Tag Archives: adult

•

Loch Michie photographed this adult Brown Pelican as it lifted off from the water.

Adult Brown Pelicans have white heads and brown tummies. Brown Pelicans are so graceful when flying, but they can be comically clumsy when coming in for a landing in water.

These prehistoric-looking birds were severely impacted by the pesticide DDT. It got in waterways where fish ingested it. Birds like the Brown Pelicans ate the fish, and the pesticide residue caused their eggshells to thin. When the mother bird stood (yes, Brown Pelicans incubate their eggs with the skin on their feet) on her eggs, they broke. Their numbers went into a steep decline and we almost lost them. DDT was banned, and these beautiful creatures have recovered in the years since. I think a good rule for we humans would be: Do No Harm.

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

Fog over the Pacific Ocean, with warm temps away from the ocean.

•

Peter Baye was exploring the Wheatfield Fork of the Gualala River when he came across a what he called "a massive aggregation of Western Toad tadpoles!"

That's a lot of tadpoles! Nice to see. Here is a photo of a newly hatched Western Toad at the Gualala River, taken a few years ago by Peggy Berryhill.

Amy Ruegg photographed a juvenile.

And here is one of my favorite all-time Sightings photos, taken by Holly McCarroll, of an adult Western Toad looking in the window at Starcross in Annapolis. Just what was this frog thinking? Too funny!

Thanks to Peter, Peggy, Amy and Holly for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

It's been quite foggy today, with some sun breaks this afternoon.

•

Gaily Jackson enjoys exploring along the Gualala River. Two weeks ago she photographed a bird that was difficult to identify, until Ron LeValley let us know it was a juvenile Black-crowned Night-Heron.

Gaily got several nice photos of this beautiful bird. The first one below shows a larger Great Blue Heron on the left side.

Then late last week, Gaily found an adult and got this photo.

It's nice to see these Night-Herons here.

Thanks to Gaily for allowing me to share her photos with you here. To see much more of her nature photography, here is the link to her website: http://gailyimages.com/

We had a very strange wind event here late yesterday afternoon. Chris McManus, the editor of the Independent Coast Observer, is researching the phenomenon and I hope to tell you more about it later this week. Today is bright sun and cool temps!

•

We have had two sightings of Bald Eagles.  Randy Burke sent in this sighting from a week ago Sunday. He wrote, “Nathan Becker from Napa captured this Bald Eagle while hiking around the campgrounds of [Gualala Point Regional Park].  Nathan and his friend Xavier are active bird enthusiasts, and thought the photographic capture of the eagle to be a highlight of their day out.”

Bald Eagle by Nathan Becker

Nathan’s photo shows an adult. Teresa Denniston spotted a juvenile near her home in Gualala.

We are hoping a mated pair will build a nest here on the Mendonoma Coast. The welcome mat is out!

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

A big storm is hitting the coast this afternoon. More rain is just what the doctor ordered!

•

Brown Pelicans are on the move. The first adults have been seen over the past two weeks. Just yesterday, Rick and I saw several flocks fly by when we were at Gualala Point Regional Park getting a geology lesson from Ken Browning. I'll be sharing some of what we learned in a later post.

The first Brown Pelicans spotted are adults. One of the indicators is that their head is white. Paul Brewer photographed one of the first to be seen on April 30.

We particularly cherish these birds because they were so severely impacted by the pesticide DDT that they landed on the Endangered Species List. DDT was banned in the US in 1973 and Brown Pelicans have slowly added to their numbers. They recovered enough to be taken off the Endangered Species List in 2009.
Hooray for the Brown Pelicans!

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