Tag Archives: Rich Trissel

•

Rich Trissel photographed this Cooper's Hawk adult with two fledglings through a scope. What a treat it is to see this family.

Cooper's Hawks are known for their flying abilities. They hunt smaller birds. They are mostly quiet but they do have a unique cak-cak-cak call which you can hear at this link to the Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Coopers_Hawk/sounds

Thanks to Rich for allowing me to share his photo with  you here.

Foggy until the early afternoon today.

•

On Sunday November 22, Nancy and Rich Trissel had quite the sighting at their home off Fish Rock Road. Nancy wrote, “I had an exciting sighting just before 5 pm. From my living room, I took a photo of two young Mountain Lions staring down a young Buck. It’s been a few weeks since I’ve seen any Deer around, and I tapped the window to see if the Buck would turn, revealing the number of points in his rack. He stayed absolutely still, so I reached for binoculars. Looking where his gaze was fixed, I was rewarded with two young Mountain Lions peering over a log!

"Rich was in a nearby structure so I immediately phoned him. From his vantage, he could see THREE young lions behind the log. After the lions loped away, Rich stepped out to come home, but quickly turned back around after spotting a much larger adult uphill, closer to him. The Buck slowly walked towards where the lions disappeared. Rich estimated that the young Mountain Lions were 50 to 60 pounds in size. Big kittens!”

That's quite a sighting! The larger Mountain Lion was undoubtedly the mother. Thanks to Nancy for allowing me to share her photo with you here.

It's sunny and cooler here today. The past two days we have had booming surf with huge waves. I'll be sharing some of those photos soon.

• 2 Comments

•

Rich Trissel keeps a "yard list," a list of birds he sees in their yard north of Gualala. A few days ago he added a Rough-legged Hawk to  his list. Nancy got the photo.

Here is what the Cornell Lab of Ornithology says about these autumn/winter visitors: "The Rough-legged Hawk spends the summer capturing lemmings on the arctic tundra, tending a cliffside nest under a sun that never sets. Winter is the time to see this large, open-country hawk in southern Canada and the U.S., where it may be perched on a pole or hovering over a marsh or pasture on the hunt for small rodents. Found globally across northern latitudes, this species occurs in both light and dark forms."

Nancy photographed a light form, adult Rough-legged Hawk.

To hear their calls, here is the link: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Rough-legged_Hawk/sounds

Here is a close-up photo I found on the web, from the Audubon handbook.

I hope I get to see one of these magnificent hawks! The Trissels and I are neighbors, as the Raven flies!

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

•

A Brown Shrike has been seen for the past week or so in the Alder Creek area. This bird breeds in central and eastern Asia. Less than a handful has ever been seen in California - a very rare visitor indeed.

It's not easy to photograph the bird, and long lenses are needed. The first photo is by Jeff Petit. And the second was taken by Rich Trissel through his spotting scope.

Brown Shrike at Alder Creek by Jeff Petit Brown Shrike by Rich Trissel

Birders from afar have come to add this bird to their life list.

Thanks to Jeff and Rich for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

•

A light-colored Black Bear was seen near Hearn Gulch, then up on the Gualala Ridge and finally off of Fish Rock Road. The bear was foraging for food. When it visited Nancy and Rich Trissel off of Fish Rock Road, they got several photos. It was a foggy day so the photos aren't as clear as we'd like but they beat the one other photo sent to me. That photo was blurry because the photographer was so scared and excited.

Here are several photos Nancy took.

Nancy wrote, “The bear noshed for a good twenty minutes outside our back door. There was a splash of white, a crescent moon, on the bear’s chest. The face was dark, the shoulders and back were blond and the hind end darker. It was wonderful to see!”

Thanks to Nancy for allowing me to share her photos with you here and also thanks to Rozann Grunig who worked on the lighting of these photos to better show the bear.