Tag Archives: Anchor Bay

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The dark of the forest is brightened with the sightings of Western Trilliums, Trillium ovatum. As I learn more, I pay attention more. I had noticed the red stems earlier this month with the leaves closed like hands praying - that's if one had three hands. As the days went by the leaves slowly opened to reveal the exquisite white flower. Here's a photo from our place in Anchor Bay that shows three stages of development.

You should never pick these wildflowers as it seriously sets the plant back. The leaf-like bracts by the flower provide food for the next year. Just enjoy their loveliness in their natural habitat.

We are having a wild and cold storm today on the Mendonoma Coast. The rain is very welcome. With the storm cells marching across the Pacific Ocean, there might be some wonderful sunset photos to share with you tomorrow. And I almost can't believe my eyes when I just now looked out the window and saw it was snowing! That's an extremely rare occurrence here.

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Thursday's sunset was beautiful with the leftover clouds from a storm. This photo was taken from our deck in Anchor Bay.

Earlier that day, Rick and I - with our golden retriever, Huckleberry - walked along the Gualala Bluff Trail. The river was closed to the ocean by the sandbar. You can see the river has turned "Steelhead" green. When the river opens Steelhead will enter the river. Catch and release fishing will then be the order of the day.

To see a photo of a Steelhead in the Gualala River, here is the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2012/09/01/adult-steelhead-photographed-by-peter-baye-in-one-of-the-reaches-of-the-gualala-river/

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Turkey Tails, Trametes versicolor, are fruiting in the forest. They are quite beautiful as you can see by my photo. They are fruiting on a downed Tan-oak on our property in Anchor Bay.

Here I have cropped my photo so you can see the lovely patterns. These mushrooms are leathery to the touch. They are so beautiful people have used them for jewelry. They are found on hardwoods.

Turkey Tail mushrooms, found all over the world, have medicinal qualities. A soothing tea can release their polysaccharides. Studies are ongoing regarding their use as an immune system booster in breast cancer patients. There's a fascinating article about their medicinal qualities on Huffington Post at this link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/paul-stamets/mushrooms-cancer_b_1560691.html  Could a mushroom growing in abundance in the forest be the answer to someone's prayer?

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Mendocino Coast Audubon Society held their annual bird count on Saturday. A Sandhill Crane was spotted near Lighthouse Road, which is north of the tiny city of Point Arena. It was a great bird to add to their list as it is an extremely rare sighting here.

Two years ago a pair of these beautiful cranes appeared outside my house in Anchor Bay and they danced in the air as if just for me. No one else saw them that day and, as I'm not the most experienced birder, I don't think I would have been believed if I hadn't gotten these photos.

In the days to come birders confirmed my sighting as this pair stayed near the Garcia River flats for some weeks. You can see in my photos that the cranes were calling, though I don't remember hearing them. I think I was too excited with my sighting of a bird I had never seen before.

To hear their call, here's the link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Sandhill_Crane/sounds

And so we start the first day of the new year, 2013. It will be fun and exciting to see what unfolds here on the beautiful Mendonoma Coast.

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Rick and I found a nice string of Matsutakes yesterday. We have sandy soil and that's what this prized edible mushroom wants to grow in. Below are three of them peaking out from pine needles and next to Salal, a plant they are associated with. Tan-Oak, Douglas-Fir and wild Rhododendrons are also close by.

You must make sure of your identification of this aromatic mushroom. It's important to get the complete stem to make sure there is no volva, a cup-like structure, at the bottom. Just looking at these photos brings the unique fragrance of these mushrooms to me.

 The Matsutakes that grow in the Pacific Northwest are also called White Matsutakes. They do not turn brown like Matsutakes do in other parts of the world. Below is a photo of the first Bellybutton Hedgehog we've seen this season. It's just a baby but it will grow in the days to come.

And we had wild weather today. Below is a photo of the storms clouds we saw from our deck in Anchor Bay this morning.  I call these days "wait five minutes days" because it can be raining one moment and then brilliant sunshine the next.

My best to you today!