Sightings

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Rozanne Rapozo is an excellent photographer and I feel privileged to be able to share her work with you. Around 3 a.m. Tuesday, March 3, a total lunar eclipse was seen from the Mendonoma coast.

A lunar eclipse occurs when a full Moon moves into the Earth's shadow and the Moon turns a deep reddish-orange or “blood red". This happens because Earth's atmosphere filters out all the blue light and refracts the longer red wavelengths into the shadow. This effectively projects all the world's sunrises and sunsets onto the Moon, giving us a blood red Moon.

What a sight!

Thanks to Rozanne for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

Today is breezy and sunny!

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Several weeks ago Diane Hichwa saw this beautiful sight from her The Sea Ranch home.

Quite an amazing sunset!

Thanks to Diane for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

Rain report: Yesterday's storm was a deluge. It didn't relent for many hours. At Rick's and my place in Anchor Bay we received a total of 7.32 inches from the storm that began on Monday evening and rained continuously through Tuesday. That's a truckload of rain! Season to date is 45.33 inches. We now have warm, dry weather predicted through the rest of this week.

***Bonus sighting: this afternoon, Wednesday, I saw an Osprey on the nest we've watched for over twenty years. The male returns first and I saw him poking at the remnants of the nest. It's very exciting to see this Osprey return today!

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Catherine Miller saw this beautiful sight from her home on the ridge south of Point Arena.

So beautiful! Thanks to Catherine for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

We are being inundated with rain today. It's pouring! It looks like the eye of the storm is coming right over us here on the Mendonoma coast. Since this morning around 7:30 we have received 3.58 inches and it's still raining hard as I write this at 4:25 pm. And we received 2.42 last night. I am nearing 45 inches season to date. 50 inches is a nice rain year.

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Nancy Feehan found a very early Calypso orchid near Timber Cove.

 

And Karen Wilkinson found Shooting stars at Salt Point State Park.

Mirka Knaster found the first Douglas iris in bloom.

I love seeing the wildflowers arrive. It's like greeting old friends. Thanks to Nancy, Karen and Mirka for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

It's been very cold - 35 degrees this morning - and rainy, though we did have a dry spell during much of the day. It's raining again now. Tomorrow, Friday, is predicted to be dry as is early Saturday. Then more rain comes in! 36.02 inches so far season to date.

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A friend of Ron Bolander told  him about this thrasher at his property on the ridge behind Anchor Bay. These relatives of mockingbirds are not usually seen close to the coast - they are birds of chaparral. But the friend told Ron this bird had been here for months.

Ron played me a recording of this bird's song and it is quite unique. You can hear it at this link at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/California_Thrasher/sounds  Like mockingbirds, thrashers also mimic other bird calls.

I'll be looking and listening for this bird...once the storms are behind us.

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

It's a-storming today! And it's cold enough for hail. I just took a photo of a lurking storm cloud offshore - yikes!