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Sometimes you can hardly believe your eyes. Greg Talamini photographed this beautiful sight from his home in Gualala!

Thanks to Greg for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

Bonus sighting: Lots of Humpback Whales have been seen swimming north.

Additional bonus sightings can be had at the Gualala Arts Center. Today was opening day for Meadow as Muse, curated by Karen Wilkinson. It's fantastic! Here's a link to learn more about it: https://gualalaarts.org/2026/05/meadow-as-muse/

Absolutely stunning day here today, with a nice breeze.

 

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It was Brad Lovesy that apparently saw the first fawn of this year.

He wrote, “It was Thursday the April 16th in the  afternoon in back of the Sea Ranch center. I manage the offices and storage units. I was working in the back and the fawn came out of the tall grass and ran right up to me.”

Brad stopped to look for the fawn’s mother assuming the newborn was left on its own.  Suddenly she appeared and realized what was happening.  She escorted her fawn away—all the while cautiously eyeing Brad.

Since then two more fawns have been reported to me. This little one could have been earlier than most. We usually see the first fawns around Mother's Day and that's not until this coming Sunday.

Thanks to Brad for allowing me to share his photos with you here. The photo of the little fawn is so darn cute!

We had some wet weather yesterday but only 0.02 inches at Rick's and my place. 49.92 season to date. Today has been cloudy and on the cool side. The sunset could be amazing tonight!

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Harbor seal moms give birth on rocky beaches on the Mendonoma Coast. If you have a long lens on your camera, like Kate Bloch and Rozanne Rapozo, you can safely get some great photos. I love these two of the mother and her newborn bonding. The first photo is by Rozanne.

And the second photo was taken by Kate. In each photo the pup is bonding with his/her mother. They learn each other's scent and vocalizations. It's very sweet to see.

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

It's been mostly cloudy today with temps in the high 50's. Lots of wildflowers appearing now!

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Earlier this week, on Monday to be exact, the Mendonoma Coast was treated to a beautiful sunset. In Point Arena, Mel Smith captured some of the magic.

Some of us call the sunbeams through the clouds God's rays.

Thanks to Mel for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

It's a lovely spring day here today, temps in the low 70's!

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Michelle Gill took this lovely photo of a waterfall near Bowling Ball Beach after last week's rains.

I think it looks like a painting!

Here's the story on the Sea Otter sighting seen and videoed by Stephany Wilkes.

Sunday evening, March 29th,  Stephany and Ian Wilkes were taking a walk on the bluffs at The Sea Ranch. And they saw something in the water and they thought, “Could it be a sea otter?” Stephany wrote, “I know, I know, ‘It's almost certainly a river otter’ is what we say up here. And that's what Ian and I thought too, until we pretty quickly didn't. I took several videos tonight along the bluff between Helm and Solstice, between 5:23 and 5:37PM. We were running to keep up with it - it was really trucking! You could see its white whiskers in the sunset light, and it dove for several minutes, and was swimming with food on its belly (banging away and eating.) It covered a lot of distance and did not come anywhere very close to shore. What do you think?! Could it be a historic glimpse? I am hoping you'll know who else to ask!”

I sent the videos to various folks, including Jan Roletto of NOAA. Jan wrote, “Yes, it looks to me like a sea otter in the first and fourth videos. I see a shorter tail, round hind flippers, and while on its back, it's trying to break something open by pounding it with a rock.” Jan put me in touch with Colleen Young, a sea otter specialist with California Department of Fish and Wildlife. She wrote, “Thank you so much for forwarding these great videos! This is definitely a sea otter! We will add this to our database of sea otter sightings outside their established geographic range. Thanks again for looping me in!”

sea otter off Sea Ranch 2026-03-29 by Stephany Wilkes

Sea Otter by Stephany Wilkes

Sea Otter off TSR by Stephany Wilkes

Sea otters were abundant off our coast until they were hunted nearly into extinction by the 1880’s. While I know abalone enthusiasts and fisher people might disagree that this is a great sighting, sea otters are important to the ecology of the ocean. They voraciously eat purple urchins, thus protecting the kelp forests. It’s estimated that the ecosystems where sea otters live are 40% more productive, supporting a wide variety of marine life, from seabirds to whales.

Thanks to Michelle for allowing me to share her photo with you here and thanks to Stephany for allowing me to share her videos with you here!

If you can't view the videos, send me an email and I'll email a few to you.

It's cloudy and cold today with no wind.