Tag Archives: Mendonoma coast

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Goose Barnacles live on hard surfaces of rock, and even flotsam, in the intertidal zone of the ocean. Peggy Berryhill recently photographed a group of them at low tide off of Cook's Beach. You can also see a handful of mussels in Peggy's photo.

Such a strange-looking creature!  The Goose Barnacles look rather like claws. They are considered a delicacy in Portugal and Spain and go by the name Percebes. Native people on the Mendonoma Coast would roast them on a fire and then eat the stem. I'm content to admire them in their natural habitat, one of the many denizens of the ocean.

Thanks to Peggy for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

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Big, beautiful King Salmon are being caught off the Mendonoma Coast. Ken Bailey went out recently and brought home the "bacon." Wendy Bailey took the photography with a certain pup named Lucky looking on.

 This photo is not very clear but you can still see the beautiful salmon caught by a group of Mendonomans who went out on a fishing charter from Bodega Bay. Paul Batchelder, Sharon Albert and  George Marshall are among this happy group.

It is such great news that salmon are in abundance this year! There is plenty of feed, as the ocean is full of krill right now. That also brings the chance of Humpback Whale sightings and even a Blue Whale or two.

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

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Adrian Bennett has several bird feeders and bird baths in her yard at The Sea Ranch and she attracts many different kinds of birds. Deer often wander through but seeing a Bobcat under a feeder was something unique. Here the Bobcat peers around a bird bath.

 And below the Bobcat sits under Adrian's thistle feeder, while an American Goldfinch waits for the cat with the tufted ears and bobbed tail to leave.

 Here the Bobcat checks out a soft ball hanging from a birdhouse. And beyond is the beautiful blue Pacific Ocean.

Thanks to Adrian for allowing me to share her photos with you here. The wildlife on the Mendonoma Coast is amazing!

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Late in the evening on July 3 and continuing through the early morning hours of July 4, the Mendonoma Coast witnessed a fantastical lightning show. Fortunately most of the event was over water, in our case the Pacific Ocean.

Mel Gerst, now an "official" storm chaser, got in his car and took three photos from three different spots. The first was taken from The Sea Ranch.

The second photo was taken looking over the Gualala River.

And the photo below was taken by Schooner Gulch.

What an event! We don't get many lightning storms like this on the Coast.

Thanks to Mel for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

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I rarely see these birds because they are hidden away in a tall tree, so you might ask why it is one of my favorites. The answer is its beautiful song. Swainson's are a medium-size thrush and they are found in forests. Richard Kuehn was lucky enough to capture one singing recently.

Swainson's Thrushes overwinter in Mexico and South America. Their arrival on the Mendonoma Coast signifies spring to me. When they pair up, you can hear them calling to each other during the day, keeping in touch with their beautiful song.

Here is a link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology to hear their call: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Swainsons_Thrush/sounds. But you will have to imagine a series of these calls, with the thrill going upwards on the scale, sometimes almost too high to hear - at least by human ear.

Thanks to Rich for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see a Swainson's Thrush nest, along with an American Goldfinch nest, here is the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2011/07/26/swainsons-thrush-and-american-goldfinch-i-have-two-nests-to-show-you/