Sightings

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John Sheafe had a nice day fishing. Here is his catch, which includes several Blue Rockfish.

When he cut into one of the Blues, look what he found in the fish's stomach.

John wondered if they were eggs. It took a bit of detective work to find out what these were. Mary Jane Schramm of the Great Farallones National Marine Sanctuary and NOAA had the answer. She wrote, "I checked around and my guess was right on, though I’ve seen them bigger. They’re Pyrosomes! Some Salps are in among them, too, possibly Thetys vagina, per Meredith Elliott at Point Blue [Conservation Science].”

Mary Jane told me Pyrosomes are usually found in warmer waters but they showed up off the North Coast several years ago, another signal of our warming waters. I also learned that each Pyrosome is made up of small, multicellular organisms called zooids. A Pyrosome is actually a colony, a tube-like colony, with an opening at one end. They are plankton eaters.

Once I knew they were invertebrates, I then knew to consult with Bob Van Syoc. He took a look at John’s photos and wrote, “Nice. It’s surprising to me the Blue Rockfish will eat them, but I guess the Blues tend to pick off whatever floats past them. I’m pleased to see the fishers catching Blues, too. They like to hang around kelp beds, and I see them making a little comeback on our coast. Fingers crossed!”

So the mystery was solved. It will be interesting to see if these Pyrosomes remain in the future. In the meantime, let's go fishing!

Thanks to John for the mystery and for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

We are having a spectacularly beautiful autumn day today!

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Warm, sunny days morph into star-spangled nights on the beautiful Mendonoma Coast. Craig Tooley was at Green Cove on The Sea Ranch Friday night and he photographed this gorgeous sight - the Milky Way.

You can see a meteor to the right of the galaxy, and the afterglow of Friday night's sunset - just lovely! Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

It's a little cooler today, thank goodness. It's sunny and clear, and the fog is still AWOL.

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Jim Tervo and Janet Burch were gifted with the sighting of a fogbow. Janet took several photos of the white rainbow.  Jim wrote a week ago Monday, “From this morning’s walk on the bluff trail."

"Janet and I had never seen this phenomenon before. Now we know where there is a pot of gold, but don’t tell anyone.” Oh, I would never tell where the pot of gold resides!

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

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Last Saturday's sunset was so lovely. Paul Brewer was ready with his camera to capture its beauty. Sometimes you just have to watch in awe.

Last night, Wednesday night, the horizon was clear and I saw a green flash, always a treat!

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

We are in the middle of a heat wave, something that happens in October pretty much every year. We did have some smoke drift in with the breezes coming from the "wrong" direction. Cooler weather ahead for the weekend, please!

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Last month Jerry Rudy photographed this Village Weaver in Timber Cove. His daughter, Susan Rudy, wrote, "For the second year in a row we’ve had a beautiful male, non-native bird - Village weaver (Ploceus cucullatus) also known as the spotted-backed weaver or black-headed weaver at Stillwater Cove - foraging around our buildings. This species is native to Sub-Saharan Africa."

"Last year it appeared alone, and seemed to be feeding on spiders on windows.  This year, it came through with a flock of mixed blackbirds: Red-Wing and Brewer's.   It appeared to be moving north with the group.  It is a brilliant yellow bird, with a black cowl and a bright red eye.  It is not particularly wary of people, so I assume it’s an escapee from someone’s aviary.  Keep an eye out."

I did not receive another sighting of this bird, but perhaps you will see him!

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

We got a little rain today, Saturday, not much, but rain is always welcome. It's quite balmy and still.