Tag Archives: Gualala River

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Catherine Miller and Jill Nussinow went out looking for one of the most delicious edible mushrooms a few days ago, and they found some beauties! Boletus edulis, aka Porcini, have made their most welcome appearance. See the joy on Catherine's face!

Catherine told me there were no bugs in these boletes. Lots of critters enjoy munching on these particular mushrooms, including many of us.

Thanks to Jill for allowing me to share her photo with you here. Jill is also known as the Veggie Queen. You can learn more about her, and her plant based meals, on her website: https://www.theveggiequeen.com/

It is lightly raining today. Monday and Tuesday are forecast to be clear. Then the rains are predicted to be heavy on Wednesday and continue through the weekend. We'll be on watch to see which day the Gualala River breaches the big sandbar, always a dramatic event. And seasonal creeks are sure to come to life, as their year-round ponds have been filling from previous rain events. They are primed, just like the river! Here's a photo I took on Friday of the Gualala River.

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Craig Tooley noticed this handsome Double-crested Cormorant perched at the Gualala River. The bird then took flight and Craig got that photo too.

From the Cornell Lab of Ornithology website: "From a distance, Double-crested Cormorants are dark birds with snaky necks, but up-close they’re quite colorful—with orange-yellow skin on their face and throat, striking aquamarine eyes that sparkle like jewels, and a mouth that is bright blue on the inside." I like the "etching" on their feathers!

To hear the call of a Double-crested Cormorant, you can listen at this link: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Double-crested_Cormorant/sounds  Fair warning! Their infrequent calls sound rather like a pig!

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photos with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is the link to his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

We had some puffy clouds moving in from the west, making for a beautiful morning. Temps are again mild today and there is no wind. A very nice day!

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Craig Tooley was photographing at the Gualala River when he spotted this Great Blue Heron on a snag. Yes, it was foggy that morning!

Great Blue Herons are year round residents of the Mendonoma Coast!

Thanks to Craig for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is his website: http://www.ruffimage.com

Lots of fog this morning, pulling back in the afternoon. Cool temps, low 60's. No wind. Beautiful fall colors beginning to appear.

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I had never heard of this insect until Michele sent her sighting in. She wrote, "I kept getting fooled by what I thought were little Western Toadlets, but I knew they would be much bigger now. These toadish creatures hopped like a toad, swam like a toad, but much faster and smaller. It wasn't until I zoomed into one of my photos that I realized it was an INSECT not a toad. It's called the Big-eyed Toad Bug.

It's colored like a toad, but the size of my pinky fingernail and I have small hands. It even has big eyes on its head just like a toad. They eat insects. I suppose if something thought it was a toad and had sampled a toad before with unpleasant results, it would avoid it. They eat other insects and they swim. They are really cool!”

To see some other photos of this insect, here is a link to iNaturalist: https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/370350

Their genus name is Gelastocoris oculatus and it means laughable bug or ridiculous bug.

Thanks to Michele for allowing me to share her photo with you here, and for introducing me to this bug!

It was sunny this morning but with quite a bit of wind. Clouds have moved in and the wind has increased. It feels like we might get some rain!

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Karen Wilkinson wrote, “Have you ever really seen a flower?  Walking the Gualala River to find wildflowers in bloom is a beloved pastime.  Sharing it with botanical buddies is even better.  The closer you look at a flower, the more exquisite they become. Take this Scarlet Monkeyflower, if you touch the stigma with the tip of your finger, it closes up.  I think this is connected to the way it gets pollinated, but I'm not sure why.  What I am sure about is that this flower is my new favorite.” Karen got a nice photo of an Anna’s Hummingbird coming in for nectar and another showing the stigma and anthers touching the hummer’s head.

I asked Botanist  Peter Baye why the stigma, the part of the flower that receives pollen during pollination, would close. He wrote, “Had to look this one up! Fortunately there was some new research just published this year on it by Lila Fishman and colleagues at the University of Montana. Closure of the stigma lobes in monkeyflowers are interpreted as a means of maximizing cross-pollination over less advantageous self-pollination.”

Peter also wrote, after looking at Karen’s beautiful photos, “It is wonderful to see photos of observant naturalists rediscovering the Gualala River bed, and not just a stone's throw from Highway 1! It needs to be rediscovered constantly, as its never the same two consecutive years! I know people love the Russian River, but frankly, the native biological richness of the Gualala has more to offer explorers.”

Very interesting to learn about this! Thanks to Karen for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

While it is hot, hot, hot inland, a fog bank is keeping things cool along the Mendonoma Coast. Temps have been in the mid sixties. Nice!