Tag Archives: Richard Kuehn

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Carolyn Carnell shared this photo of the big island sitting off the north end of The Sea Ranch, Gualala Point Island. It was very crowded that day!

Carolyn Carnell wrote, “This photo was taken while doing a drone survey to check on the Common Murres nests on the [west] side of Gualala Point Island. To our surprises it was covered with 112 Brown Pelicans, with many also in the water along with Common Murres having a feeding frenzy.”

Also on the island were Brandt's Cormorants and Western Gulls. Let's face it, GPI is a popular place to hang out! The Brown Pelicans were most likely resting before continuing their northward migration. As I've shown you in a previous post, the juveniles are now strong enough to be passing by the Mendonoma coast.

There was a lot of bait fish in the ocean which caused multiple feeding frenzies last week, a good sign of the health of the ocean.

Here's one of my favorite photos of GPI as big waves crash into it during a high surf event, taken by Richard Kuehn.

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

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Richard Kuehn recently photographed the Bald Eagle pair that has been seen by the Russian River in Jenner with the Pacific Ocean behind them.

Perhaps these two majestic eagles will join me in wishing you a Happy New Year!

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

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It is said that to see a green flash will bring you good luck. So I hope that if you on the Mendonoma coast, you will take the time to watch the sunset. A green flash sometimes appears at the moment the sun is disappearing from view. This first photo was taken by Peter Cracknell. Note the emerald-green color and note the clear horizon.

The green flash is a photographable mirage, caused by light refraction. Here is a photo by Richard Kuehn showing the classic hour-glass, where the top of the sun seems to pinch off from the bottom. You can see a green flash at the top of the hour-glass. But there might have been a bigger green flash a moment after Rich took this photo.

If you are extremely lucky, a green flash will morph into a blue flash. This photo was taken by Allen Vinson and it also has hints of purple on the edges - it's very rare to get a photo of this.

Allen also captured this green flash. Look! There are two green flashes in his photo.

Allen always celebrates his green flash viewing with a green flash cocktail. Very civilized, Allen!

If you interested in learning the mechanics of a green flash, here is an article that might help: http://aty.sdsu.edu/explain/explain.html

I'll be watching the sunset tonight. How about you?

Thanks to Peter, Rich and Allen for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

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Jan McCormick photographed a Sierran Treefrog, also called a Chorus frog. They are the very small green frogs that can be seen and heard on the Mendonoma coast.

sierran-treefrog-by-jan-mccormick sierran-treefrog-1-by-jan-mccormickI should say this frog is usually green, as it has the ability to change to brown to match its environment. In this case it took up residence in a redwood-clad hot tub, and Harm Wilkinson photographed it.

sierran-treefrog-has-turned-brown-by-harm-wilkinson sierran-treefrog-on-a-calla-lily-by-richard-kuehnThe last photo, which was taken by Richard Kuehn, shows you how small these frogs are. Rich photographed this frog in a calla lily.

We've certainly had a lot of rain this month, which will be to the liking of all the frogs that call the coast home.

Thanks to Jan, Harm and Rich for allowing me to share their photos with you here.

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Richard Kuehn recently photographed several species of shorebirds, including Whimbrels. This particular Whimbrel reminded Rich of "King of the Mountain."

King of the Mountain, a Whimbrel by Richard Kuehn

Whimbrels are large sandpipers and they eat insects. You can see the bill is curved downward. They nest far to our north in the Tundra.

To hear their twittering call, here is the link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Whimbrel/sounds

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