Carol Escajeda had a great flyover by a large blue and gray bird. She wrote, “I was in the backyard when I spotted a large bird flying downhill towards me. I quickly snapped a photo with my iPhone before it landed in a pine tree next to me. It’s my ‘totally lucky Great Blue Heron photo!’”
Lucky us that we get to see it too.
Thanks to Carol for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
It was sunny and warm this morning...and then...and then...the fog appeared as if by magic!
Ron Bolander wrote, “At Gualala Point Regional Park, on Saturday morning, there seemed to be a little more bird activity. Between Western Bluebirds, Pygmy Nuthatches and Yellow-rumpled Warblers, there were some better photo opportunities. I was able to get this picture of a ‘Butter Butt’ just as it grabbed this insect, in midair.”
To hear their warbling call, here is a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-rumped_Warbler/sounds
Thanks to Ron for allowing me to share his great photo with you here!
It's a beautiful spring day here today, though breezy. Northwest winds in the spring? They bring UPWELLING in the ocean, which ignites the entire food chain.
Drew Fagan saw this cloud - an animal howling at the moon!
Drew thinks it looks like a dog. I think it looks like a bear. What do you think?
Thanks to Drew for allowing me to share his photo with you here.
There are a lot of clouds today, with some strong winds. No sign of rain though.
Several weeks ago a fabulous pelagic trip was the order of the day on the boat The Kraken of Anchor Charter Boats in Fort Bragg, and Shari Goforth was onboard. They saw three species of dolphins. Today I want to show you two of the Pacific White-sided Dolphins she photographed.
These dolphins like to ride the wake of a boat. That is what the dolphin is doing in the second photo.
Thanks to Shari for allowing me to share her photos with you here.
ah, today is heaven-sent. Warm with little wind - it's just feel so good to be on the Mendonoma Coast!
Dara Otwell wrote, “These were at Bowling Ball Beach Monday, 17 March.”
When I wrote back, I told Dara I had never seen so many washed up - her photos showed thousands of these animals - and she responded, “I’ve never seen so many either. It was wild; as with Nature, it changes constantly as the beach was back to normal the next day.”
Carl Shapiro found a newly washed up Velella at Black Point Beach. It still had its vibrant blue color.
You can see the "sail" on top of this animal. About half of Velella velellas have sails tilted one direction, and the other half have it tilted in the opposite direction. This way, when the spring winds blow, half of them get blown further out to sea, while the unfortunate ones get washed up on the beach. Other creatures will eat them, and the tide will take some of them back into the ocean to be a part of the food chain.