Kate Bloch was out on the bluffs when she saw this Great Blue Heron fly by. And there is a seasonal waterfall behind the graceful bird.
We have had a nice amount of rainfall and seasonal creeks and waterfalls are beautiful now.
Thanks to Kate for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
Sunny and windy today, and temps in the low 50s. There was 0.75 inches in our rain gauge, giving us 54.60 season to date. 50 inches is a nice, wet winter so we're doing great!
Rozanne Rapozo was charmed by the sight of these two CA Quail perched on a cat sculpture in her garden, with one Quail right on the binoculars the cat is looking through.
The female is perched on the binocs and the male is on the tail. Cute photo!
Thanks to Rozanne for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
Wild, cold weather today. About 2/3 of an inch of rain so far and it's cold. 37 degrees this morning - that's cold for the Mendonoma Coast. I heard there was snow at Annapolis and hail just fell on the Point Arena ridge. After tomorrow, Friday, it is suppose to be sunny and warmer.
I love this photo of the Bobcat lurking...or resting...in the grasses that Perry Hoffman got. Those are hypnotic eyes!
After a while, the Bobcat was on the move. You can see the tufted ears in Perry's photo.
Bobcats are year round residents of the Mendonoma Coast. They usually hunt rodents in grassy meadows as Perry's photos show.
Thanks to Perry for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Perry's photography, here is his website: https://magentaraven.com/
Today has been stormy and cold. In the 5 o'clock hour this Friday morning we had lightning and thunder out over the Pacific Ocean. It's very cold - well, cold for the Mendonoma Coasts - 43 degrees. Therefore we didn't get as much rain as predicted. About 2/3 of an inch. With the 1.43 inches from the previous storm, I'm now over 54 inches for the season. Hooray!
A week ago Tuesday, sightings of these talkative geese came flooding in. The Aleutian Cackling Geese are on the move in huge numbers. Eric Zetterholm photographed this huge skein.
That Sunday Carolyn Case found more passing by, this time on a sunny day, flying over Gualala Point Island.
It's interesting that the two photos look like they are going both north and south, but it's all about where the photographer was standing.
The numbers of the Aleutian Cackling Geese have special meaning for Doug Forsell, formerly a migratory seabird biologist with the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Doug wrote, “Quite a few flocks passing over my house today. I counted about 3,400 geese flying by in two and a half hours including one flock of about 1,400 birds. I think that is the largest flock I've seen. That one flock was four times the entire population of Aleutian Cackling Geese in the early 1970's, when they were put on the endangered species list.” Foxes had been introduced to the islands with devastating results to the nesting geese. Doug was part of the successful effort to save them from extinction, something to be very proud of.
Some people mistake these geese for Canada Geese. Here's a closer look, photo by Sara Bogard.
From the web I found this graphic showing the difference between the two birds
Thanks to Eric, Carolyn, and Sara for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
Lots of rain yesterday, 1.42 inches in our gauge. Some showers passed by this morning, with sun reappearing in the afternoon. Another storm tomorrow! Over 52 inches season to date!
Cloud watching is a Mendonoma Coast tradition. See the clouds build up before a storm is a treat. Michelle Gill photographed this beautiful scene of prefrontal stratocumulus clouds.
Thanks to Michelle for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
Today is clear and sunny. Rain coming in tomorrow! Maybe we'll see some similar clouds later today.