Bettye Winters photographed a recent spectacular sunset over Manchester Beach.
In the far distance, where the land juts out, is where you would find the beautiful Point Arena Lighthouse.
I love how the pastel colors of the sunset are reflected in the Pacific Ocean. Just lovely...
Thanks to Bettye for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
Jack Likins and Roger Rude went diving three days in a row recently. Conditions have been quite good. Roger scored two ten-inch abalones and speared a 36 inch Ling Cod, and Jack found the biggest abalone of all.
Jack's abalone is 10 7/16 inches. I like how he's posed with Naked Ladies, a non-native flower that we love.
Jack reported on the health of abalones and the kelp situation:
"The great news is that there are still plenty of large Abalones out there, even though we haven’t had much kelp due to the warm water. Kelp is abalones’ main food source.
“The bad news is that there is a purple Sea Urchin explosion. They are all over everything, including the abalones. According to CDFW there are 60 times more urchins this year than normal. Urchins compete with abalones for food. Only time will tell what affect this will have on the ocean environment and the abalones."
Thanks to Jack for this information and thanks to Roger for allowing me to share his photo of Jack.
We're usually looking for Boleus edulis, porcini, in late October and November. But we did have a nice rain in September. That, combined with fog drip, has coaxed several Boletes to pop. Justin Rosenthal found the first ones on The Sea Ranch.
Justin said they were growing about 1/4 mile inland in tall grasses. She said they were hard to see.
Irma Brandt was encouraged to go check one of her spots this past week. Look what she found - two pristine, perfect Boletes.
Several others have found a few too. I think it is going to take a couple of good rainstorms to convince more of these delicious edible mushrooms to appear.
Thanks to Justine and Irma for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
Margaret Lindgren, of Unbeaten Path Tours, took clients out two days ago, touring the Point Arena-Stornetta Lands. The surf was amazing.
The mist from the crashing waves drifted over Highway One. Yes, the Pacific Ocean was having its say!
Thanks to Margaret for allowing me to share her photos with you here. To learn about the wonderful hikes she leads, here is her website: http://www.unbeatenpathtours.com/index.html
Big bucks, showing off their antlers, have been seen pursuing does. Maureen Simons watched a pair recently. They caught wind of Maureen and took flight.
Two days ago I heard rustling outside the window. I looked out and there was a buck and a doe near a big huckleberry bush. I said, "Hello, beautiful," which appeared to be the wrong thing to say! The buck went crashing into the huckleberry bush, entangling his antlers for a short time. He successfully disentangled himself and then took off. I saw them a little later as the doe grazed and the buck followed close behind.
Nik Epanchin photographed a buck devouring a butterfly bush.
It's always interesting to see a deer stand on two legs! Thanks to Nik and Maureen for allowing me to share their photos with you here.