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Last Saturday Rozanne Rapozo was at a friend's lily pond in Gualala. There she found dragonflies, as they zipped around like the tiny helicopters they are. The first is the orange Flame Skimmer. Look how very nicely this dragonfly posed for Rozanne. They never do that for me!

And here is an Eight-spotted Skimmer.

A Blue Dancer was also spotted, but that will be for another post.

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

This morning fog blanketed the coast and a ways inland. It pulled back as the morning progressed, at least in Anchor Bay. It's in the low 70's with a...you guessed it!...a breeze. Happy Summer Equinox!

 

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Several weeks ago John Batchelder wrote, “Here are some pictures of the Pacific Loon that landed on Wild Moor Reach, The Sea Ranch. This is one of the sometimes thousands of birds per hour that have been migrating past our area recently.:

After the original sighting and report to Diane Hichwa, the Loon disappeared, but was later observed farther down the street by Marge Entwisle. Marge kept the bird under observation until Roberta Chan arrived and skillfully cornered and captured the Loon in a garage for transport to Bird Rescue.

Truly a team effort lead by Marge and Roberta. Thanks.”

I add my thanks to all. I was astounded at the beauty of the Pacific Loon.

If you see a bird in trouble, call Bird Rescue at 707) 523-2473 [BIRD]. They will send a trained local volunteer, like Roberta,  to assess the bird and arrange necessary transport. We hope this bird is doing well and can be released soon.

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

Fog has returned over the ocean, sneaking on land in places. It cooled the temps by ten degrees - nice! Fog is the coast's air conditioning! The cool, moist are also aids in fighting the first inland.

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There is an active nest near the Point Arena Lighthouse of Common Raven chicks. The mother and father raven have been busy bringing food to the seemingly insatiable chicks. When Perry looked at his photos on his computer, he was surprised to see the mother was feeding her chick blackberries!

Ravens are omnivorous, eating even carrion. It's interesting to see the mother feeding the ripe berries to her chicks.

Ravens are highly intelligent. They've been known to use tools to get food and defend their territory. I've seen a video of a raven dropping a stick on a steep roof and then racing down to catch it before it hits the ground - over and over. So they know to use an object to play. They can also mimic human speech, and several have been taught to say, "Nevermore!"

Thanks to Perry for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Perry's photography, here is the link to his website: https://magentaraven.com/

A beautiful, sunny day today, with some high clouds. Wind picked up in the afternoon.

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Eric Zetterholm found this juvenile Bald Eagle drinking water, or perhaps looking for a fish, at the Gualala River. Behind him or her is a Killdeer on the riverbank.

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

Sunny and very breezy this afternoon!

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Pat Whelan's motion detector camera has been busy lately. Just several weeks ago it photographed a Black Bear, which I shared on this blog. Then this beautiful Mountain Lion saunters across her front porch, looking very comfortable with the surroundings. Here's a screen shot from the video.

And here is the video: Mountain Lion visit courtesy of Pat Whelan

Thanks to Pat for allowing me to share this photo and video with you here.

Sunny and very breezy today. The wind whipped up the Pacific Ocean, creating many whitecaps.