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We've had stormy weather which often brings rainbows. Perry Hoffman captured magic with his photo of a rainbow over the Pacific Ocean. You'd have to swim to get that pot of gold!

Paul Brewer photographed this big rainbow in Gualala.

Chris Braley may have photographed the same rainbow as Paul but she was at the Gualala River, on the Gualala Bluff Trail.

It's always a treat to see rainbows! Thanks to Perry, Chris and Paul for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

At Rick's and my place in Anchor Bay, we received 2.75 inches of rain from the storm. 23.96 season to date. Seasonal creeks are roaring today! It's a great time to look for waterfalls.

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Karen Wilkinson found this Great Blue Heron, and he/she was apparently looking at her.

I wondered if the Heron was laughing at her. But Karen disabused my whimsy. She said she thinks the Heron was actually hacking up a feather!

Here's one of my favorite photos of a Great Blue Heron taking off, by Betsy Anderson

And here is a Great Blue Heron cloud, as photographed by Marilyn Green.

Great Blue Herons are year round residents of the Mendonoma Coast.

Thanks to Karen, Betsy and Marilyn for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

Oh boy, we're having a big, fat, wet storm. Two inches so far, and it's raining as I type this!

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The pair of Bald Eagles has returned and are involved with courtship and mating now. Ron Bolander was at Gualala Point Regional Park when he took this photo of a Bald Eagle soaring near the Gualala River.

What a beautiful blue sky in Ron's photo!

Rozanne Rapozo photographed one of the Bald Eagles as it landed on a snag in the river. Magnificent!

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

We have a big storm coming in, which is to start in the wee hours of Saturday and continue all day. I'll report rain totals after the storm. We might receive a couple of inches of the wet stuff!

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Black Bears in Mendonoma with guest speakers Meghan Walla-Murphy of North Bay Bear Collaborative and Stacy Martinelli of California Fish and Wildlife

Gualala Arts Lecture Series

Thursday, January 11 at 7 pm

Gualala Arts Center Coleman Hall

$5 at the door

This Black Bear was recently photographed on the Gualala ridge by a Nest camera. They live here too, and we need to learn how to peacefully share the Mendonoma Coast.

This photo is from a video of Kathy Willem's Nest camera.

More on the Black Bear talk can be found at this link to Gualala Arts: https://gualalaarts.org/2024/01/black-bears-in-mendonoma/

Thanks to Kathy for allowing me to share a photo from her video.

It's windy, cold, with rain showers...kind of feels like winter!

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Dorothy Spalding took this dramatic photo of the flooding Gualala River and the Pacific Ocean washing over the sandbar from the Gualala Bluff Trail.

Chris Braley visited on a different day and took this lovely photo.

And, two weeks ago Wednesday, a lone Tundra Swan was seen at the river. Rozanne Rapozo got these two photos.

And Mike Petrich photographed the beautiful swan in the Gualala River during a downpour.

We haven't spotted the Tundra Swan since. Tundra Swans used to overwinter here, especially in the wetlands of the Garcia River, north of Point Arena. They don't seem to coming this far south anymore, perhaps due to climate change and a change in the wetlands they love.

Thanks to Dorothy, Chris, Rozanne and Mike for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

We had 0.43 inches of rain yesterday, 20.91 season to date. Today is beautiful, cool, breezy with clouds drifting by.