Author Archives: Jeanne Jackson

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Yes, it's sunny and toasty on the Mendonoma Coast today with not much wind. Sounds like a good day to head for the beach. Ruth Alexander was at Moat Creek on a sparkling day recently and photographed this Western Gull looking out at the Pacific Ocean.

Western Gulls are the only gull that nests on our coast. And they are year round residents.

There is a trail from Moat Creek to Bowling Ball Beach. You can find out more about it at the Mendocino Land Trust's site at this link: https://www.mendocinolandtrust.org/trails/southern-coastal-trails/moat-creek-to-schooner-gulch-trail/

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

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Will Ericson had a rare sighting of a California Dogface Butterfly near Annapolis.

He wrote, “They had been hilltopping on the mountain and pollinating almost exclusively purple-colored flowers. I almost never see them.” Hilltopping, also spelled hill-topping, is a mate location behavior where the males fly up to the top of a hill to try an attract a female.

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

It's a lovely day today on the Mendonoma Coast.

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Craig Tooley spotted this Spotted Towhee feeding her hungry chick. The chick is on the right, with its beak open wide.

Here's a photo of a Spotted Towhee taken some years ago by Bill Frizzell. They are beautiful birds that love to search for seeds, berries and insects on the ground. We often see them at our place, underneath the bird feeder. The Steller's Jays often knock seed out of the feeder, thus helping out the Spotted Towhees.

To hear their various calls, here is a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Spotted_Towhee/sounds

The third call on their list, the California recording, is what I often hear.

Thanks to Craig and Bill for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is the link to his website: www.ruffimage.com

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It's fun to see spiderwebs covered in dew or wet fog. Karen Wilkinson recently photographed one.

Craig Tooley photographed one that we used in our book, Mendonoma Sightings Throughout the Year.

 

And Peter Cracknell found one too.

Orb-weaver spiders spin the most intricate webs, so perhaps all three of these were created by Orb-weavers. When a spider begins to build her web, she waits for a breeze that sends her from one spot to another. As the breeze moves her, she lays down the first strand. She secures it and then carefully crosses it, laying a second strand. Learning more about the process makes me appreciate spiderwebs. I try to leave them intact and admire them for the amazing creations they are.

Thanks to Karen, Craig and Peter for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

Sunny and breezy today!

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Linda Bostwick noticed an unusual moth. She wrote, “I discovered this beautiful moth but was unsuccessful in looking it up. We call it the Monkey Face Moth. Check out the beautiful blue iridescent scales, and the great brown face on its back.”

Laura Baker helped find the ID, which is surprisingly enough not the Monkey Face Moth, but a Zigzag Furcula Moth. Its host plants are willows, cottonwoods and birch.  It is also called a Poplar Kitten Moth.

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

Fog over the ocean, sunny a little inland - sounds like summer on the Mendonoma coast!