Sarah Wagner was at the Navarro River when she captured this magical sight.
The Milky Way, in all its glory, is shining brightly in the night sky.
Thanks to Sarah for allowing me to share her photo with you here. Sarah took another photo of the Milky Way while on a night kayak trip on Big River. The stars are reflected in the river. That photo will be in this week's Independent Coast Observer. Don't miss it! Here's the ICO's website: www.mendonoma.com
Eric Zetterholm was ready with his camera when he recently saw a Peregrine Falcon perched atop a tree.
A Peregrine Falcon can reach speeds of up to 200 miles per hour on its dash for prey. They eat mostly birds. Here on the Mendonoma Coast, they often prey on Common Murres. They also eat bats! Peregrine means wanderer. We are glad several Peregrines wandered to the coast this year.
In tomorrow's Independent Coast Observer, there will be a dramatic photo taken last week by Ken Bailey of an adult Peregrine apparently chastising an impudent juvenile in the air. Don't miss it!
Thanks to Eric for allowing me to share his photos with you here.
Suzie Chapler noticed these two Katydids on a potted plant on her porch. They were mating.
Katydids are related to Crickets, and are also called Bush Crickets. Their scientific name is a tongue twister: Tettigoniidae. They mostly eat leaves, flowers, bark and seeds.
Thanks to Suzie for allowing me to share her photo with you here. This is actually the first photo of Katydids I have received in my ten+ years of doing my Mendonoma Sightings column in the Independent Coast Observer.
Oyster mushrooms have bloomed on a downed Tan Oak in our forest. This tree came down last year and we left it in place in the hopes that we'd get these mushrooms - they grow on dead hardwood. Our hopes were rewarded!
And a Dyer's Polypore has bloomed too - not an edible, but beautiful to see and watch evolve.
The new polypore is the light-colored one. The dark brown polypore was last year's bloom. It's unusual for the old one to still be entact. These mushrooms are used by dyers of wool. When young they dye wool yellow or orange. When older, the dye wool brown. Their role in Nature it to decompose dead wood.
I have a photo of the first Boletus edulis, a choice edible. Four were found at The Sea Ranch a few days ago. But I am sharing it first with the Independent Coast Observer with my Sightings column. It will be out on Thursday!
Paul Brewer incorporated the clock tower in the Gualala's Cypress Center into his photo of the eclipse, thereby showing you the time he took the photo.
This photo is starring on the front page of last week's Independent Coast Observer.
Then Paul photographed the setting moon, which was a super moon, in the early hours of September 28. Nice to see it back to its usual color.
Thanks to Paul for allowing me to share these stunning photos with you here. To see much more of Paul's nature photography, here is his website: http://www.capturingnatureswonders.com/