Grace O'Malley noticed this young Red-tailed Hawk perched on a tattered "No Trespassing" sign. Looks like an enforcer was in town!
Thanks to Grace for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
Another sunny, breezy day here on the Mendonoma coast. It actually feels more like Spring than Autumn. Come on, rain, come on down from the north!
The sounds of waves hurled onto sandy beaches and against bluff faces is an autumn highlight. The Pacific Ocean is more active, presumably from storms to our north. These breakers can bring sea foam. Susan Levenson-Palmer and Jan Conlon were walking at Irish Beach when they saw what Susan described as “green foam.
Sea foam, or spume, is formed when the surf churns up organic matter in the ocean, such as dead algae. Unless there was a toxic algae bloom, sea foam is harmless and is, in fact, an indicator of a healthy ocean ecosystem.
Here's a photo of Sea foam after a big storm several years ago, taken by Margaret Lindgren. The sea foam completely filled in this cove at The Sea Ranch.
Thanks to Jan and Margaret for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
We are still having lovely autumn weather, though most of us would appreciate some rain.
Joanne Angerame found her first Boletus edulis, with the help of her golden retriever, Riley. It's obvious Riley approves!
Even thought it's quite warm and dry right now, another edible mushroom is up - Coccora.
These mushrooms are in the Amanita family, and they are not for beginning foragers. They have a deadly look-a-like. You need to learn all three identification of this mushroom. Personally, I would never eat one I hadn't picked. One of their identifiers is their creamy top.
This morning Rick and I saw the first Fly Amanita up, always a fun sighting.
It's not an edible unless you parboil it twice, as David Arora showed a group of us one year on a mushroom forage. I prefer to watch them evolve, as they change shape quite dramatically.
Thanks to Joanne for allowing me to share her fun photo with you here.
Sunny skies with passing clouds is the order of the day.
Sometimes you almost can't believe your eyes - the sunset is that beautiful. Tricia Schuster photographed a recent sunset with the sky turning the most amazing colors.
Her husband, Jon Loveless, also photographed a beauty.
These sunbeams shining through the clouds are sometimes called God's rays. It's quite dramatic to see them.
And now we head into November. We are experiencing warm, Indian Summer days right now. Even though the weather is sublime, we know changes are ahead.
Thanks to Tricia and Jon for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
This time of year you are more likely to see a beautiful Cooper's Hawk. Craig Tooley recently spotted a young one, a juvenile, flying over The Sea Ranch, and Craig always has his camera at the ready!
Cooper's Hawks are amazing fliers. They prey on medium-sized birds, so sometimes one will perch near a bird feeder. If that happens to you, take the bird feeder down for a day or two. The male Cooper's Hawk is smaller than the female, which can work to his disadvantage if he resembles a medium-sized bird!
Their call is a "cak-cak-cak" which you can listen to at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology link: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/sounds
Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: www.ruffimage.com