Tag Archives: Craig Tooley

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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/

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You don't often get to see a photo of one of our beaches taken from an airplane. Craig Tooley was up taking photographs for a seabird survey and he took the time to photograph Cook's Beach for us. Thanks, Craig!

To learn how to find this beautiful pocket beach, brought to us by the fine folks of the Redwood Coast Land Conservancy and other partners, here's the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2012/02/12/cooks-beach-a-beautiful-pocket-beach-just-north-of-gualala/

And to see more of Craig Tooley's coastal photos, here's the link to his website: http://www.ruffimage.com/

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This wildflower is so rare and precious that the location is kept secret - even from me! I do know it is growing on private property in northern Sonoma County. But we are lucky that Massomeh Roberts photographed it so we can enjoy looking at it here.

 Last year Craig Tooley photographed the group of these Trilliums a little earlier in their development, showing the younger white blossoms.

Thanks to Craig and Massomeh for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

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This is the first photo of an American Badger sent in to Mendonoma Sightings in the six plus years I've been doing the column, so you can see how rare it is to see an American Badger. This juvenile Badger had apparently fallen down a cliff and was unable to climb back up. Craig Tooley and Rita Peck, trained in wildlife rescue, were called after members of our ambulance service had seen it alongside Highway One in Sonoma County.

Craig said the little fellow - or gal, we don't know for sure - was VERY feisty. An man employed by the Park Service happened by and helped Craig and Rita get the Badger in a box. They climbed the steep cliff and let the Badger go in the grassy meadow - a successful wildlife rescue!

Below is a photo of a Badger mound that was seen on The Sea Ranch in 2007 and photographed by Dibby Tyler. The Badger was never seen.

To see more of Craig Tooley's wildlife photos, here's the link to his website: http://ruffimage.com/