Sightings

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My neighbor to the east, Emily Nelson, called and said, "Jeanne, I think there are Dolphins out there!" I immediately could see the dark streak in the ocean.

This is the anomaly you look for - a dark line indicates a school of fish or even perhaps Humboldt Squid. I trained my scope on the dark line and, sure enough, there were dark dolphins leaping out of the water.

The Dolphin were at least two miles out in the Pacific Ocean. I wish the photo was better but it will at least give you a feel for what we were seeing. Any day you see Dolphins is a good day!

And, as a bonus, here's a photo from last night's beautiful sunset.

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Yesterday was a day full of happiness. One of the main reasons is that Al - or Alice, we don't really know - returned to the waters off of the Point Arena Pier for its 19 season. The Laysan Albatross arrived around 1 pm yesterday, Dec. 5th, and the news quickly spread. Al was late arriving this year so we were worried. But our worries were in vain, as this unique bird with a fondness for surfers has blessed us once again with its presence.

Mel Smith took this photograph of Al and I thank him for allowing me to share it with you here.

As if Al's arrival wasn't enough, we had a beautiful green flash last night. And a pod of Gray Whales was seen off Gualala yesterday headed south. Lots of exciting sightings here on the Mendonoma Coast!

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If you happen to be lucky enough to have Brown Pelicans flying overhead, do you know how to tell if they were born this past year, the year before or if they are adults? Allen Vinson knew! The juveniles have white bellies and dark heads, while the adults - three years and older - have dark bellies and white heads in winter.  A second year bird has a white belly and white head. And I haven't even mentioned the adult males' breeding plumage, which is seen in the spring. Who knew birding was so complicated?!

 This young Brown Pelican looks like it was just learning to fly!

 Allen wrote that it was losing altitude as he took this photo.

I hope these last two photos made you smile. I smile every time I look at them!

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Siegfried Matull captured the moment a Brown Pelican landed in the Gualala River, with its reflection clear in the water. It's a lovely photo and I thank Siegfried for allowing me to show it.

Brown Pelicans are migrating through the Mendonoma Coast, heading south for warmer waters to spend the winter. They are one of my favorite birds, just wonderful to watch fly by in formation - another privilege of living on the Mendonoma Coast!

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Craig Tooley recently took this photo of beautiful clouds from the bluffs of The Sea Ranch. And the Pacific Ocean abides. Just lovely.

 Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo here.  To see more of his work, here is a link to his web site: http://ruffimage.com/

And on a recent walk Rick and I could only look from afar at these Oyster Mushrooms at least twenty feet high on a Tanoak snag. We were wishing we were able to levitate so we could harvest some for our meal.