Tag Archives: The Sea Ranch

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Craig Tooley visited tide pools off The Sea Ranch recently at low tide. He found this vibrant pink nudibranch, a Hopkin's Rose, Okenia rosacea.

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It used to be rare to seem them this far north, but there have been several recent sightings. Craig photographed the same nudibranch reflected in the water.

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And Craig also took a short video of the animal on the move, a real treat.

One of the many wonders seen in tide pools, brought to you by Mother Nature...and Craig Tooley! Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photos and video with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: www.ruffimage.com

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Rozann Grunig photographed this Great Blue Heron soaring over rocks at The Sea Ranch.

Great Blue Heron soars by Rozann GrunigYou can see this big bird's reflection on the rocks below. Great Blue Herons are year round residents of the Mendonoma coast.

Thanks to Rozann for allowing me to share her photo with you here. To see more of Rozann's nature photography, here is her website: http://highway1designs.com/

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You never know what you might see on the beach. We had some high surf several weeks ago due to the remnants of a hurricane. Marilyn Green wrote, “Here is a comical and almost friendly green crab on Pebble Beach, The Sea Ranch. I certainly enjoyed ‘meeting’ this creature.”

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I sent Marilyn’s photo to Carol Preston of NOAA. She wrote, “It is a Lined shore crab, Pachygrapsus crassipes. It is fairly common in the high tide zone. This particular one is especially beautiful.”

This small crab is found from Oregon to Baja California.

Thanks to Marilyn for allowing me to share her photo.

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Here on the Mendonoma Coast we celebrate our lack of light pollution. That allows for some wonderful night sky views. Allen Vinson is the latest coast photographer to try his hand at photographing the Milky Way and he got a bonus "shooting star." Allen said this first photo was a 20 second exposure.

Milky Way by Allen Vinson

Allen took another photo which shows some of The Sea Ranch.

The Milky Way over The Sea Ranch by Allen Vinson

I asked Allen how he photographed this. He wrote,

"The Sea Ranch Lodge is in the lower left.
The photo info is:  ISO 3200, f/2.8, 15 second exposure, 14 mm lens.
I read up on how to photograph the Milky Way, and on a dark night, a 30 second exposure is recommended.  Here, the moon may have been getting close to rising.
Rather than time lapse, which I have used to record the changing clouds every 20 seconds over a 3 hours period so it plays back in just a couple of minutes, this is a long exposure."

Thanks to Allen for allowing me to share his beautiful photos with you here. To see more of Allen's nature photography, here is the link: http://allenvinson.smugmug.com/

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A nearly-white fawn was born on The Sea Ranch. Not an albino, but considered a towhead. It will eventually color up. John Batchelder recently got a photo of the cute fawn with its mother.

White Fawn with its mother by John BatchelderYou will see it is acquiring some color on its back. Here's another look at the fawn.

Nearly-white Fawn by John Batchelder

It's wonderful to see the fawn looking so healthy. John says the fawn is very active, jumping and playing. Life is good when you are a cute fawn on The Sea Ranch!

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