Karen Wilkinson noticed this Black Oystercatcher taking a vigorous bath.
It was a VERY thorough bath as you can see below.
Karen said it made her laugh to see this. It makes me smile to see her photos!
Thanks to Karen for allowing me to share her photos with you here.
Whimbrels are large, beautiful shorebirds, They nest far to our north in tundra. Non-breeders can been seen occasionally on the Mendonoma coast. Perhaps that is what Rusty Babcock photographed recently at Elk.
Just look at that long decurved beak! They use that beak to get small crabs and other invertebrates. You can hear their twittering call at this link: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Whimbrel/sounds
Thanks to Rusty for allowing me to share her photos with you here. And thanks to her brother, Tom Reidenbach, for sending them to me.
Dennis Latona was staying at one of the vacation rentals at the Point Arena Lighthouse when his wife looked out the window and saw a Long-tailed Weasel head poking up from its burrow opening. Dennis captured several photos.
I was asked by the Press Democrat to do a feature article on this amazing animal. Two Sonoma photographers, Joan Bacci and Steve Pearce, had learned of a Long-tailed Weasel burrow near Ragle Ranch Park in Sebastopol. They shared some of their great photos with me for the article and for this post. This photo by Steve Pearce shows the black tip on their tail.
Joan Bacci captured this weasel yawning to start the day - that's quite a pink tongue the weasel has.
Steve Pearce's photo below shows the slim build of this critter. That allows them to dive into burrows of smaller animals.
Joan Bacci photographed one of the weasels looking out of a burrow opening.
Here is the link to my article in the Press Democrat. There are five other photos by Dennis, Joan and Steve to go along with the article. https://www.pressdemocrat.com/lifestyle/8643471-181/cute-cunning-long-tailed-weasels-thrive?artslide=1
Thanks to Dennis, Joan and Steve for allowing me to share their photos with you here and with the Press Democrat! You can see more of Dennis' nature photography at this link: http://www.pinenutz.com/
Tricia Schuster has a small family of Black-tailed Deer near her place on the Mendonoma coast. She noticed the fawns' spots are fading.
The mother Deer is looking right at Tricia. Tricia said the young ones were getting their daily greens!
Thanks to Tricia for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
We are socked in with fog today right on the coast. Nice, cool, moist fog. This weather is why many call August "Fog-ust." We saw sun at our house for a couple of hours in the late afternoon yesterday.
Mary Sue Ittner was surprised to find this big Coast Gartersnake nestled into one of her flower pots. Here's her story:
Mary Sue wrote, “I saw a snake crawling up the side of one of my Haemanthus albiflos pots. By the time I got my camera out it had tucked itself in the leaves with just its head sticking out, and then not even that. You wouldn’t know it was even there unless you looked very carefully between the leaves. Later it came out so I could see how long it was. In spite of that it found a way to fit in the pot. I managed to capture one of the times it flicked its tongue.”
Mary Sue estimated the snake was about three feet long.
Among other things, Gartersnakes will eat mice, slugs and snails. Gardeners love to have one in their garden.
Thanks to Mary Sue for allowing me to share her photos with you here.