Sometimes you look out your window and find someone looking back up at you! Rick Denniston photographed this young Gray Fox visiting his property in Gualala.
The wildlife we are privileged to see here on the Mendonoma Coast can bring wonder and joy into your life.
Thanks to Rick for allowing me to share his photo with you here.
Hot, dry, scary weather is happening now. We have been notified that our power may be shut off beginning Saturday night. Want to join me in a rain dance?
Near the Mendocino Headlands Ron LeValley spotted this leucistic Black Oystercatcher. This bird survived his or her lack of camouflage to grow from a chick to this young bird.
It's not the first time a nearly white Black Oystercatcher has been born up there. Last year Roger Adamson photographed a leucistic chick.
These anomalies appear in nature, but they always seem to catch us by surprise and bring a little wonder into our lives.
Thanks to Ron and Roger for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see much more of Ron's nature photography, or to sign up for his daily nature blog post, here is his website: http://levalleyphoto.com/home/
Smoke from the fire in Geyserville flowed up over the coast this morning. Here's a photo I took from our deck in Anchor Bay around 8 am this morning. It kind of looks like fog, but it's smoke.
The smoke has dissipated somewhat this afternoon. I hope the fires can be brought under containment soon. It's so sad.
Seryozha Krysti had a wonderful encounter with this same species of butterfly at her Sea Ranch garden. She wrote, “I have had a record population of butterflies and dragonflies this year and this morning I wanted to share this picture of a CA Sister Butterfly who landed on my hand as I was watering my yard.
"She stayed long enough for me to photograph from my phone. Her beauty and perfection were truly awe-inspiring!” Oh, to have a butterfly land on your hand, how wonderful is that?
Grace O'Malley also spotted one of these butterflies, down at Fort Ross. She wrote, “I attended the Harvest Festival at Fort Ross State Park. In the historic orchard - some trees were planted over 100 year ago - I spotted this large, fluttering, California Sister Butterfly resting on an apple tree branch.”
Thanks to Seryozha and Grace for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
Today would be a good day to see butterflies as it is very warm. Too warm!
*This post has been amended - I thought these were Krill but Tim Bray let me know I was incorrect, and Robert Van Syoc agreed. They are Mysids.* Amy Ruegg recently saw Mysids at low tide. She described them as tiny with brown bodies and two black eyes. She used a Tupperware bowl to scoop them up for a closer look. Their common name is Opossum Shrimp. They are small, shrimp-like crustaceans. They are an important food source for many fish and even great whales when they feed on rocky reef areas.
She also spotted a Shield-backed Kelp Crab which she also scooped up for a closer look. You can see tiny Mysids in the bowl too, to give you perspective.
Amy returned the Crab to his home in the kelp and the Mysids back into the Pacific Ocean.
Thanks to Amy for allowing me to share her photos with you here.
We have a stretch of sunny weather here on the Mendonoma Coast. Look for the Orion meteor shower, which peaks on Oct. 21 and Oct 22nd in the early hours of the morning.
The Point Arena-Stornetta Lands are an incalculable treasure. This year's Discover the Coast event is held this coming Saturday, October 19th. I've been asked to help lead a nature walk along with native wildflower expert, Julia Larke. We'll be meeting behind the Point Arena City Hall, and at 10 am we'll walk to the Mendocino College Field Station. There will be a shuttle bus to take you back to your car, or you can continue to hike all the way to the Point Arena Lighthouse, where there will also be shuttle rides. There are docents along the Discovery Trail and the Field Station will be open with fun sightings. Here is the poster of the event, which is free.
I hope some of you can join us! There is a chance of a few raindrops but that won't stop us!