Sightings

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It's startling when you see an anomaly like this leucistic American Robin. Asa B. Spade noticed this unusual-colored bird just north of Point Arena, on Riverside Road.

You can see that this robin has dark eyes and some of its red-breast, so it's not albino. Here is the definition for leucistic: "An animal condition in which there is partial loss of pigmentation resulting in white, pale, or patchy coloration of the skin, hair, feathers, scales or cuticle, but not the eyes." It's pretty rare so it's a treat to see this bird.

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

We had a quarter inch of rain yesterday. Today has been sunny, breezy and beautiful!

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We don't see them very often but Shari Goforth-Eby managed to photograph a Sundog recently.

Folklore says that it's good luck to see one!

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

Today the clouds moved in and the temperature fell to 47 degrees. It was near 70 degrees yesterday, talk about whiplash. There was a brief but heavy downpour in the noon hour with more rain due in soon.

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Amy Ruegg went out on a local trail last Sunday and while she found trees down because of the recent storms, she also found early wildflowers. Milkmaids, Cardamine californica, are blooming now. They are members of the Mustard family.

Amy also found Western Trilliums, Trillium ovatum.  This photo shows one covered in raindrops. The white blossom tells you it is freshly bloomed. The blossom will turn pink and then darker still in the days ahead as it "ages."

And lastly, Amy found Wild Ginger, Asarum caudatum.

Wonderful to see! Thanks to Amy for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

It's a lovely day here on the Mendonoma Coast today, sunny with little breeze, and temps briefly hit 70 degrees!

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All the storms have brought a great deal of rain to the creeks and rivers of the Mendonoma Coast. When the Gualala River opened this autumn with the first rains, it breached the sandbar at the far north end. But after the recent rains, take a look at the new opening of the river. Rick Denniston photographed it for us to see.

When I zoom in on the right side of the sand spit, there are the two Bald Eagles, standing very close to each other, perhaps looking for a Lamprey, one of their favorite meals.

Thanks to Rick for allowing me to share his photos with you here. The Gualala River is always changing, always fascinating, and so worthy of protecting.

Yesterday's storm has blown through. I received 0.80 inches from the last storm. We had hail and downpours and brilliant sunshine between. It was a wait-five-minutes kind of day! Today is sunny and warmer. And that is the forecast for the rest of this week!

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Hairy and Downy Woodpeckers can be difficult to tell apart. Diane Hichwa identified this woodpecker Michael Reinhart photographed as a Hairy.

Here's what Diane said about how to ID a Downy versus a Hairy:

"The white down the back is indicative of a Downy OR a Hairy.

The white outer tail feathers with NO black dots tell me it is a Hairy.

(D for downy and D for dots).

Also the bill length to head width says bigger Hairy."

Here is a photo of a Downy Woodpecker, taken by Craig Tooley, for comparison sake.

Hairy Woodpeckers have a quiet "cheep" call which you can hear at this link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hairy_Woodpecker/sounds

Thanks to Mike for allowing me to share his photo with you here. And thanks to Craig for allowing me to show his photo here also. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

0.60 inches of rain overnight, sunny and mild today. Another smallish storm coming in Saturday afternoon/evening.