•

This handsome Bobcat was hunting for rodents in the meadows near Larain Matheson's home.

The cat with the tufted ears and bobbed tail looks pretty healthy! And everyone knows there are plenty of gophers and other rodents along the coast.

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

We had a vigorous rainstorm today. A little over a half inch in a short time. The Pacific Ocean is roaring!

 

• 2 Comments

•

Craig Tooley recently spent some time photographing the birds on an offshore rock at The Sea Ranch. He found some Brown Pelicans in breeding plumage - yellow on the top of their white heads, and red skin on their throat patch. It certainly does seem early!

Those black birds are Brandt's Cormorants, and the dark brown bird is a juvenile Brandt's. At the very top of Craig's photo looks to be the bottom parts of a Western Gull. Nice to see everybody getting along!

Below is a video Craig took showing the pelicans preening themselves. They are resting on the journey southward.

I will miss their comings and goings during the winter months, and look forward to seeing them again in late spring.

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo and video with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

A beautiful cool day here today. Fog rolled in over the ocean this afternoon and it's a sea of white. A storm is arriving early tomorrow.

•

Karen Wilkinson found this Surfbird playing...or fishing...in the surf.

Here's what the Cornell Lab of Ornithology has to say about these birds: "Surfbirds are perfectly named: they spend most of their lives in the splash zone of rocky ocean shorelines—a precarious place to make a living. During the breeding season, these plump shorebirds move from coastlines into barren arctic mountain habitats to nest, turning from dark gray to a dappled black-and-white plumage with rufous accents in the wing. Males give display flights over the nesting area, like many other shorebirds. Surfbirds seem to be more social and less territorial than most North American shorebird species."

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

It's a beautiful autumn day here today - lots of sun and no wind. Temps in the low 60's. Rain predicted for late Tuesday night into Wednesday. Lots of mushrooms are up and I found matsutakes - lots of them!

•

 

When there are clouds to reflect the sunset, such beauty can be had. Adrian Bennett took this photo from her place at The Sea Ranch.

Adrian wrote, “My camera phone can’t capture the true beauty of this sunset but still pretty good! I am thankful that I am lucky enough to live with beauty everywhere.”

That’s a wonderful way to describe the Mendonoma Coast – living with beauty everywhere.

Another storm moved in yesterday afternoon bringing over a half inch of rain. 6.38 inches so far at Rick's and my place in Anchor Bay!

•

Michael Reinhart found two adults and three juvenile White-tailed Kites recently. The first four photos are of an adult. I love the "from behind" view too. The third photo shows the kite hunting.

And here are the three juveniles.

To listen to a White-tailed Kite's call, here is the link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-tailed_Kite/sounds  It's described as a whistled yelp.

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

Weather report: sun...no, clouds...no, sun...whoops, a downpour...you get the picture! It's cool today too.