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Saturday, May 18th is Celebrate the Coast at the Point Arena-Stornetta Lands. There is a LOT planned and it sounds like great fun. If you walk from City Hall all the way to Lighthouse Road, about halfway you will see some very distinctive arches. This is what they looked like just three weeks ago.

But two weeks ago the closest arch collapsed, and this is what the arches look like now. Leslie Dahlhoff sent in these photos.

Thanks to Leslie for allowing me to share her photos with you here. She is also at the helm of the Celebrate the Coast event. Here's the poster showing all the activities. Hope to see some of you there!

The heavy, cool fog of this morning has disappeared into brilliant sunshine. Nice!

 

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Ron Bolander was talking with a friend, his camera in hand, when this small hummingbird landed in a bush bathed in sunlight. Quickly Ron took this picture of the extremely handsome male Allen's Hummingbird.

Such beauty! Their calls, however, are buzzy and they make a sound like a bumblebee with their feathers. You can listen to their calls here, at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Allens_Hummingbird/sounds

Here's a fun fact from the Cornell site:

"Like other birds, Allen's Hummingbirds use their feet to help control their body temperature. When it's cold outside they tuck their feet up against their bellies while flying, but when temperatures soar, they let their feet dangle to cool down."

I think we might need binoculars to see their tiny feet in flight!

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

Very foggy today at the coast though the fog is lifting in the afternoon.

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The Northern Lights began to appear around 11 pm last Friday. Molly Scaramella got a series of photos in Point Arena. Here is one of them.

Alan Reinke got this photo around 11:15 pm from The Sea Ranch.

We were hoping for more of this beauty Saturday and Sunday, but the fog rolled in, pulling the curtain on any more Northern Lights. What a treat, though! It's very rare to see them here.

Thanks to Molly and Alan for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

Foggy this morning, but it has pulled back a bit. It's cool too, not even 60 degrees.

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One of my favorite birds is the Hermit Thrush because of their beautiful, trilling songs. Michael Reinhart recently photographed one singing.

There are two Hermit Thrushes singing to each other near our place in Anchor Bay. They begin singing even before sunrise. To hear their lovely call, here is a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hermit_Thrush/sounds

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

Billowy, white fog appeared overnight over the Pacific Ocean and immediate coastline, though it held off for many to see the beautiful Northern Lights, a rare occurrence here. I will share photos of that soon. There is another chance to see it a little after sunset tonight here on the Mendonoma Coast...if the fog doesn't roll back in!

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Perry Hoffman photographed this Pigeon Guillemot, and it looks like he is dancing.

But I read on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site, http://www.allaboutbirds.org that male Pigeon Guillemots march around a female showing off their orange/red feet! What better way to display them by jumping up in the air.

Pigeon Guillemots have a high-pitched call which you can listen to here: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Pigeon_Guillemot/sounds

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

It's so very lovely here today, Friday May 10. Yesterday was downright toasty, but today is cooler, with temps in the low 70's and no wind!