Don Phillips regularly patrols the beach at Manchester State Park, picking up trash tossed up by the ocean. Occasionally he finds a treasure. He believes these bones are the humerus, radius, and ulna of a whale.
Don is planning on offering this find to a nearby college for further study. Mel Smith took these photos and I thank him for allowing me to share them here.
Bettye Winters photographed this big breaker off Manchester Beach last week.
Margaret Lindgren joined in the fun too.
Can you almost hear the sound of this wave hitting the rocks?
Thanks to Bettye and Margaret for allowing me to share their photos with you here. Margaret, owner of Unbeaten Path Hiking Tours, was recently featured in an article in the Bend Bulletin about our Coast. You can read it at this link: http://www.bendbulletin.com/home/2398286-151/travel-to-californias-rugged-mendocino-coast#
Margaret's website is: http://www.unbeatenpathtours.com/
Gail Spencer photographed this Gray Fox relaxing in the sun. Gray Foxes are suppose to be nocturnal but they are often seen in the daylight hours here on the Mendonoma Coast.
Gray Foxes have a raspy bark for their call - it is quite distinctive. And they are year round residents here.
I imagine that this fox is seeking the shade today, as we are in the middle of a heat wave. Even at the bluff edge it is warm today.
Thanks to Gail for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
Peggy Berryhill photographed this cloud, which she described as "cheesy." I think it looks like the craters of the moon. Either way, it's a beautiful and unusual cloud. Peggy said it disappeared almost immediately after she photographed it.
We have a heat wave arriving today. That's not unusual for early autumn but we hope it will be short-lived and the cooling, moist morning fog will return.
Thanks to Peggy for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
This wild river is closed to the Pacific Ocean by a big sandbar across the mouth. It closes every year and will reopen with enough rain. With our drought conditions, the river was looking very dry and kayaking it meant you had to get out and carry your kayak in spots. But we have had two rainstorms and the Gualala is looking so much better. Linda Bostwick and Mel Smith recently kayaked there.
It looks quite idyllic, doesn't it? The clouds are reflected in the still water.
Thanks to Linda for allowing me to share her photo with you here.