Mark Simkins and Kitty Wolfe were at The Sea Ranch when they saw this at low tide - thousand of mussels.
Other creatures to look for are Sea Urchins. Craig Tooley took this photo.
And Sea Stars, this one photographed by Noel Olson. It is an Ochre Sea Star.
Thanks to Mark, Craig, and Noel for allowing me to share their photos with you here. Tide pooling is a Coast tradition.
To see much more of Craig's nature photography, here is the link to his website: www.ruffimage.com.
It's always a treat to see a Red-shouldered Hawk. Mark Simkins recently photographed a young one near Manchester sitting on a fence post.
And Robert Scarola spotted a juvenile in the Sea Ranch area. These hawks are year round residents of the Mendonoma Coast.
Robert also photographed this forest hawk on a rainy day and the bird doesn't look pleased!
These hawks have a distinctive call. You can hear it at this link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Red-shouldered_Hawk/sounds
Here is what an adult looks like, photo taken by Jim Garlock. No more brown head!
Thanks to Mark, Robert, and Jim for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
Mark Simkins and Kitty Wolfe have meadows around their Manchester home. Kitty says they have millions of gopher - yes, that is just an estimate. Bobcats LOVE gophers and can be seen hunting their favorite prey regularly. Mark recently got these photos.
Bobcats are often seen in the daytime here, though they are supposed to be nocturnal. They are agile hunters. Here is one of my favorite photos of one climbing the very high fence at the B. Bryan Preserve in Point Arena, photo taken by Judy Mello.
That is a very determined Bobcat! And it shows if you are trying to raise chickens where Bobcats live, you really need to protect them.
Thanks to Mark and Judy for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
Mark Simkins photographed a juvenile Red-shouldered Hawk recently. They are hawks of the forest, hunting prey such as frogs, mice and snakes.
And Richard Kuehn photographed a juvenile Northern Harrier. They fly low over the land hunting their prey, small animals.
To hear the call of a Northern Harrier, here's the link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Harrier/sounds
To hear the call of a Red-shouldered Hawk, here is the link: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/red-shouldered_hawk/sounds
Thanks to Mark and Rich for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
Much of the Mendonoma Coast was covered in fog during the Perseids meteor showers. And there was a big full moon at the peak, a supermoon. So the Perseids were pretty much a non-event for us this year as the light from the big moon made viewing them nearly impossible. Mark Simkins was able to photograph the supermoon from his place in Manchester, which miraculously had no fog that night.
This was on August 10th. The moon was the closest and largest of the year, just beautiful!
The fog has pulled back today. Looks like it will be a sunny weekend for the Coast.
Thanks to Mark for allowing me to share his photo with you here.