What a great photo! Rozanne Rapozo was at the Gualala River estuary when she saw this Bald Eagle, the male of the mated pair that call the Gualala area their home.
The pair have been seen mating this past week! X-rated sightings for you today.
Thanks to Rozanne for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
Fog at the immediate coast, sunny elsewhere. Kind of sounds like spring, rather than winter.
Eric Zetterholm has been trying to photograph North American River Otters at the Gualala River. There is a family that lives alongside the river. Eric recently photographed one of the elusive otters as he or she dove into the water.
The Gualala River was majestic yesterday with the high tide bringing huge waves over what is left of the sandbar. I will share some photos and video of that soon.
Thanks to Eric for allowing me to share his photo with you here.
Tuesday started with rain showers. The next few days are suppose to be dry and mild. The ocean is still loud - it's quite amazing to hear.
I went to check on the Gualala River yesterday, Friday. We have had 6.8 inches of rain and I knew the river would be a big beneficiary of the wet stuff. I drove in to Gualala Point Regional Park and parked at the iconic bend in the river site. Here's what I saw.
It is already raining here on the Mendonoma Coast today. I believe the Gualala River could open with this big rainstorm. A large - maybe the largest ever - sandbar has the river "closed" to the Pacific Ocean. When the river opens to the ocean for the first time in many months, bursting through the sandbar, it can be a spectacular event. The best place to watch it is from the Gualala Bluff Trail. Be safe and stay off of the sandbar - we don't want to lose anybody!
The weather today is WET! I also checked Quinliven Creek yesterday, a seasonal creek that crosses our property. It was running in the upper reaches but not the lower part. I'm sure that's going to change today. To have this early rain is such a blessing. Thank you, Mother Nature.
Mike Reinhard went to Mill Bend, the newly acquired land along the Gualala River this past week. He was visited by an adult Bald Eagle with its offspring. It's just a wonderful photo of these hawks!
Then Mike saw this group of ducks. I asked birder Tim Bray if Mike had photographed Mallards. Tim wrote, “It's ‘Brown Duck Season!’ More scientifically known as ‘eclipse plumage,’ the cryptic Summer phase when all the drakes look like hens. Thankfully that only lasts about a month and happens before they leave the breeding grounds. Some of them start migrating before they have grown breeding plumage and give us a few weeks of confusion. Most of these are indeed Mallards, the big ones with the yellowish bills, and you can see the drakes are already beginning to molt into breeding plumage. There appears to be two smaller ducks with dark bills that I can't identify. Most likely Green-winged Teal but it's hard to be sure.”
Mike also photographed Red-necked Phalaropes. These shorebirds have very thin beaks. They breed far to our north, in the Arctic tundra, and are migrating southward now.
Nice day at the Gualala River, Mike!
Thanks to Mike for allowing me to share his photos with you here.
It's foggy today, Sunday, right at the bluffs, but sunny just a few yards inland.
Eric Zetterholm saw this young Gray Whale very close in. He went to the Gualala Bluff Trail to photograph it. A couple was on the beach with a dog and they had quite a wonderful show! First Eric photographs the whale spyhopping. Look how close this whale is to the sandbar of the Gualala River!
Here's the whale surfaces while a [lucky] person with their dog watches.
And here's a photo of the Gray Whale's tail.
What a wonderful experience for the people on the beach...and for Eric! Thanks to Eric for allowing me to share his photos with you here. Another great photo, of a man watching while this whale spyhops, will be in tomorrow's Independent Coast Observer.