Sightings

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We are having a two-day heatwave here. During the last hot spell, Paul Brewer photographed this Great Blue Heron with its wings in an unusual position. The thinking is this heron was doing this to  help cool him or her off.

I wondered about the two Osprey chicks in the nest I observe through a spotting scope. Today I saw the mother Osprey with her wings spread out, shading her offspring.What a great mother she is!

Water is very important to wildlife and putting in a birdbath can bring a plethora of smiles. Putting out a simple saucer of water will do the same.

Here's a fun photo taken some years ago by Robert Scarola of a Great Blue Heron lifting off.

Thanks to Paul and Robert for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see much more of Paul's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://www.capturingnatureswonders.com/

No clouds, no fog, and a gentle breeze - time to head for the beach!

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Jeff Goll loves heading out with his camera to see what kind of Nature sightings he can photograph. He saw this flock of Brown Pelicans flying over the Navarro River. You can tell the young Brown Pelicans because they have brown heads and white tummies. The adults have white heads and brown tummies. Juvenile Brown Pelicans arrived early this year. They are headed north, looking for fish wherever they go.

Jeff also saw three Canada Geese swimming in the river.

And these various reflections in the river.

There is beauty everywhere you look here on the Mendonoma Coast!

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

It cooled off today with some clouds overhead. Temp in the low 70's - nice!

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Craig Tooley has been out in Nature, training his camera on a beautiful male Northern Flicker.

Northern Flickers are woodpeckers. They are often seen on the ground as they eat ants and beetles. They use their beaks to dig the insects up. Craig's photos shows the orange-red color on the flicker's wings. If you were in the eastern part of the US, the flicker's wings would show yellow. So the flickers here are Red-shafted Northern Flickers. The red feathers on this flicker's face show us he is a male.

To hear the calls of these woodpeckers, here is a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Flicker/sounds

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photos with  you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

It's beautiful here on the Mendonoma Coast today. Sunny, mild with a gentle breeze - nice!

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Susan Rudy wrote, “The patch of Coast Lilies, Lilium maritimum, on Highway One at mile marker 38.8, is spectacular at the moment, and the population has grown considerably over the past several years. This beautiful, rare, endemic species is easy to see on the east side of the road, just inside the southern boundary of Salt Point State Park. It’s in the ditch/mowed verge, and continues for several hundred feet up the road.

I love seeing the bright orange-red flowers of Coast Lilies nodding on tall slender stalks. My neighbor has a patch by her spring box. They can grow three feet tall and more, but the ones Susan is referring to are shorter because of the mowing. Coast Lilies are pollinated by Anna’s and Allen’s Hummingbirds when first opening, and then by native Bumblebees.

Thanks to Susan for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

It's very warm on the Mendonoma Coast. It's toasty even in Point Arena!

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Sara Bogard actually saw a pair of Peregrine Falcons at the Point Arena-Stornetta Lands bluffs. She was able to photograph one of them perched on the bluff edge.

Peregrine Falcons hunt medium-sized birds. They can reach speeds of nearly 70 MPH when in their hunting dive. Those "medium-sized birds" most assuredly never knew what hit them.

Peregrine Falcon calls are high-pitched notes that you can listen to at this link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Peregrine_Falcon/sounds

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

It's warm on the Mendonoma Coast today, with strong breezes. Tomorrow is forecast to be warmer still.