Sightings

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Warm weather brings butterflies aplenty. A beautiful Swallowtail has been flitting around my garden. Robert Van Syoc recently found a lovely Painted Lady.

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Here's a Pale Swallowtail. The first photo shows it hitching a ride on Ken Bailey's hood, and the second photo shows the butterfly moving over to Wendy Bailey's shoulder.

Pale Swallowtail hitches on ride on Ken Bailey's hood by Wendy Bailey

Pale Swallowtail then flys to Wendy Bailey's back by Ken Bailey

Wherever we find them, we love to see butterflies!

Thanks to Robert, Ken, and Wendy for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

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Jon Loveless spotted the research vessel, the Bell M. Shimada. It was built for NOAA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to study fish populations. The vessel is particularly quiet so as not to disturb fish. In Jon's photo there is a fishing boat to the right - yes, the Shimada is big, it's 209 feet long and has a crew of 25, plus 17 scientists.

Bell M. Shimada, a NOAA research vessel and a fishing boat by Jon Loveless

This vessel's home port is Newport, Oregon. You can learn much more about it and its schedule at this website: http://www.moc.noaa.gov/sh/

Here is a close-up of the vessel that I obtained from the website.

SHIMADA-Underway courtesy of NOAA

Thanks to Jon and to NOAA for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

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Mary Sue Ittner and her husband, Bob Rutemoeller, were exploring Salt Point State Park last week. They came across two wonderful finds of rare wildflowers. The first is Nuttall's Milkvetch, Astragulus nuttallii, var. virgatus. There are a few white flowers left, but you are mostly looking at are the large inflated seed pods.

Nuttall's Milkvetch, Astragulus nuttallii,var. virgatus by Mary Sue Ittner

And the second one is Pleated Gentian, Gentiana affinis, var. ovata.

Pleated Gentian, Gentiana affinis, var. ovata by Mary Sue Ittner

Great finds and wonderful to see! Thanks to Mary Sue for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

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It's not often the Pacific Ocean looks like a lake, or as my friend Richard Lewis once said, "the ocean laid out flat like a lizard drinking." Last week saw several days of those conditions and lots of fishing boats were plying the waters.

Catherine Miller and Hal Ferguson look forward to days like this, as they fish from their kayaks. Here's Hal heading out for a fine day of fishing.

Hal Ferguson fishing from a kayak by Catherine Miller
Catherine photographed the calm waters that reflected the clouds above.
The Pacific Ocean was like a lake by Catherine Miller
And the results - lingcod, black rock cod, and kelp greenlings.
Fishing from a kayak by Catherine Miller

While out on the ocean, they saw a sunfish, a mola mola, as big as their kayaks! They also saw several whales, including a mother/calf Gray whale pair. All in all, an idyllic day on Lake Pacific.

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

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Christine Gilbert had a handsome Gray Fox visit her recently. She took these two photos.

Close-up of a Gray Fox by Christine Gilbert A handsome Gray Fox by Christine Gilbert

Gray Foxes are year round residents of the Mendonoma Coast. The females have recently given birth and fox kits have appeared.

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