Matsutakes, the prized wild mushroom that smells of cinnamon, are continuing to appear.
It's important to carefully dig up this mushroom to see the complete stem. It does have a very bad lookalike so only forage for this mushroom if you are very certain of your identification.
And here is one of my favorite edibles, a Queen Bolete, Boletus aereus.
Yet another storm is hitting the Mendonoma Coast. But this weekend is forecast to be sunny. We will be ready for some of that yellow stuff!
John Batchelder photographed this Red-shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus, perched on a roof on The Sea Ranch.
You can find this Hawk in California and in the East. They eat small mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians and crayfish. I bet this Hawk is keeping an eagle eye out (or a hawk eye out) for a nice fat rodent.
Thanks to John for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see a photo of a seemingly headless Red-shouldered Hawk, here's the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2012/11/10/craig-tooley-says-to-look-out-for-a-headless-hawk-in-the-forest-yes-hes-joking/
Three big storms, a river of rain, have hit the Mendonoma Coast. Carolyn André, intrepid photographer that she is, braved the second storm to take these photos of the coast of The Sea Ranch.
The storm coincided with a high tide as you will see below.
Big waves hit the coast.
At Point Arena Pier there are three red flags posted. No one should be out in this sea except the very big ships.
Surf's up...or way too dangerous, I believe.
Thanks to Carolyn for allowing me to share her evocative photos here with you.
Allen Vinson recently photographed two White-tailed Hawks observing a Common Raven. Allen entitled his photo, "Raven - what one White-tailed Kite said to another."
Thanks to Allen for allowing me to share his fun photo with you here. To see Allen's photo of a White-tailed Kite close up, here's the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2012/11/08/a-close-up-look-at-the-white-tailed-kite-allen-vinson-photographed/
Rick and I live a half mile back from the Pacific Ocean yet the sound of the crashing waves can be heard - and felt - inside our house. The ocean is in full voice and there is no denying its presence. Rich Kuehn photographed waves hitting Gualala Point Island yesterday from his home at The Sea Ranch.
There is an amazing amount of power in this photo. I thank Rich for allowing me to share it with you here. To learn more about this special island, here's the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2011/05/05/gualala-point-island-a-rocky-island-off-the-sonoma-coast/