Tag Archives: Doug Forsell

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Doug Forsell noticed a huge change at Brush Creek, at Manchester State Park on Jan. 31. Doug wrote, “Brush Creek has moved north past the beach entrance at Kinney Road, washing away 20 to 30 feet of sand that was there three weeks ago. Tell people not to run down the entrance or let their children do so.” Here's what Brush Creek looks like now. Note the horizontal snag sticking out of the bluff face.

Here's what it looked like at the beginning of January. You can see the horizontal snag. That is a tremendous amount of sand that is now gone.

Brush Creek is found at Manchester State Beach, the Kinney Road entrance. You can learn much more about this fabulous beach at this link: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=437

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

We are having unbelievable weather for the middle of winter - very little breeze, warm temps. Daffodils are beginning to bloom, as they are wont to do when we have a stretch of warm weather. We do hope the rains will return but there is no rain in the forecast until late next week. Come to the coast!

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It was a mystery. About three or four weeks ago Mary Heibel was hiking at the Point Arena-Stornetta Lands, near the Field Station. She found approximately 12 broken shells right near the bluff edge. She brought one to me. It’s bigger than a chicken egg, tan with gray and dark brown splotches, almost as if an artist had thrown paint at the shell. Osprey eggs comes closest in looks, but 12 eggs? There was no discernable nest according to Mary. I wondered what birds might produce a dozen eggs and an egg quite large. Wild Turkey eggs were not a match.

Diane Hichwa provided the first clue. She theorized that the spot was an eating place rather than a nesting spot. Dave Jensen suggested looking at Western Gull and Common Murre eggs as a reference. Dave suggested Common Ravens could have been egg thieves. He wrote, “They often work in pairs, one to distract and the other to snatch. Their increasing population proves the point.”

The eggs were a match for Western Gulls. Doug Forsell had more insights. He wrote, “For at least four years now a pair of Ravens have been taking the eggs from the Cormorant colonies along the cliffs and on the island near the Field Station. Last year, during the Discover the Coast event, I watched the ravens taking both Pelagic Cormorant and Western Gull eggs.”

Ravens also steal Common Murre eggs. Ron LeValley sent along a photo of a raven flying with one in its beak.

Seabirds are shy in comparison with ravens. Doug shared a video where a raven flew to a Pelagic Cormorant’s nest and pushed the nesting mother off the nest. The raven the stole the lone egg. https://youtu.be/Upw4D0OamEc

Common Ravens eat everything, including carrion. We have an overabundance of ravens here and one of the reasons is that we humans are feeding them. For the sake of the seabirds, we must stop.

Thanks to Ron for allowing me to share his photo with you. Quite a mystery tour this ended up to be. I appreciate everyone who helped solve it.

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Manchester Beach is a great place to beachcomb as interesting things get tossed up by the wave action. But what Doug Forsell found was quite a surprise - a coconut!

Doug Forsell wrote, , “I had a couple of interesting finds on Manchester Beach this week. The high surf and wind blew a lot of Jellyfish in, and the high surf tore them into small pieces. I also found a coconut without a husk. Usually at sea the husk stays on, but maybe the surf knocked it off. It still had liquid in it. I wonder how long it was at sea, and where it came from.”

It's a mystery! The California Current brings treasures from halfway around the world - even a coconut.

Thanks to Doug for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To learn more about Manchester State Park, here is the link: https://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=437

 

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Doug Forsell found this big fish on Manchester Beach. It was identified as a Long-nosed Lancetfish.

These fish are normally found in deep water, so what it was doing on the beach is a mystery.

A strange and unique sighting for you today. Thanks to Doug for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

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Doug Forsell just sent this in:

"I was out on Manchester Beach yesterday (Friday Oct. 6) at about 5:30 PM walking south from the Stoneborough Road entrance, and about 500 yards from the mouth of the river, I came upon a raccoon feeding at the edge of the surf. Wanted to get a picture so I slowly walked towards it.  Kept expecting it to run away, but even after it saw me it continued to feed. I was about to walk away when it finally turned towards me, hunched its back and began acting very aggressive. It even made a couple of charges towards me, of about 5 feet.

I continued south and every once in a while looked back with my binoculars and the animal remained vigilant with his back raised watching me for about five minutes until I disappeared from sight. Any normal animal would certainly have run for the dunes so I suspect this animal may have rabies or some serious mental issues.
Thought you might want to put a notice on your blog to let people know that there may be a rabid raccoon in that area. Especially important for those who take their dogs to the beach. While of course dogs are supposed to be on leashes, most of the dogs I see there are not on leashes.  I think that raccoon could do serious damage to the biggest dog."

***Please keep your dog on leash while on Manchester Beach until this Raccoon is found and tested.***

Thanks to Doug for the warning and his photo too.