Terry Bold was hiking near the Garcia River when she came across the print of a Black Bear.
Soon thereafter she found scat. No actual sighting of the Bear though. Below are two photos Terry took of the river.
Thanks to Terry for allowing me to share her photos with you here.
High surf advisory is what we've been hearing lately. Waves have been pounding the Mendonoma Coast. It's awesome to see the power of the Pacific Ocean. Carolyn André recently photographed the big waves off of The Sea Ranch.
When mist rises from the top of waves we call them rooster tails.
Here's a particularly good rooster tail.
And the waves continue their relentless pounding of the bluffs on The Sea Ranch.
With the February rains, the bluffs have greened up, a very welcome sight after our dry January.
What a wild day on the beautiful Mendonoma Coast! Thanks to Carolyn for allowing me to share her photos with you here.
We've been very excited to have the beautiful Point Arena-Stornetta Public Lands be the first land-based part of the California Coastal National Monument. Last Tuesday President Obama made it official by presidential decree. Mendonomans Merita Whatley, with her white hair, and Leslie Dalhoff traveled to Washington D.C. along with Larry Stornetta and Eloisa Oropeza (not pictured). Congressman Jared Huffman, second from the right, and Mike Thompson next to him, took up this cause in Congress.
On Wednesday a dedication ceremony was held. Look at the beautiful weather we were having. Here is the new sign with the Point Arena Lighthouse in the distance, photographed by Ron LeValley.
Here is an enthusiastic Leslie Dalhoff, former mayor of Point Arena, is addressing the crowd of over three hundred, photographed by Emily Nelson. Both Leslie and Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell, were very animated and obviously excited to be a part of this day.
Charlie Ivor photographed Patty Stornetta Woodruff (middle) addressing the crowd. She talked about what it was like to grow up on this land. She and other family members worked together to have these lands transferred to the Bureau of Land Management, thus protecting them from development and giving all of us a priceless gift.
Thanks to Ron, Emily and Charlie for allowing me to share their photos.
Bill Lange was recently traveling along curvy Highway One when he saw this scene.
Thanks to Bill for allowing me to share his photos with you here.
Gray Whales have been seen the past several days, many are mothers with calves. On Wednesday we watched a pod from our deck in Anchor Bay in the late afternoon. One whale did a complete breach! Here is a photo taken by Ron LeValley that shows you what a Gray Whale breach looks like. When the whale hits the water there is a BIG splash.
Also migrating north are thousands of Aleutian Cackling Geese. Richard Kuehn photographed several large flocks this past week consisting of over two hundred geese in each flock. The flocks look like undulating ribbons in the sky.
Rich took a close-up of them. They used to be called Canada Geese but they are smaller than Canada Geese and have the new name of Aleutian Cackling Geese. And, yes, they are quite noisy as they migrate. It's really fun to hear them approaching, cackling away.
Thanks to Rich and Ron for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see much more of Ron's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://www.levalleyphoto.com/home/