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It’s not every day a black bear comes for lunch. David Skibbins wrote, “My wife, Marla and I were just settling down to lunch  when Smokey dropped by our meadow. After knocking down our woodpecker feeder, he put on a two minute show, wandering back and forth. We were thrilled to have him as a visitor! It is so amazing to live in this place!”

It’s a big, healthy-looking male. Marla got a great video, which you can view here:

http://www.mendonomasightings.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Black-Bear-by-Marla-Skibbins.mp4

Thanks to Marla for allowing me to share her photo and video with you here.

It's a beautiful clear day today, with a nice breeze. Mr. Fog has left and there is a chance for a sighting of a green flash at sunset tonight!

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Bill Budge found this Great Blue Heron reflected in the water.

Aren't these beautiful photos?

I went to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website to see exactly what these herons eat. They wrote, "Great Blue Herons eat nearly anything within striking distance, including fish, amphibians, reptiles, small mammals, insects, and other birds. They grab smaller prey in their strong mandibles or use their dagger-like bills to impale larger fish, often shaking them to break or relax the sharp spines before gulping them down."

Their calls sound like "awk!" You can listen for yourself at https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Great_Blue_Heron/sounds

Thanks to Bill for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

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This fawn has been seen near Robert Goldberg's home with his/her mom. I was struck by those oh-so-big ears!

Here's a photo with the fawn nuzzling its mom. The fawn's ears don't look quite so big from this angle!

Thanks to Robert for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

Foggy this morning but the fog pulled back over the ocean giving us blue skies and mild temps. Bonus sightings: Humpback whales were seen early this afternoon!

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We are seeing Brown Pelicans flying north and south. Near Schooner Gulch, Loch Michie got a photo of a young one that puzzled me. He/she had the white tummy of a juvenile, but the feathers on the head looked to be turning white.

I sent Loch’s photo to ornithologist Peter Pyle. Peter wrote, “ That's actually a juvenile, the white still being natal down! So a precocious one. I don't see this often. So far I've gotten 40-50% juveniles this summer which indicates another excellent breeding season for them.”

I sent Loch Peter’s comments and he wrote, “Great info. Thanks so much. That ‘precocious’ bird was cruising like his Granddad’s Cadillac.”

How fun is that?

Thanks to Loch for allowing me to share his photos with you  here.

The fog hung around all day, though I had sunshine at  my elevation, 640 feet. Temps are deliciously cool, in the sixties.

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With the warmer weather, butterflies and dragonflies have appeared. But one species of butterflies seems to handle last week’s fog, which grounds most other butterflies. Laura Baker wrote, “[I saw] a pair of Acmon Blue Butterflies which may be mating; I don't know for sure because of the angle."

"We see a lot of these butterflies every year [in Annapolis,] and even though it's been foggy and cool, they seem to be able to be out and about by midday since they fly very close to the ground and don't need to gain altitude like some of the high fliers that have been grounded.”

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

There was fog over the ocean this morning, but it's going to be quite warm today. Overnight temperature here was 68 degrees!