Bobcats are being seen more frequently the past couple of weeks. It appears the mothers are hunting for "real" food for their kittens. Janet Burch recently photographed one on The Sea Ranch.
You can see the Bobcat is looking right at Janet and her camera. This cat with the tufted ears and bobbed tail is a year round resident of the Mendonoma Coast. Look for them in grassy meadows hunting for their favorite food - gophers!
Thanks to Janet for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
It amazes me that King Boletes are being found in April. They "normally" fruit in the fall after the first rains. But this hasn't been a normal weather year. The rains we had in February and March have prompted a very late bloom in some places.
Alon Fish and Tony Gatchalian found some beauties near Manchester.
This delicious edible mushroom is also called Porcini or Cep. Cece Case found one too, this one near The Sea Ranch
Lucky mushroom foragers! I do wonder what will happen in the fall - will there be a strong fruiting of King Boletes? Time, of course, will tell.
Thanks to Alon and Cece for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
Several people reported seeing this Buck and Annie Beckett got a photo.
We don't know how it was injured. It could have gotten caught in a gopher trap or it could have been hit by a car. We do know it survived this injury.
Annie wrote, "I’ve never seen anything like this! Imagine the healing power of this Buck to be able to heal on its own, without antiseptic, antibiotic, pain killers, after an injury that took off hoof and leg below the hock. Astonishing!"
I thank Annie for allowing me to share her photo with you here. So far the young Buck is doing fine on The Sea Ranch despite his injury.
It's always a special moment when we see Monarch Butterflies appear. This is the long-lived generation, the Methuselah generation. They have migrated many miles and the females will soon migrate inland to lay their eggs on native milkweed. Here on the Coast, where milkweed isn't native, these beautiful butterflies are feeding on other native plants, such as Manzanitas.
Nancy Scarola noticed one in her Sea Ranch garden last week and her husband, Robert, photographed it. Notice its tattered wings from the many miles it has traveled.
I saw one in my garden today - my first one of the year. Journey North tracks these butterflies. If you would like to participate in this citizen science project, or just see the sightings that other people have posted, here is their link: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/maps/Maps.html You will see they track many other migrations, including Gray Whales.
Thanks to Robert for allowing me to share his photo with you here.
Roberta wrote, “I saw these interesting clouds off the Bluff Trail near Salal Beach [on The Sea Ranch]. I just found out from a fascinating TED talk by Gavin Pretor-Pinney that they’re Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds.”
Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds are also called billow clouds. Park Aide Roberta saw some from the Salal Trail on The Sea Ranch.
Roberta learned more about these clouds from a TED talk by Gavin Pretor-Pinney. Here's the link to that talk: http://www.ted.com/talks/gavin_pretor_pinney_cloudy_with_a_chance_of_joy.html
I sent this photo to Ken Holmes and he wrote, "It is produced as the speaker, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, explains by wind shear (or varying speed) that flows within and above these stable-type clouds."
Thanks to Roberta for allowing me to share her photo with you here. Cloud watching is a Coast tradition!