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ah, Craig Tooley had a Beatles song in mind when he titled his photo of Brown Pelicans resting on kelp.

Young Brown Pelicans are migrating northward now. They rest on rocky islands, in rivers and apparently on a mass of kelp!

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

It is a glorious day here in the Mendonoma coast. Conditions should be perfect for watching the Perseids Meteor Shower tonight and tomorrow night.

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Carolyn Carnell shared this photo of the big island sitting off the north end of The Sea Ranch, Gualala Point Island. It was very crowded that day!

Carolyn Carnell wrote, “This photo was taken while doing a drone survey to check on the Common Murres nests on the [west] side of Gualala Point Island. To our surprises it was covered with 112 Brown Pelicans, with many also in the water along with Common Murres having a feeding frenzy.”

Also on the island were Brandt's Cormorants and Western Gulls. Let's face it, GPI is a popular place to hang out! The Brown Pelicans were most likely resting before continuing their northward migration. As I've shown you in a previous post, the juveniles are now strong enough to be passing by the Mendonoma coast.

There was a lot of bait fish in the ocean which caused multiple feeding frenzies last week, a good sign of the health of the ocean.

Here's one of my favorite photos of GPI as big waves crash into it during a high surf event, taken by Richard Kuehn.

Thanks to Carolyn and Rich for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

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The Gray Whale migration has passed, but we still see the occasional Gray. On a day when many of us were seeing whale spouts, Paul Brewer photographed a Gray Whale tail.

Subadult Gray Whales have been staying off our coast, rather than migrating to the Bering Sea. It's a fairly new phenomenon and we are excited about it.

You might also see Humpback Whales, and even a Blue Whale or two this time of year.

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/

It's a beautiful day here, cooler than it has been. No smoke from the inland fires, thank goodness, though we did some yesterday afternoon. The sun looked red as it set last night - an eerie sight.

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Craig Tooley recently photographed a juvenile Brown Pelican. They do look rather prehistoric, don't you think?

You can tell the young Brown Pelican from an adult because she has a brown head and white underparts. Adults have white heads and dark underparts. Now you can amaze your friends with that fun fact!

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

It is very warm on the Mendonoma coast today.

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Susan Ruschmeyer and Peggy Berryhill noticed this colorful bird in their garden in Anchor Bay. Susan took the photo.

It's an adult Wilson's Warbler with a bug in its mouth. Perhaps there is a nest of chicks nearby. This warbler has a black "cap" on his head. You can listen to their calls at this link: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wilsons_Warbler/sounds

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