Tag Archives: Gualala River

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Michael Reinhart saw this female Common Merganser at the Gualala River and the merganser had caught her lunch!

Mike also photographed an American Goldfinch feeding on thistle.

And Marbled Godwits at Manchester State Beach. You can also see the Bull Kelp tossed up on the beach by the ocean waves.

Thanks to Mike for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

It's about 20 degrees cooler today, with a big fog bank back over the Pacific Ocean. It really feels like Autumn today. I found King Boletes, a Queen Bolete, and a Shrimp Russula late yesterday afternoon. Lots of mushrooms are popping up now.

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The Gualala Bald Eagles, a mated pair, have been AWOL from the area for a while, so it's wonderful to see at least one of them has returned.

Eric Zetterholm found this mature Bald Eagle perched on a branch at the river recently.

Thanks to Eric for allowing  me to share his photo with you here.

Once again, fog covers the ocean, keeping temps nice and cool, but cutting down on marine sightings! It's a beautiful Autumn day here on the Mendonoma Coast.

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On Sunday Sept 18, we had a vigorous storm that dumped quite a bit of rain on the Mendonoma Coast. I've previously written that we got 4.55 inches at our place in Anchor Bay. Last Tuesday morning I drove down to the iconic spot at Gualala Point Regional Park to take this photo of the mouth of the Gualala River. This part of the river is called Mill Bend.

The river had been quite diminished so it's wonderful to see it so nice and full. You can see the big sandbar at the mouth that "closes" the river to the Pacific Ocean. With enough rain, this sandbar will be breached, always an exciting event. But for now, the river is still "closed."

I hope you enjoy one of my photos for a change.

Heavy, drippy fog along the coast for much of the day, though the ridge had blue skies.

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We spotted this juvenile California Toad (Anaxyrus boreas halophilus).  We admired how beautiful its camouflage. It was hard to keep track of it as it moved among the rocks because it so perfectly blended in among the river stones.”

California Toads are a subspecies of Western Toads. This camouflaged toad is one of the many reasons why you should never drive in a river.

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

It's raining cats and dogs and toads today, over 4 inches at our place in Anchor Bay!

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Peter Baye found unique-looking Steelhead in the Gualala. He wrote, “On my list for show and tell is the return of those rare pale juvenile Steelhead that look almost silver-gold ["sub-leucistic"?] on the Wheatfield Fork. I haven't seen any in years. They stand out in dark pools where their typical dark olive-backed peers, other Steelhead parr and Gualala Roach, are well-camouflaged against the dark algae-covered cobbles and gravel."

"In past years, I have seen sub-adults with this pigmentation. More often, if I find atypical adult pigmentation, it's almost blue-black. I think the folk name is actually "blueback" steelhead. The Kingfisher predation seems to be very low this year, so I guess it's not a big hazard to glow in the dark like this! It's from a deep, dark pool with cooler water stratified -layered- at the bottom.”

Here's a photo showing young Steelhead and Gualala Roach.

Thanks to Peter for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

It's sunny, breezy and warm here today!