Yellow Chanterelles are being found as evidenced by this photo taken by Ron Champoux.
That's a nice haul of this delicious edible mushroom. I am still waiting for my spots to fruit. I did find quite a few Matsutakes this week.
Thanks to Ron for allowing me to share his photo with you here.
Allen Vinson looked out his Sea Ranch home and saw a Bobcat on its back with its feet in the air, obviously scratching its back. The Bobcat then stood up and stared right at Allen!
The cat with the tufted ears and bobbed tail actually took a few strides towards Allen. But it veered off and went its own way, leaving Allen in peace.
Thanks to Allen for allowing me to share his photo with you here.
I'll let Siegfried Matull tell this story:
“Whenever the sun shines, we have Quail taking sand baths in our yard. We have been watching this action for many hours!
“In my picture you can see two Quail on the left with their eyes open, but the Quail on the right has stuck its head down into the sand we are sure with its eyes closed. These birds throw the sand with their wings high into the air, fully covering themselves with sand, making them invisible.”
Studies have shown that dusting helps Quail maintain the optimum level of oil on their feathers.
Thanks to Siegfried for allowing me to share his photo with you here. And Happy Thanksgiving to those in the United States! This beautiful, warm day on the Mendonoma Coast is reason enough to be thankful. And we are thankful for the rains to come - there is a series of storms headed our way, with rain to begin sometime tomorrow. Hooray!
Ken and Martha Fischer were surprised to see all these Moon Jellies washed up at the mouth of the Garcia River.
Ken said there were thousands of them and surmised that huge surf had thrown them up onto land.
Moon Jellyfish, Aurelia, are found in most of the world’s oceans. They only live for a few months.
Here's a happier photo, one that Craig Tooley took of Bell Jellies off our Coast.
This photo appears in my book, Mendonoma Sightings Throughout the Year. Craig is the featured photographer.
Thanks to Ken and Craig for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: www.ruffimage.com
Peter Cracknell spotted three or four Orcas, Killer Whales, quite close in on Saturday afternoon. Earlier that day he had photographed a large group of California Sea Lions rafting. Orcas do prey on Sea Lions. Here is a photo of one of the Orcas, heading north.
Here is a close-up photo Tom Eckles took from a pelagic trip of a male and female Orca. The male has the taller dorsal fin.
I am also happy to report that the first Gray Whales have been spotted, headed south.
Thanks to Peter and Tom for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see much more of Tom's photography, here is his website: www.tomeckles.com