Tag Archives: Gualala

•

Judy Pfeifer has been seeing whales, including one made of foliage and wearing a large white mask. She wrote, “A Whale practicing social distancing and masking up against the Covid 19 virus was spotted hanging out in the garden of Shannon Wilson in Gualala.”

Mark Crawford photographed a statue wearing a mask at Stewarts Point on a terribly smoky day recently. I asked Arch Richardson if the statue was Bigfoot. He wrote, “Yep, that's Stewarts Point version of Bigfoot.  He looks pretty good with the mask and the flag.”

So, even foliage whales and Bigfoot are wearing a mask these days! Thanks to Judy and Mark for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

Fortunately the smoke is gone and we are having a beautiful autumn day today. Whale watcher, Scott Mercer, saw four Fin Whales today, an awesome sighting!

•

Many coast residents, and visitors too I would imagine, photographed the sunset on September 22. Tricia Schuster was one of them, photographing near her Sea Ranch home.

Paul Brewer also photographed the sunset, this from the vantage of Gualala.

And I photographed it too, a little further north of Paul, from our home in Anchor Bay.

Autumn is know for beautiful sunsets, as storms to our north bring clouds, but this one from the last day of summer was one to remember.

Thanks to Tricia and Paul for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

We need the onshore breezes to return to blow away the smoke that has enveloped the coast. The forecast shows they should arrive...may it be soon!

•

If you follow these blog posts or read my column in the Independent Coast Observer, you know that we have had a mated pair of Bald Eagles in Gualala for the past several years. We've been wishing and hoping they would have a chick and it looks like they did this year. Steve Woolson photographed the family near Salal Creek, which is very close to the Gualala River. The fledgling is eating a bird that one of the adults caught for him/her.

The fierce-looking mother is on the right. You can make out a few stray dark hairs on her head. A totally white head denotes a mature bald eagle. She was obviously mature enough this year to hatch an egg and nurture her chick. The father had been seen diligently fishing and then flying upriver with his catch. We believe the nest is in the watershed of the Gualala River.

So, how about this goo - no, great - news?! We need it, right? Thanks to Steve for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

We have no smoke from the wildfires here, as the wind is pushing it southward. In fact, if you didn't read or listen to the news, you'd never know anything was amiss if you were on the Mendonoma Coast! It's sunny and breezy today. Many Humpbacks were seen today too.

•

The Gray Whale migration of mother/calf pairs is pretty much over. But a few weeks ago, Paul and Jacquie Brewer saw two sets of Gray Whale pairs swim past their Gualala home.

It's comforting to know the whales are swimming northward to their feeding grounds. We should be seeing other species of whales soon. We'll be looking for Humpbacks, Fin Whales and the largest of them all, Blue Whales in the days ahead. I did receive a sighting of several Orcas yesterday, Saturday. No photos, though.

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

Early this morning the sound of raindrops woke me up - surprise! Not much, but a nice surprise. Then the clouds swept away, revealing a beautiful, warm spring day.

Spring doesn't know...

• 2 Comments

•

Paul Brewer recently photographed a mother/calf pair as they swam northward past Gualala. In the first photo the calf breached!

Here's another look at the calf.

And here is the calf with his or her mother. The calf is on the right.

Gray Whale mothers only have one calf per year. She will feed her calf nutrient-rich milk during their long migration.

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

Paul was photographing on a sunny day. Today we have had unexpected showers. Anytime we get the wet stuff we are happy!

Spring doesn't know...