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Gary Hopkins found this butterfly recently - a Gulf Fritillary.

In over 15 years of writing my Mendonoma Sightings column, I've only had one other sighting of this beauty, and that was by Kate Gelles in 2009.

I've learned this butterfly, also called a passion butterfly, is expanding their range. So, hopefully, sightings of them will become a little more common. Time will tell.

Thanks to Gary and Kate for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

Another stunning, sunny day with no rain in sight.

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We usually see many Monarchs in the autumn here on the Mendonoma Coast. But sightings this year have been few and far between - not good news for these beautiful butterflies. However, Molly McKusick found this one at The Sea Ranch.

And Grace O'Malley photographed this one in Timber Cove.

I saw a large orange butterfly this morning from my house, but it was too far to confirm if it was a Monarch, but I'd like to believe it was!

Thanks to Molly and Grace for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

Another clear, dry day, with mild temperatures. Thank goodness we had those two storms before this high pressure system moved back in. Last night there was a green flash at sunset, and conditions for one tonight look very promising.

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Monday's sunrise was so beautiful and Paul Brewer was ready to photograph it so we could all see it.

Now that's a nice way to start your day!

Thanks to Paul for allowing me to share his photo with you here. Paul's photographs are for sale through Gualala Arts' gallery, the Dolphin Gallery, which has a new home in Cypress Village in Gualala.

A breezy, sun-splashed day, with lots of people arriving for the holiday. And the paving/striping of Highway One from the Gualala Bridge to Point Arena is finally, beautifully done. Hooray!

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Jinx McCombs and Paul Nordstrand have a motion detector camera at their property near Point Arena that captures some wonderful wildlife sightings. Recently they were amazed to see this photo.

The big Cougar was walking through their property in the middle of the night!

Thanks to Jinx and Paul for allowing me to share their photo with you here.

Another sparkling clear day on the Mendonoma Coast.

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What a beautiful sight, this magnificent Sun Halo. Shari Goforth-Eby photographed in on Nov. 18th.

Here is the definition of a Sun Halo: "A Sun halo is caused by the refraction, reflection, and dispersion of light through ice particles suspended within thin, wispy, high altitude cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. As light passes through these hexagon-shaped ice crystals, it is bent at a 22° angle, creating a circular halo around the Sun."

Sun Halos are often predictors of rain, and sure enough, we had rain the next day.

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

Cool, sunny weather today, with enough breeze to knock leaves out of our Dogwood tree.