Sightings

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Sara Bogard does a regular count of Harbor Seals at the PA Lighthouse Peninsula and the Point Arena-Stornetta Lands. She also notices and photographs other wildlife. The first bird is a Surf Scoter. This is a female and she is overwintering on the Mendonoma Coast. These sea ducks nest in far Northern Canada and Alaska.

Next Sara photographed a Belted Kingfisher. Males have one blue band across their white breast, while females have a blue and a chestnut band. I can't see any chestnut, so I think this is a male. They are year round residents here. And then Sara found this Harbor Seal catching a Rockfish for its meal.

There is a LOT to see when you take the time to observe as Sara does!

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

It was cool overnight, 40 degrees in the early morning. There are high clouds, which gave us a beautiful sunrise and, hopefully, a beautiful sunset!

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This handsome Bobcat was hunting for rodents in the meadows near Larain Matheson's home.

The cat with the tufted ears and bobbed tail looks pretty healthy! And everyone knows there are plenty of gophers and other rodents along the coast.

Thanks to Larain for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

We had a vigorous rainstorm today. A little over a half inch in a short time. The Pacific Ocean is roaring!

 

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Craig Tooley recently spent some time photographing the birds on an offshore rock at The Sea Ranch. He found some Brown Pelicans in breeding plumage - yellow on the top of their white heads, and red skin on their throat patch. It certainly does seem early!

Those black birds are Brandt's Cormorants, and the dark brown bird is a juvenile Brandt's. At the very top of Craig's photo looks to be the bottom parts of a Western Gull. Nice to see everybody getting along!

Below is a video Craig took showing the pelicans preening themselves. They are resting on the journey southward.

I will miss their comings and goings during the winter months, and look forward to seeing them again in late spring.

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo and video with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

A beautiful cool day here today. Fog rolled in over the ocean this afternoon and it's a sea of white. A storm is arriving early tomorrow.

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Karen Wilkinson found this Surfbird playing...or fishing...in the surf.

Here's what the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has to say about these birds: "Surfbirds are perfectly named: they spend most of their lives in the splash zone of rocky ocean shorelines—a precarious place to make a living. During the breeding season, these plump shorebirds move from coastlines into barren arctic mountain habitats to nest, turning from dark gray to a dappled black-and-white plumage with rufous accents in the wing. Males give display flights over the nesting area, like many other shorebirds. Surfbirds seem to be more social and less territorial than most North American shorebird species."

Thanks to Karen for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

It's a beautiful autumn day here today - lots of sun and no wind. Temps in the low 60's. Rain predicted for late Tuesday night into Wednesday. Lots of mushrooms are up and I found matsutakes - lots of them!

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When there are clouds to reflect the sunset, such beauty can be had. Adrian Bennett took this photo from her place at The Sea Ranch.

Adrian wrote, “My camera phone can’t capture the true beauty of this sunset but still pretty good! I am thankful that I am lucky enough to live with beauty everywhere.”

That’s a wonderful way to describe the Mendonoma Coast – living with beauty everywhere.

Another storm moved in yesterday afternoon bringing over a half inch of rain. 6.38 inches so far at Rick's and my place in Anchor Bay!