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Lynn Bailey sent along a motion detector video from March 4 at the Villa del Mar main dumpster. This is in Gualala. It showed a mountain lion strolling through, a gray fox hurrying along, two more mountain lions, followed by a raccoon. The raccoon headed straight for the dumpster.

Here's a photo of a healthy-looking Mountain Lion taken by Susan Sandoval for you to see.

Here is the lone Mountain Lion:

Next is the Gray Fox:

Then two Mountain Lions:

And lastly the Raccoon:

That's a busy place! Thanks to Lynn for allowing me to share his videos with you here. the photo of the Mountain Lion was taken in a previous year by Susan Sandoval. The Sandovals and Lynn Bailey live fairly close to one another!

It's a spectacular day here today. Sunny and warm. Happy Easter and Happy Passover to those who celebrate them!

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Here is a Calypso Orchid which was photographed by Eddie Reiter. These flowers are so tiny, it's amazing we see them. But the splash of pink/purple amongst the greens and browns may very well catch your eye.

Chris Pechal found a rare white Calypso Orchid, which is a treat to see.

Karen Wilkinson found one of her favorite wildflowers, a Checker Lily.

Many more wildflowers are blooming now as we are having an early bloom.

Thanks to Eddie, Chis and Karen for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

It's sunny and warm here today, with no wind. There is a chance of rain in a few days. I hope so!

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Flying over bluffs and the Pacific Ocean, Aleutian Cackling Geese have been streaming northward in very large flocks.  Eric Zetterholm photographed this sight on The Sea Ranch.

Michael Coustier got a closer look.

MCOUSTIER@PROTONMAIL.COM

Shari Goforth got this video as the geese passed Gualala Point Island.

Aleutian Cackling Geese headed north by Shari Goforth

To hear their "cackling" calls, here is the link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology"

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Cackling_Goose/sounds

Thanks to Eric, Michael and Shari for allowing me to share their photos and video with you here.

It's sunny and warm here today with no wind.

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There was an appealing nesting box as this male violet-green swallow and female Western bluebird were each trying to check it out. Craig Tooley photographed the kerfluffle.  No blows were exchanged, in fact nary a feather was displaced. Who won out? That is yet to be determined. Craig will be watching!

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

It was hot again yesterday, Friday. Wind picked up overnight and it was very windy this morning. Now the wind has died down and we have another warm day.

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Clear weather then moved in and two weeks ago Sunday looked to perfect for a pelagic trip out of Noyo harbor on the Kraken to look for seabirds and gray whales. Shari Goforth was ready her camera. She wrote, “With the break in the rain, sun and calm seas prevailed. Noyo Pelagics, on short notice, came up with enough people to take a half-day trip offshore to the Noyo Canyon. The water was perfect for the trip; the seas were calm, the air was cool with almost no wind, and the skies overcast.

“We were in the middle of the gray whale migration and were hoping to photo document gray whales for identification database. Within the first half hour, we spotted a breaching whale several miles toward the horizon. From then on, we began to see gray whale blows (forceful exhales creating a mist) and stayed the permitted legal distance of 100 yards away from them. We were surprised by humpbacks! It’s not the usual time of year to see humpbacks.

“The captain put the boat in idle (stopped the propeller) to avoid any potential propeller injuries in case we were approached by a curious whale, and we had several curious humpbacks surface near the boat. They don’t have to be very close to know that they have been feeding; their exhales smell strongly like fermented Brussel sprouts! Throughout the day, we photographed many humpback whales breaching, slapping their 15 foot-long front flippers on the water, and thrashing their tails, however, we were only able to get a few views of the underside of the humpbacks’ flukes, the view needed for ID. We had more success with the gray whales and have eight photos of individuals to submit for ID.” Shari and others submit their photos to http://Happywhale.com.

Noyo Pelagics is a collaboration between Mendocino Coast Audubon, The Noyo Center for Marine Science, and Anchor Charter Boats (the Kraken), based at Noyo Harbor, Fort Bragg. The trips are open to the public, check the website: http://www.noyopelagics.com for all day and half-day trips, or call for shorter whale watching trips.

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

Toasty warm here today with no wind - unbelievable weather for March.