Jeff and Pearl Watts put up a beautiful bird house, and they were rewarded when a pair of Violet-green swallows built a nest inside. Jeff photographed two chicks peeking out through the opening.
Here's a photo Linda Bostwick took of a male, with a feather in its beak.
Thanks to Jeff and Linda for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
Rich Kuehn heard and then spotted a nest of Peregrine Falcons. While he watched the two chicks fledged. He snapped several photos. An adult sits on a rock with one of its chicks in the first photo and the fledging birds are seen in the second.
In the next photo, Linda Bostwick photographed a young Red-tailed Hawk that landed near her home in Point Arena. Yes, this is the time of year when hawks are fledging.
It's always exciting to see birds of prey and we're happy two Peregrine chicks, along with the Red-tail, were successfully raised on the Mendocino Coast!
Thanks to Rich and Linda for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
This wild river is closed to the Pacific Ocean by a big sandbar across the mouth. It closes every year and will reopen with enough rain. With our drought conditions, the river was looking very dry and kayaking it meant you had to get out and carry your kayak in spots. But we have had two rainstorms and the Gualala is looking so much better. Linda Bostwick and Mel Smith recently kayaked there.
It looks quite idyllic, doesn't it? The clouds are reflected in the still water.
Thanks to Linda for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
As I showed you yesterday, there is a lovely little lagoon on the northern portion of Manchester State Beach. There I saw two birds wading in the water. The one on the left was about half the size of the other one. Ron LeValley identified it as a Pectoral Sandpiper. The bird on the right is a Short-billed Dowitcher.
Below there is a portion of a boat, with the metal piece that held the anchor, that recently washed up on the beach. Someone has already incorporated it into a driftwood "building."
And below Mel Smith and Linda Bostwick are standing next to a small refrigerator. It's very heavy. This and the portion of the boat might be precursors of the tsunami debris head our way from the Japanese disaster.
We were lucky and had a sighting of an Elegant Sheepmoth for our own!
Yesterday, Saturday, was Coastal Clean-up day so Rick and I met Linda Bostwick and Mel Smith at the northern end of Manchester State Beach. The fog was just off the coast and the air was cool, perfect for scouring the beach and lagoon for trash.
Here's the path from Highway One. The woods contain walk-in campsites.
Below Linda Bostwick with her poodle, Devi, stand in one of the campsites.
As we walked further into the park we saw beautiful grasses and sedges. A group of Cattails waved in the breezes. The Point Arena Lighthouse stands to the far left.
Below is a beautiful, small lagoon. Tomorrow I will show you two Sandpipers who were fishing in it.
And here is the result of our labors. Rick, Mel and Linda with the debris we picked up. Two items were left on the beach because they were too heavy - a small refrigerator and a small but heavy tire. These could be precursors of the tsunami debris that will hitting our coast in the months to come.
