Rozann Grunig recently photographed the beachgoers at the mouth of the Russian River in Jenner. There was a lot of action! Well, maybe not so much from the relaxed Harbor Seals.
Rozann's photo shows many Brown Pelicans, Gulls, and some shorebirds. The juvenile Brown Pelicans are migrating north now. The young ones have brown heads and white underparts; the adults have white heads with brown underparts.
Thanks to Rozann for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
A few days ago we once again had subtropical clouds drifting up from the south. They made for a lovely sunset. Paul Brewer caught this beautiful photo.
Beautiful sunsets are a specialty of the Mendonoma Coast!
I thank Paul for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see much more of Paul's nature photography, here is his website: http://www.capturingnatureswonders.com/
If you are fortunate to be able to watch an Osprey nest, you will get many chances to see the chicks exercising their wings. Jim O'Brien photographed a chick doing just that with one of its parents nearby.
It's fun to watch the young Ospreys learning how to fly. They seem to do fine until they have to turn in the wind, then their flying is not as smooth.
We did have a very unusual, unhappy occurrence last week just north of Anchor Bay - a young Osprey was hit by a car and taken to Bird Rescue Center in Santa Rosa. Kudos to the volunteers who saved that bird and others in need.
Thanks to Jim for allowing me to share his photo with you here.
Low tides are an invitation to take a tide pool walk. Noel Olson and her sons, Julian and Chase did just that recently, and they found something very interesting, several Hopkins’ Rose Nudibranchs. Noel wrote, “Today we spotted these two beauties in The Sea Ranch! My sons carefully held them [underwater] for scale."
What is interesting about the nudibranchs the Olsons found is these pink, spiky, one-inch long sea slugs are usually found off of Southern California; they prefer warmer waters. The last time they were found this far north was during the strong El Nino that brought heavy rains in 1997-1998.
Thanks to Noel for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
If conditions are perfect, you might be fortunate to see a fogbow, also called a white rainbow. Peggy Berryhill recently saw one form at Cooks Beach.
You look for fogbows in the morning hours. The fog should be about bluff high. It takes the morning sun to create one. Isn't it lovely?
Thanks to Peggy for allowing me to share her photo with you here.