Tag Archives: Emily Nelson

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My neighbor to the east, Emily Nelson, called and said, "Jeanne, I think there are Dolphins out there!" I immediately could see the dark streak in the ocean.

This is the anomaly you look for - a dark line indicates a school of fish or even perhaps Humboldt Squid. I trained my scope on the dark line and, sure enough, there were dark dolphins leaping out of the water.

The Dolphin were at least two miles out in the Pacific Ocean. I wish the photo was better but it will at least give you a feel for what we were seeing. Any day you see Dolphins is a good day!

And, as a bonus, here's a photo from last night's beautiful sunset.

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South of Point Arena, Bowling Ball State Beach and its neighboring partner, Schooner Gulch State Beach, are wonderful places to visit, especially at low tide. The trail down to Bowling Ball is closed due to erosion but the trail to Schooner Gulch is easily hiked. At low tide you can cross the gulch and explore Bowling Ball Beach. That's what Emily Nelson did on Thanksgiving Day. Here's what she photographed:

Storms have brought bull kelp onto the beach and one beautiful Sea Star, also called Star Fish.

BBB is a wonderful place to beach comb. The rocks catch treasures tossed up by the sea. One time Rick and I were exploring and we found opalescent abalone shells shining in the sun. There are unusual round rocks exposed at low tide that look like a bunch of bowling balls. It is quite unique!

Here's a web site to learn a little more about this jewel on the Mendocino Coast: http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=446

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The male Alligator Lizard "holds" the female's head while they mate. It looks like he is biting her! But in Emily's photo there are two males "holding" her head. One of the males is a California Alligator Lizard and the other is a San Francisco Alligator Lizard, as is the female. Thanks to Gary Nafis for the identification of these critters. If you are interested in learning more about amphibians and reptiles, here's Gary's excellent web site. http://www.californiaherps.com/index.html

Is it good to be a female San Francisco Alligator Lizard? She wasn't talking.

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A beautiful Bobcat, Lynx rufus, paid a visit to Emily Nelson's place on the Gualala Ridge and Emily captured several great photographs. I've read that Bobcats prefer to eat Rabbits and Hares but they will eat anything from insects all the way up to Deer. Here on the Mendonoma Coast we mostly see them hunting Gophers.

Once in a while someone will mistake a Bobcat for a Mountain Lion, which is pretty ridiculous. Bobcats are about twice the size of a domestic cat and have a bobbed tail. Mountain Lions are three to five feet long and have a long tail. They weigh well in excess of a hundred pounds. Emily's Bobcat visitor doesn't weigh more than 30 pounds. I thank her for allowing me to share her photo here.

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Last year Emily Nelson, with the help of many friends, built a labyrinth on her Gualala ridgetop property. She invited friends to bring a rock from their property to be a part of the labyrinth, which Rick and I did. If you build it, they will come - right? Emily recently found this beautiful Bobcat walking her labyrinth and kindly allowed me to share this photo with you.