Cece Case recently spotted this odd-looking mushroom, a Fluted Black Elfin Saddle, Helvella lacunosa.
It's said to be edible when cooked, but I've never tried it. I prefer just to admire this ugly duckling of the fungi world wherever it flowers.
Thanks to Cece for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
Cece Case was in her office at her home in Gualala when she looked up and got the surprise of her life. An adult female Mountain Lion was looking through the window.
Cece does have cats and perhaps this big cat was looking for a tasty treat. Cece got another photo of the Cougar - a look at her full body and tail. You can see it at the Independent Coast Observer's website at: www.mendonoma.com Click on Mendonoma Sightings photos to see it.
Thanks to Cece for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
Black Oystercatchers are year round residents of the Mendonoma Coast. They are quite noisy - Jackie Gai dubbed them "chattery" - and fun to watch. Look for them along our rocky shores. Cece Case recently photographed one wading in a tide pool. 
You can't miss this shorebird's distinctive red-orange bill! Its legs are yellow as is its eyes. The rest of this bird is pure ebony. Thanks to Cece for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
It amazes me that King Boletes are being found in April. They "normally" fruit in the fall after the first rains. But this hasn't been a normal weather year. The rains we had in February and March have prompted a very late bloom in some places.
Alon Fish and Tony Gatchalian found some beauties near Manchester.
This delicious edible mushroom is also called Porcini or Cep. Cece Case found one too, this one near The Sea Ranch
Lucky mushroom foragers! I do wonder what will happen in the fall - will there be a strong fruiting of King Boletes? Time, of course, will tell.
Thanks to Alon and Cece for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
John Sperry recently photographed a field of Zigadenes, Zigadenus fremontii.
Cece Case captured a Calypso Orchid, Calypso bulbosa.
And on the Point Arena-Stornetta Lands Rozann Grunig found this lovely wildflower with the unlovely name of Western Skunk Cabbage, Lysichiton americanus.
This plant loves water and is one of the few native species in the arum family. The plant is called skunk cabbage because of the distinctive "skunky" odor that it emits when it blooms. The odor of the blooms attracts its pollinators, scavenging flies and beetles.
Many more wildflowers will be blooming in the days to come as we have had the perfect equation for them to bloom.
Thanks to John, Cece and Rozann for allowing me to share their photos with you here.