

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All Nudibranchs are beautifully colored, but this is a new one for me. Liam Ericson found this Nudibranch off the Point Arena-Stornetta Lands.

Robert Van Syoc took a look at Liam's photo. He wrote, “It’s Anisodoris nobilis, sometimes called the Sea Lemon. They feed on sponges and repurpose noxious chemicals in the sponge tissue as their own defense against predation. They taste bad to fish! The bright showy coloration of most nudibranchs evolved as warning coloration to predators.”

The Sea Lemon, so bright yellow, has a white flower on one end - a nice touch by Mother Nature.

Thanks to Liam for allowing me to share his photo with  you here and Bob for sharing his expertise.

Waiting for another storm to come in later tonight. Not a big one, but we always welcome the wet stuff.

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Mark Hancock sent in a sighting that I didn’t know was possible to see, the Lost Coast. Mark wrote, “On Thursday morning, Feb. 4, I was greeted by one of my favorite and rarest sights as I crested Lighthouse Road, and the Point Arena Light Station came into view. The horizon was so crystal clear that you could see the ghostly images of the King Range on the northern ocean horizon! I have seen this maybe 20 times in my five plus years at the Lighthouse, and it always takes my breath away. Considering that the King Range is about 120 miles away, we get to see just the peaks of the 4,000 feet tall mountain range." Sara Bogard was there to take these photos.

How wonderful to know that this can be seen on a super-clear day! Thanks to Sara for allowing me to share her photos with you here, and thanks to Mark for telling the story.

We have some rain coming in for Thursday into early Friday, and then it is predicted to be sunny and warmer. I saw my first Milkmaids, Cardamine californica, today, a wonderful native wildflower.

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Here's the Mendonoma Coast's largest woodpecker, a Pileated Woodpecker. Craig Tooley photographed a male looking for bugs on a tree.

Here is a short video showing how the woodpecker uses his very strong beak to hammer away at a snag, looking for his favorite meal, carpenter ants.

The call of these woodpeckers is quite distinctive and you can listen to it here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pileated_Woodpecker/sounds

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo and video with you here. To see much  more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

An overnight storm brought nearly an inch of rain, and it's showery this afternoon. It's suppose to clear up for a few days, with another storm coming in late Thursday. Keep the rain coming, Mother Nature!