Tag Archives: The Sea Ranch

•

Ken Bailey was on The Sea Ranch when he spotted this young Bobcat. You can clearly see its tufted ears in Ken's photos. Lynx rufus is its Latin name. They can be seen in the daylight hunting rodents in grassy meadows.

I have it on good authority the The Sea Ranch has a plethora of Gophers and other rodents. That is why several healthy Bobcats are thriving there and living lightly on the land.

Thanks to Ken for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see more of Ken's photography, here's the link to his website: http://www.seadreams.org/  He has taken some fantastic underwater photos and you can see them via this link.

•

Dave Bess looked out the window of his house and saw this young Bobcat hunting for rodents.

It looks like the Bobcat is close to finding its dinner. They are great gopher hunters and the meadows of The Sea Ranch have plenty of gophers.

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

•

Rozann Grunig and Patty McBratney were out looking for edible mushrooms early this week on The Sea Ranch. They found a few Hedgehogs and Pigs Ears. We haven't had much rain lately. Rozann mentioned to Patty that is probably was a good idea to always have a buddy when in the forest. Just after that comment she saw this print.

Rozann put her mushroom knife, four inches long, in the photo for perspective. Mountain Lion tracts do not have claw marks, as their claws are recessed while walking.

What to do if you see a Mountain Lion? Make yourself as big as possible. I've always thought hiking in the forest with an umbrella, which could double as a walking stick, would be a good idea. On the extremely rare chance that you did come near a Cougar, you could raise the umbrella over you head and pop it open.

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

•

On Monday a pod of perhaps twenty Killer Whales was spotted off Point Arena. Emails and telephone calls ensued as we tried to photograph the pod. They were several miles out, however, and moving FAST. Dean Schuler got this photograph from The Sea Ranch.

 It was fun following them down the coast. Unfortunately for Dean, a fishing boat saw this pod and headed towards them. The pod then dove and disappeared from view.

Though this photo was not taken off the Mendonoma Coast, I thought you'd enjoy seeing this close up that Tom Eckles took from a 12 person inflatable boat in the San Juan Islands. It looks like a male with the very tall dorsal fin and a female with the smaller, curved dorsal fin.

Thanks to Dean and Tom for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see more of Tom's photography, here's his website: tomeckles.com

•

Burrowing Owls are a rare sighting on the Mendonoma Coast. Ron LeValley recently photographed one at MacKerricher State Park. Here's what Ron had to say about his sighting: "My gallery partner Ken called and told me about this Burrowing Owl hanging out near the old Haul Road just south of Ward Avenue in the state park. These birds mostly live in the Central Valley but a few winter on the north coast each year. These are only about 8 inches tall, but they stand taller!"

 Tim Moulton photographed a young one at The Sea Ranch several years ago.

To hear the call of this special Owl, here's the link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Burrowing_Owl/id

To see much more of Ron's wildlife photography, here's the link to his website: http://www.levalleyphoto.com/home/