Tag Archives: Anchor Bay

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Our property in Anchor Bay has sandy soil. Matsutake mushrooms thrive in it and so do two very interesting and rare plants. The first is Gnome Plant, Hemitomes congestum. In years past, we have had a handful of them appear. This year we have a village of them! Gnome plants have no stem or leaf, and they produce no chlorophyll. They get their nutrients from decayed matter

Sugarstick, Allotropa virgata, is quite rare. Here are two emerging. On the far right are stalks of Sugarstick that bloomed two years ago. Amazing that after two winters worth of storms that the stalks are still standing. These plants also produce no cholrophyll. They get their nutrients from fungus.

The Gnome Plants and Sugarsticks are growing in the same area. And, yes, we find Matsutakes in the same area.

It will be fun to show you how these Sugarsticks evolve.

We are having a beautiful sun-splashed day today. Happy Mother's Day to all women who make an impact on children's lives.

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A young, male Mountain Lion with a tracking collar was caught on camera walking along a path on The Sea Ranch on March 7th. Bob Van Syoc wrote, “I saw this young lion strolling by our garage. It was very relaxed with some sort of collar.”

This particular Mountain Lion, P14 or "Paul", was collared by Dr. Quinton Martins and the Living with Lions team in early January. Martins and his team are part of Audubon Canyon Ranch, a non-profit environmental organization. When the news of Bob’s sighting reached Dr. Martins, he rushed up the coast on Friday, as he had lost contact on Jan. 21 with P14’s tracking collar.

A cadre of coast residents helped him over the next three days finally track Paul. Dr. Martins was able to get a GPS download of this cougar’s movements, which showed he had traveled nearly 200 miles since January 7th. You can follow this story at www.egret.org.

Then on March 21st, Mitch Sugarman's motion detection camera videoed Paul at the top of Sunset Drive in Anchor Bay. You can watch the two videos below. Thanks to Bob and Mitch for allowing me to share the photo and videos with you here.

Paul is seen March 21, the collared mountain lion by Mitch Sugarman

Paul, the collared mountain lion by Mitch Sugarman

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Mostly we see male California Sea Lions off the Mendonoma coast. Jennifer Terry recently photographed one appearing to be looking out to sea.

There is a colony of male CA Sea Lions on Fish Rocks just off of Anchor Bay. In the spring, most of them leave to mate with females to our south, returning to their rocky home when mating is over. They are able to "walk" with their flippers. Sea Lions are very intelligent, and they seem to have a lot to say, as they bark seemingly all day and night!

You can learn more about CA Sea Lions on the Marine Mammal Center's website at this link: http://www.marinemammalcenter.org/education/marine-mammal-information/pinnipeds/california-sea-lion/

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

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On May 9th, John Wall caught the magic!  He photographed a fogbow stretching over Gualala Point Island. We had fog with very high water content. Normally fogbows are completely white, but this one had a little hint of color.

Gary Curtis also photographed a fogbow that day, and his shows even more color.

These were both taken from The Sea Ranch. But fogbows were seen that day off Gualala and off Anchor Bay. Yes, I saw one that day too. It's rare to see a fogbow, so we are always excited about seeing one.

Thanks to John and Gary for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

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Kathy Bishop recently photographed this sunset in Anchor Bay.

Clouds from approaching storms, or departing storms, give Mother Nature the chance to paint the sky in various vibrant colors.

Thanks to Kathy for allowing me to share her photo with here.