Author Archives: Jeanne Jackson

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Ken Bailey and his diving buddy, Jack Likins, were amazed at the huge Abalone Ken found while diving last Saturday.

That is an eleven inch gauge. Ken's abalone measured 10 13/16 inches. As his wife, Wendy, put it, "It was a BEAST!!!"  It weighed 9.6 pounds in the shell and 6.3 pounds out of the shell. That's a lot of good eating.

Ken and Jack were filming that day and caught this catch on film. They are in the process of creating their next abalone diving movie. It will be titled, "The Secrets of Successful Abalone Diving." Yes, they sure do know how to successfully dive for abalone!

Thanks to Ken for allowing me to share his photo with you here. In a few days I will show you a photo of Ken with this beast of an abalone.

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Fringed Corn Lilies are only found in Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. They are rare and special. Growing near water, their huge leaves amaze us in the spring. By the time the flower stalk with white flowers appears, the leaves have been munched on by insects. But the lovely flower rises above the mangy leaves and is a beautiful sight.

John Sperry recently photographed one blooming near Timber Cove.

Actually, the leaves in John's photo don't look very eaten. If you'd like to see some of these endemic flowers,
there are several growing along the pathway to Cooks Beach just north of Gualala.

Thanks to John for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

Here's a link to see the leaves in the springtime: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2011/04/08/fringed-corn-lily-leaves-a-rare-mendonoma-plant/

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Jan de Vries spotted a young Bobcat near his home of The Sea Ranch. It sure looks to be a young one.

This Bobcat hasn't really filled out yet but he's already out hunting rodents. Have I mentioned The Sea Ranch has plenty of gophers? Bobcats can be seen hunting gophers in grassy meadows during the daytime.

Thanks to Jan for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

To see a Bobcat walking a labyrinth on the Gualala Ridge, here's the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2011/04/21/bobcat-walking-a-labyrinth-an-amazing-sight-on-the-gualala-ridge/

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Craig Tooley recently photographed a juvenile Acorn Woodpecker growing in new feathers.

I love these clown-faced Woodpeckers. They fly in, with their swooping motion, and land on Bishop Pine trees near our bird feeder. Once on the feeder, the bird acts like a secret agent, looking here and there while bobbing its head.

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see more of Craig's wildlife photography, here's the link: http://ruffimage.com/

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As I showed you yesterday, there is a lovely little lagoon on the northern portion of Manchester State Beach. There I saw two birds wading in the water. The one on the left was about half the size of the other one. Ron LeValley identified it as a Pectoral Sandpiper. The bird on the right is a Short-billed Dowitcher.

Below there is a portion of a boat, with the metal piece that held the anchor, that recently washed up on the beach. Someone has already incorporated it into a driftwood "building."

And below Mel Smith and Linda Bostwick are standing next to a small refrigerator. It's very heavy. This and the portion of the boat might be precursors of the tsunami debris head our way from the Japanese disaster.

We were lucky and had a sighting of an Elegant Sheepmoth for our own!

And as we picked up debris, a flock of Canada Geese passed by, their wingbeats were audible in the calm morning air.