Tag Archives: Gualala Point Regional Park

•

The last evening of August brought a beautiful full moon. It was the second full moon in the month, and thus called a Blue Moon. And it was also a Supermoon. Some of the coast’s best photographers were out to get their photos of this event. Rozanne Rapozo wrote, “ We relocated from Breakers Reach to Gualala Point Regional Park this time to photograph the last Supermoon until September of next year! The weather has been so uncooperative this year that this is the first time I’ve been out photographing at night in ages. Amazing to watch the moon rise above the ridge.” And shine through the Serge at the park!

Bill Oxford also got some great photos. He photographed the large moon framed by trees, and from the bluffs. He wrote, “I shot the Blue Moon at Shell Beach and my backyard in TSR on Wednesday. Had a great time on the bluff finding compositions until 2:00 a.m. I accidentally flushed out some sleeping Deer to their distain and my startled surprise. All good!”

You can see Bill’s series at his website, http://billoxfordphoto.com/bluemoonatthesearanch

Thanks to Rozanne and Bill for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

It was cool and foggy this morning, but the sun is breaking through. It doesn't seem to be as smoky today. So far, I haven't smelled smoke. We actually have rain in the forecast for Monday. Wouldn't it be terrific if it rained to our north and helped put out the fires?!

•

The most common bumblebee seen here is the hard-working Yellow-faced Bumblebee, Bombus vosnesenskii. Judith Fisher saw one of these important pollinators gathering pollen on Lupine at Gualala Point Regional Park.

Judith’s photo shows that the Yellow-faced Bumblebee has a nice packet of orange pollen in one of her corbiculae,  aka pollen basket, which are grooves in her hind legs. Inside the corbiculae are specialized branched hairs called scopae.

I wondered which flowers provided her with orange pollen. The most likely suspects are the Lupine Judith observed the bumblebee feeding on, an obvious clue. Also California Poppies, which are blooming in abundance, offer orange pollen to our native pollinators.

It’s interesting and fun to know that the color of the pollen varies from flower to flower. Black pollen is rare, but I read Beekeepers always know when Oriental poppies are in flower, because homecoming bees are dusted with black pollen.

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

It's sunny and warm here today. Lots of visitors here, escaping the inland heat!

•

Rozanne Rapozo photographed a pair of Double-crested Cormorants, saying she was surprised to find them on the rocks at the park where she usually only sees Pelagic Cormorants. I was amazed by how beautiful the feathers were, etched in a darker color. She wrote, “Looks like [the one on the right] is ready for Spring, and aren’t we all!! A special treat to get one at the start of breeding plumage.”

Tim Bray took a look at this photo and determined the bird on the left is an immature and the bird of the right is an adult coming into breeding plumage.

I asked Diane Hichwa about this sighting. She wrote, “We don't have as many Double-cresteds.  A few nest on Fish Rock Islands. The Pelagic Cormorants nest on the cliff sides at discreet spots up and down the coast. And the Brandt's Cormorants need lots of flatter space so they nest on Gualala Point Island and on Fish Rock Islands."

Notice the "s" shape of their necks. And if you could see inside their mouths, you'd find bright blue mouths!

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

Very breezy, cool with high puffy clouds passing by today.

•

Gail Jackson was at Gualala Point Regional Park at sunrise when she spotted this Coyote on Monday, October 17.

Four weeks ago, Eric Zetterholm photographed theses two Coyotes above Reef Campground, near Fort Ross. I wonder if one of these two might have traveled up the coast to GPRP.

We don't see Coyotes very often here on the Mendonoma Coast.

Thanks to Gail and Eric for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

It's a beautiful Autumn day here today, temps in the 60s with some high clouds passing by, and a nice breeze. Humpbacks were seen yesterday!

• 2 Comments

•

On Sunday Sept 18, we had a vigorous storm that dumped quite a bit of rain on the Mendonoma Coast. I've previously written that we got 4.55 inches at our place in Anchor Bay. Last Tuesday morning I drove down to the iconic spot at Gualala Point Regional Park to take this photo of the mouth of the Gualala River. This part of the river is called Mill Bend.

The river had been quite diminished so it's wonderful to see it so nice and full. You can see the big sandbar at the mouth that "closes" the river to the Pacific Ocean. With enough rain, this sandbar will be breached, always an exciting event. But for now, the river is still "closed."

I hope you enjoy one of my photos for a change.

Heavy, drippy fog along the coast for much of the day, though the ridge had blue skies.