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Steve Bennett photographed these two Western Gulls strolling along the beach, at Bowling Ball Beach.

Western Gulls are the only year-round Gulls on the Mendonoma coast. We do see other species of Gulls arriving  now, to overwinter here or, perhaps, just passing through.

Here's a close-up of one of these gulls, taken by Allen Vinson. They are quite beautiful, and just look at those pink legs and webbed feet!

Thanks to Steve and Allen for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

Oh my, the fog rolled in thick and heavy today, and it's cold!

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Ron LeValley was on a pelagic trip out of Fort Bragg when he spotted a Blue Whale. In the first photo the Blue Whale is surfacing.

Here you see the tiny dorsal fin. Since the Blue Whale is believed to be the largest animal ever to live on earth, it's rather ironic that the dorsal fin is so small.

The tail is big though!

What a thrill this must have been to be so close to this huge Blue Whale!

Thanks to Ron for allowing me to share his photos with  you here. To see much more of Ron's nature photography, here is his website: http://levalleyphoto.com/home/

 

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Eric Zetterholm photographed an encounter between a White-tailed Kite and a Bald Eagle near the Gualala River. The White-tailed Kite seems to want to drive off the much larger eagle.

It sure looks like the Bald Eagle is "yelling" at the Kite in this photo.

And then the Bald Eagle takes flight. He/she sure looks miffed to me!

Thanks to Eric for allowing me to share his photos with you here. They tell quite a story.

ooo, the fog rolled in this morning. It's been so dry with very low humidity, so the moisture of the fog is quite welcome. The fog is only along the immediate coast, but it has cooled things off.

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Susan-Marie Hagen photographed these three young Raccoons stepping out together.

These masked bandits are putting their best (right!) foot forward. They have quite an intense look on their faces, especially the one on the right!

Thanks to Susan-Marie for allowing me to share her post with you here.

We are having a breathtakingly beautiful day here today. No clouds, no wind (thank goodness) and the Pacific Ocean looks like a lake. With conditions like this, you may be able to see a green flash at sunset tonight.

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Rick and I often see a Spotted Towhee or two foraging for seeds under our bird feeder. They are very beautiful birds. Paul Brewer recently trained his camera onto one.

Their calls are rather quiet compared to other birds. You can hear their call at this link at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Spotted_Towhee/sounds

Spotted Towhees used to be called Rufous-sided Towhees. They scratch for bugs and seeds on the ground with a two-footed backward-scratching hop. It's quite fun to watch.

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

Things are back to normal after the four day power outage. It's quite a beautiful day here on the Mendonoma coast.