Mark Hancock caught a beautiful photo of a Red-tailed Hawk resting in a tree with the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean.
This is our most common Hawk. I love their call. You can hear it for yourself at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology web site using this link: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-tailed_Hawk/id/ac
Thanks to Mark for allowing me to share his photo with you here.
Judy Mello photographed the full moon rising on March 7th at the B. Bryan Preserve in Point Arena. The Grevy's Zebras aren't paying any attention though, getting a little more dinner before darkness fell.
And I took this photo early the next morning of the moon setting over the Pacific Ocean. A few wispy clouds decorated the moon. It was mesmerizing!
There have been lots of Gray Whale sightings this past week. I will share a few pictures with you tomorrow.
If you'd like to learn more about the fabulous B. Bryan Preserve in Point Arena, here's their link: http://www.bbryanpreserve.com/
This past week we've had high surf on the Coast. John Sperry photographed the Pacific Ocean in full boil mode in the Timber Cove area of Sonoma County. You can see the mist the ocean is throwing into the air. Just beautiful.
Thanks to John for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see another dramatic photo of the Pacific Ocean that Carolyn André took from The Sea Ranch last month, here's the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2012/01/09/dramatic-photo-of-the-sonoma-coast-by-carolyn-andre/
The Gualala River has the perfect color for fishing (catch and release) of Steelhead. Just look at the green color!
Steelhead was caught earlier this week. However Saturday the river was closed to the Pacific Ocean.
And there were thousand of Gulls and a few Brown Pelicans enjoying the sunny weather. Those in the river are washing off - you can almost hear the sounds of their flapping!
We have a storm coming in for today. It should reopen the river so the Steelhead can once again make their way into the river.
Some sunsets are over in a few minutes and some last a good long while, unfolding before our delighted eyes. The latter was the case last night as the sunset evolved for what seemed like forever. Red and oranges transformed into blue and purples - it was simply magnificent.
The first photo was taken at 5:30 pm, just after the sun had set.
And the next at 5:44 pm
And look what happened at 5:53 pm - even the Pacific Ocean appears to be purple!
It's a privilege to watch a Mendonoma Coast sunset.