Tag Archives: Gualala

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Three mountain lions, I'm thinking a mother with her two grown offspring, were videoed by motion detection cameras last week, right in Gualala. One sighting was on the east side of Highway One and the other was on the west side. Michael Coustier wrote, “Thought you might get a kick out of seeing the kitties that were outside our house earlier this week.”

This is the time of year for the two younger cougars to leave their mother, and establish their own territory. We’ve been seeing that happening in the Bay Area recently.

I was impressed with the quality of the video Michael sent in. He sent me a link that told me it was a Tapo 2K Outdoor Pan/Tilt Wireless Floodlight Security Camera - Battery Power with Solar, 360º AI Motion Tracking. Here is the link to Michael's video:

The cougars sure seem comfortable in this area! And they would have crossed Highway One to reach the west side after this visit.

Thanks to Michael for allowing me to share his video and screen shot with you here.

It's been sunny today with a cool breeze - rain predicted starting tomorrow, Saturday, night. Happy Valentine's Day!

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A Gulf Fritillary was spotted by Hilary Prentiss in her yard in Gualala.

She wrote, “Fun facts about this butterfly: Their caterpillars feed exclusively on passion flower vines. Their bright orange color serves as a warning to predators that they are unpalatable due to the toxins in the passion flower vines they eat. And the underside of their wings have shiny spots that offer camouflage when their wings are closed.”

We've also had two Monarch butterfly sightings. One was quite tattered and photographed by Shari Goforth. Shari saw this butterfly near Surf Market in Gualala. It flew to the Gualala Bluff Trail where it then fed on rock rose blossoms.

Ann Yeo saw a Monarch in much better shape, also in Gualala. Those who study these butterflies are very interested in what they are feeding on and where they are over-wintering. Mary Sue Ittner took a look at Ann’s photo and believes the plant could be Escalonia rubra, a non-native plant known to be popular with Monarchs as its flowers are nutrient rich.

We know Monarch butterflies are struggling so any sighting of one is precious. Gulf Fritillary butterflies were introduced to southern California before 1908. According to UCDavis' website: "This butterfly has no native host plant in California and is entirely dependent on introduced species of the tropical genus Passiflora (Passion Flower, Passion Vine), including the common Maypop (P. incarnata) and P. X alatocaerulea."

Thanks to Hilary Prentiss, Shari Goforth, and Ann Yeo for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

There must be butterflies today as the temperature was close to 70 degrees. While much of the country is experience extremely cold temps, it seems rather surreal to have this warm, dry weather.

 

 

 

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Acorn woodpeckers have been busy gathering up their namesake nuts and storing them in granary trees. Jon Shiu wrote, “I observed a couple acorn woodpeckers in Little River."

[At first] I have not seen them with any acorns. But I looked a little closer and could see the acorns.” Jon photographed a granary tree, a dead upright tree where they drilled holes to store their acorns.

These woodpeckers drill thousands of holes in dead trees, utility poles, and other wood, filling them with harvested acorns. The whole group constantly monitors and moves drying acorns to smaller holes to keep them secure from theft by other animals.

When my research mentioned “other wood,” I had no idea these birds would use an empty birdhouse for storage in Gualala. Mark Escajeda wrote, “We enjoy our delightfully noisome year-round neighbors, a community of acorn woodpeckers. They fly around and chat among themselves as if they own the place, which we guess in many ways they do. This year they've taken advantage of the idled birdhouses we have on our side of the fence. We'll clean the houses in late winter for springtime nesting by violet-green swallows and western bluebirds, but in the meantime, we're happy to help.”

Watching Nature is fascinating! Thanks to Jon and Mark for allowing me to share their photos with  you here.

We received 1.14 inches from the first storm, 25.27 season to date. Next storm is about to hit!

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We had an odd storm come through on Wednesday 9/24, odd in that it moved from east to west. That gave the perfect conditions for a rainbow at dusk.

First is the beauty taken by Paul Brewer in Gualala.

And this beautiful rainbow taken by Cathleen Crosby at the south end of Gualala.

And finally Roxanne Holmes caught magic at Shell Beach at The Sea Ranch.

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Paul Brewer found this Anna's Hummingbird feeding on the Crocosmia plants in his Gualala garden.

What a wonderful, colorful photo with our year round Anna's hummer finding nectar in this plant which is also called Coppertips.

Thanks to Paul for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see much more of his nature photography, here is the link to his website: https://paulbrewer.smugmug.com/

Foggy this morning but it quickly pulled back. Temps were in the low 70's this afternoon, and the breeze picked up.