Tag Archives: Craig Tooley

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Craig Tooley came to our home in Anchor Bay to photograph the two baby Ospreys in a nest that we can see through our scope. Conditions weren't that good so he will try again. It is wonderful seeing the two tiny heads and necks of the babies. Now the parents are coming and going, bring fish to their hungry offspring.

Craig did photograph the birdhouse that was enveloped by Paper Wasps. I thought you'd enjoy seeing a close up of their exquisite work. The metal roof is untouched and a tiny portion of the white front still shows.

 Below you can see the Paper Wasps coming and going, as they build a nest inside the birdhouse. They covered up at least 90% of the opening to the birdhouse.

Luckily this birdhouse/paper wasp nest is at the bottom of our driveway. Live and let live is the motto here.

If you'd like to see the original post on this rather unique situation, here's the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2012/07/22/the-strangest-thing-one-of-our-birdhouses-was-recently-taken-over-by-paper-wasps/

To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here's the link to his website: http://ruffimage.com/

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Craig Tooley photographed this stick-eating monster recently and posited that this might be where mulch comes from.

So, there really are dinosaurs in the forest at The Sea Ranch!

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

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As promised, here's the photo of a Blue Whale Craig Tooley took from an airplane last year.

And here's another Blue Whale Craig photographed several years ago.

The world's largest creature, Blue Whales are a rare sighting. They have been seen off the Mendonoma Coast this year, which is early. It signifies the abundance of food for these giants of the sea.

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share these photos here. You can see more whale photography on Craig's web site: http://ruffimage.com/

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June is when the first Black Oystercatcher chicks are born. Haematopus bachmani is their Latin name and they are found on the Pacific Coast, from Baja to Alaska. They are a noisy bird - a Sightings contributor deemed them "chattery." They nest on rocky perches and you will see their chicks look like little rocks, giving them a measure of camouflage.

This first photo was taken by Coastal photographer, Craig Tooley. There are three chicks in the photo.

 And the photo below was taken by John Batchelder. I see only two chicks in John's photo.

To hear their call, here's a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black_oystercatcher/sounds

Thanks to John and Craig for allowing me to share their photos here. To see more of Craig Tooley's wildlife photographs, here's the link to his website: http://ruffimage.com/

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Craig Tooley and Rita Peck had several days this week to enjoy a family of Gray Foxes near their home on The Sea Ranch. Frequent readers of this blog will know that Craig got some great photographs. Below is a photo of a young Fox Kit.

 And here Craig captured the mother Gray Fox nursing several of her young ones.

 And this Fox Kit decided to go for a different approach - nursing in comfort on its back!

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photos here. To see more of Craig's Coast photographs, here's the link to his web site: http://ruffimage.com/

And to see several more photos of Fox Kits on this site, here are the links: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2011/08/31/two-photos-of-gray-fox-kits-by-coastal-photographer-craig-tooley/

http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2011/06/02/gray-fox-kits-are-being-born-now-on-the-beautiful-mendonoma-coast/