Tag Archives: Kathy Bishop

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Common Ravens are thriving on the Mendonoma Coast. And it is a cause for concern. Ravens are extremely intelligent and people enjoy feeding them. Peggy Berryhill lives in a area where a neighbor has been feeding these big black bird. Here is a collage of what Peggy saw the other afternoon.

Ravenwood by Peggy Berryhill

Ravens eat pretty much everything, including carrion, and they raid nests of other less aggressive birds. It would be best not to feed them, as they do not need anyone's help.

When they have more food available, they are able to lay more eggs, thus we have more Ravens. Here is a recent photo of a Raven's nest taken by Kathy Bishop showing newly hatched four chicks in the nest.

Common Raven Chicks by Kathy Bishop

One of the things I admire about Ravens is their vocalizations. They have a "clock, clock" sound which is quite beautiful.

Thanks to Peggy and Kathy for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

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Kathy Bishop was observing this Great Blue Heron. Lucky for us that she had her camera along. She got this photo of the Heron with a tasty cabezon.

Great Blue Herons are very graceful in flight, with slow wing beats. When hunting for fish, they stand still and then quickly strike at their prey. They are year round residents of the Mendonoma Coast.

To hear their calls, here is a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_blue_heron/sounds

Thanks to Kathy for allowing me to share her photo with you here. To see much more of her photography, here is a link to her website: http://kathleen-bishop.artistwebsites.com/

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Kathy Bishop came across two Great Horned Owls that were roosting. She snapped a couple of photos and then beat a quick retreat. One of Kathy's photos was published in yesterday's Independent Coast Observer in my Mendonoma Sightings column. You can see it on-line at mendonoma.com. The other two photos I am pleased to share with  you here.

What beautiful owls! Here it what the Cornell Lab of Ornithology says about Great Horned Owls:

"With its long, earlike tufts, intimidating yellow-eyed stare, and deep hooting voice, the Great Horned Owl is the quintessential owl of storybooks. This powerful predator can take down birds and mammals even larger than itself, but it also dines on daintier fare such as tiny scorpions, mice, and frogs. It’s one of the most common owls in North America, equally at home in deserts, wetlands, forests, grasslands, backyards, cities, and almost any other semi-open habitat between the Arctic and the tropics."

That stare is a little intimidating! Their call is the "hoo hoo" call. Hear it at this link:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/great_horned_owl/sounds

Last year Rick and I were privileged to take part in a release of two Western Screech Owls back into the wild, about ten miles north of where we live in Anchor Bay. Here is the link to learn more about this heartwarming event: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2012/12/15/two-western-screech-owls-released-back-into-the-wild/

Thanks to Kathy for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

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Rattlesnakes prefer warm climes than the Mendonoma Coast. There are legends of a rattlesnake hitching a ride on a logging truck and falling off near the ocean. Perhaps that is what happened here. But there were two of them spotted within a week.

The first one was seen near a road at Gualala Point Regional Park by Kathy Bishop.

It was identified by Gary Nafis as an adult Northern Pacific Rattlesnake. It appeared to have been run over by a vehicle and it soon died.

However another adult was seen several days later at the south end of The Sea Ranch. Jim Merryman photographed the head and the tail.

I wondered if these extremely unusual sightings of rattlesnakes could be because they are searching for water. Gary Nafis told me they don't drink water. He said, “Rattlesnakes get most of their water from food, which they’re always looking for until they find it and go underground to digest. They often need to travel out of their usual home territories in their search, which could be happening here. Both snakes are adults, so it’s not a case of juveniles looking for a place to settle.”

Jim said about an hour after his sighting he saw a White-tailed Kite with a snake the same size as the rattlesnake so perhaps the Mendonoma Coast is once again free of rattlesnakes.

To see Gary Nafis' fascinating website about amphibians and reptiles, here is the link: californiaherps.com

Thanks to Kathy and Jim for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

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I can't resist sharing one last photo by Kathy Bishop of a cute Gray Fox Kit lounging in the sun.

This little fox is exemplifying the Sea Ranch motto of living lightly on the land.

We are having a heat wave on the Mendonoma Coast. With no fog on the horizon there was a beautiful green flash last night a sunset. Tonight should be another great chance to see this phenomenon.

To see a photo of a green flash, here's the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2012/02/07/the-green-flash-was-photographed-by-richard-kuehn/

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