Sightings

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Laura Bridge is active with our local Humane Society and she is kindly fostering a group of cute kittens. She heard Shazam, a seven-week-old kitten, hissing and meowing at something through the closed sliding glass door and when she looked, a Bobcat was staring hungrily back.

Here's the video: Video kitty bobcat by Laura Bridge If you can't play the video from the email post, click on the post and go to the website. You should be able to play it there. It is VERY cute and a good reminder why our domestic cats should be kept inside.

Thanks to Laura for allowing me to share her video with you here. To learn more about our local Humane Society, the Redwood Coast Humane Society, here is their link: http://www.redwoodcoasthumane.org/

Today, Wednesday, it has been warm - over 70 degrees! After all the rain we've received, mushrooms are loving this warmth and they are popping up seemingly everywhere. Tonight we are suppose to get more rain!

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Mike Petrich and Karen Wilkinson found a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk. Mike wrote, “It’s been an active Fall in terms of raptors, especially around the Garcia River. Last weekend we watched Ferruginous Hawks, White-tailed Kites, Northern Harriers, and a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk. It seemed to be hiding out away from the strong winds that preceded our rainy weather. We peered over the edge of the cliff overlooking the river, and it stared right back at us!”

These hawks are hawks of the forest. They prey on rodents, frogs and snakes. They have a rather plaintive call which you can hear at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology at this link: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-shouldered_Hawk/sounds

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

Today, Tuesday, is a lovely sunny day after a rainy day yesterday.

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Brown Pelicans continue to be seen in large numbers. Paul Brewer recently photographed a flock flying north.

The white-headed pelicans are the adults and the brown-headed pelicans are the juveniles. I just received the first photo of a brown pelican in breeding plumage, and that male's head is yellow. Here's an example from a previous  year, photographed by Craig Tooley. These males are now heading south.

Thanks to Paul and Craig 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/ and Craig's website is: http://www.ruffimage.com

We had another vigorous storm today. We sailed past 17 inches season to date, a marvelous amount of rain by the first day of November!

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Allan Hogle found a mushroom I don’t believe anyone would try to eat. He wrote, “There is a regular appearance here at The Farm on the Gualala Ridge, always under out Chestnut trees, at this time of year. According to David Arora’s Mushrooms Demystified, it’s Deadman’s Foot. It seems to have that eerie Halloween connection!”

The scientific name of this fungus is Pisolithus arenarius.

Here are some prettier mushrooms, Wooly Chanterelles, as photographed by Adrian Adams.

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

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Eric Zetterholm has been trying to photograph North American River Otters at the Gualala River. There is a family that lives alongside the river. Eric recently photographed one of the elusive otters as he or she dove into the water.

The Gualala River was majestic yesterday with the high tide bringing huge waves over what is left of the sandbar. I will share some photos and video of that soon.

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

Tuesday started with rain showers. The next few days are suppose to be dry and mild. The ocean is still loud - it's quite amazing to hear.