Kate Bloch has been able to watch and photograph several Harbor Seal births on beaches off The Sea Ranch. She also got this cute photo of a pup taking her first swim.
The little pup was sticking close to mom!
Thanks to Kate for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
It's foggy and cool on the Mendonoma Coast today!
Marla Skibbins watched as a mated pair of Common Ravens preened each other near her home on The Sea Ranch. Then, one Raven took the other Raven's beak in his/her mouth!
I learned this is called a raven’s kiss or beak-fencing. It is a display of affection, pair bonding, and social bonding. This gentle behavior happens between life-long partners.
Marla was watching Raven love...sweet!
Thanks to Marla for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
Wind, wind and more wind. It's sunny but the wind is pretty unrelenting. The ocean looks like a boiling pot of water with all the white caps. It would be nearly impossible to spot whales with this wind.
It was Brad Lovesy that apparently saw the first fawn of this year.
He wrote, “It was Thursday the April 16th in the afternoon in back of the Sea Ranch center. I manage the offices and storage units. I was working in the back and the fawn came out of the tall grass and ran right up to me.”
Brad stopped to look for the fawn’s mother assuming the newborn was left on its own. Suddenly she appeared and realized what was happening. She escorted her fawn away—all the while cautiously eyeing Brad.
Since then two more fawns have been reported to me. This little one could have been earlier than most. We usually see the first fawns around Mother's Day and that's not until this coming Sunday.
Thanks to Brad for allowing me to share his photos with you here. The photo of the little fawn is so darn cute!
We had some wet weather yesterday but only 0.02 inches at Rick's and my place. 49.92 season to date. Today has been cloudy and on the cool side. The sunset could be amazing tonight!
Several weeks ago Diane Hichwa saw this beautiful sight from her The Sea Ranch home.
Quite an amazing sunset!
Thanks to Diane for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
Rain report: Yesterday's storm was a deluge. It didn't relent for many hours. At Rick's and my place in Anchor Bay we received a total of 7.32 inches from the storm that began on Monday evening and rained continuously through Tuesday. That's a truckload of rain! Season to date is 45.33 inches. We now have warm, dry weather predicted through the rest of this week.
***Bonus sighting: this afternoon, Wednesday, I saw an Osprey on the nest we've watched for over twenty years. The male returns first and I saw him poking at the remnants of the nest. It's very exciting to see this Osprey return today!
Lisa wrote up her experience beautifully.
“On a bucolic walk along the Sea Ranch bluffs, suffused with the mid-winter bliss that comes from unexpectedly warm, sunny weather, I strode south along the bluffs, taking in the smells, sounds, and feel of the sun on my skin. A random glance left stopped me in my tracks as my eyes fell directly on a bobcat curled in the grass, also basking in the warmth, eyes at half-mast in pleasure…and probably monitoring my presence for potential threat. I stood for a minute and spoke to it in a low voice, hoping the vibration of my presence and my appreciation for sharing the day and the moment with it would convey. It never moved a hair, though we were only, at most, 20 feet apart; just gazed back at me through narrowed eyes in that distinctly feline manner that always leaves one wondering what exactly they're thinking…
“I'm always gratified by these close encounters with our wild fauna brethren. They reinforce my belief that sympathetic vibrational magnetism is at work in the world, drawing to us those who are attuned to the same energy and outlook we are. We're connected in invisible ways, in ‘mysterious’ ways that don't need to be figured out…simply acknowledged and accepted, gratefully.”
I know what Lisa means about being connected. I had an encounter with a deer in a meadow that was magical. I’ll never forget it.
Magical encounters and more, specialties of the beautiful Mendonoma Coast. Thanks to Lisa for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
It's a total washout today, Sunday! Since this morning, nearly THREE inches of the wet stuff.