Author Archives: Jeanne Jackson

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Siegfried and Gretel Matull stopped at the mouth of the Russian River in Jenner. They found the river closed but the Harbor Seals and Gulls didn't seem to mind.

 The wave action was dramatic at times and Siegfried got this photo of a crashing wave.

Rick and I had driven down the coast last Thursday and saw the river was about to flood the deck of the visitors' center. On our way back home, we saw this fellow getting ready to manually open the river - a dangerous task indeed.

We had to go down to Bodega Bay on Monday and saw that the river was at least four feet lower than it was the previous Thursday. Yes, the river was once again open to the Pacific Ocean.

Thanks to Siegfried for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

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We have had over seven inches of rain so far from the big storm. The creek that crosses our land has come to life. And this morning the Gualala River finally received enough rain to open to the Pacific Ocean, the first time in many months.

You can see the big opening in the sandbar. The river is running muddy and fast! It was raining hard when I took this photo today.

 
Here is Quinliven Creek - it is always wonderful when it comes to life. I love the many cascades.

It's a rare day when I send out two Mendonoma Sightings blogs in one day but I just had to tell you the news. This is sure to help put a dent in the drought. Hooray for Mother Nature!

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Allen Vinson photographed this White-tailed Kite at the moment it spotted its lunch. When you look at this photo is it any wonder that birds remind us of angels?

 Allen took the photo below on a sunny day. The Kite looks like an ornament in the tree.

White-tailed Kites are year round residents of the Mendonoma Coast. They have the ability to be motionless in the air by facing into the wind. This is called kiting and is indicative of this Kite.

Thanks to Allen for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

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Anchor Bay Beach is a wonderful place to see wildlife, watch the sunset and admire the waves. Donna Woodbury enjoyed a visit recently and was rewarded with the sighting of a Bald Eagle. She showed the big bird to Jerry Anon and he took this photo.

Jerry also caught a beautiful photo at Anchor Bay Beach of what he calls a glass wave. Just beautiful!

Thanks to Donna for sharing her sighting and to Jerry for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

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Jeff Ward and the Jerrold Baker family were driving down Highway One south of The Sea Ranch. They could hardly believe their eyes. It was a big Roosevelt Elk.

Here's what Jeff had to saw about their extremely rare sighting:

“We were heading south on Highway One from Gualala. All of a sudden Jerrold yells, ‘What is that?!’ It was a Roosevelt Elk! The Elk was in a full sprint at about 35 mph running on the west side of the highway. It leaped over two barbed wire fences dividing the pastures, completely clearing the fences by four feet on each side, incredible to see.”
As Jeff and the Bakers watched in awe, the Elk jumped another fence and was then running south in the northbound lane of the highway. Fortunately there was no traffic and the Elk veered east and disappeared into the forest.
Jeff continued, “My guess is the Elk’s weight was approximately 650+ pounds. The rack was level to my windshield on a Dodge 2500 3/4 ton 4x4 truck and the spread of the points was about 3 ½ feet.”

These huge elk are normally found to our far north, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. What it was doing on the Mendonoma Coast is a mystery. The much smaller Tule Elk can be seen at Point Reyes to our south.

Thanks to Jeff for allowing me to share his photo and sighting with you here.