Mirka Knaster found this double waterfall at Black Point Beach on The Sea Ranch.
I found a pretty one at the Point Arena-Stornetta Lands a few days ago. I'll share that one soon.
Thanks to Mirka for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
The day started off calm but the winds picked up this afternoon. It's sunny and cool. Rain moving in tomorrow night. What a rainy season we've been having!
Just look at this beauty - a six-legged, small, nearly translucent Sea Star. Marilyn Green photographed it at the most recent low tide at Pebble Beach off The Sea Ranch.
Here's what intertidal zone expert, Robert Van Syoc, had to say about this Star.
"This is a very interesting star, and a rare find on our part of the coast. According to Prof. Sarah Cohen at San Francisco State University, who is an expert on this group of stars, it's a member of a ‘species complex’ of three species distinguished by differences in their DNA, but not yet easily identifiable to species-level by obvious morphological characteristics.
“Formerly, all three species were known as Leptasterias hexactis, a smallsix-armed star. Currently, Prof. Cohen considers true Leptasterias hexactis to be the most northern of the three species, ranging from Alaska south to Washington State. The remaining two species of Leptasterias are most common further south in California, uncommonly found this far north. So, it would appear that Marilyn has photographed a currently undescribed species of Leptasterias! Keep your eyes open for more, please!”
As Amy Ruegg often photographs in the intertidal zone, I sent her Marilyn's photo and it turns out Amy photographed this type of Star last year, off Pebble Beach. One of its legs is mostly underneath the center of the Star. Bob agrees it's probably the same species as Marilyn's find.
Bob sent in some fascinating information about these Stars. He wrote, “Another important aspect of Leptasterias biology is that they are ‘brooders,’ that is they do not have planktonic larvae, but keep their developing offspring on ‘Mom’ until they ‘walk away’ as tiny versions of the adults. This limits their ability to re-colonize distant areas after the Sea Star wasting disease of 2015 in our area. Hence, the slow re-establishment of Leptasterias on our part of the coast…and our excitement at seeing them again.”
How great is this? At the next low tide, perhaps you will find one of these rare Stars.
Thanks to Marilyn and Amy for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
It's a stunning day - warm with no wind. But the forecast has it cooling off, big time! For today, I'm enjoying the sunshine and the 70 degree temps. It's not really winter today!
White-tailed Kites are exciting to see. Usually they are spotted hovering in the air as they search for prey for a meal. Eric Zetterholm found two Kites resting in a tree along Salal Trail, which is a public access trail on The Sea Ranch.
Perhaps this is a mated pair, as some birds are pairing up already. White-tailed Kites aren't found in much of the United States, so it's a treat that they are year round residents of the Mendonoma Coast. They have a rather sweet call which you can hear at this link to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/White-tailed_Kite/sounds
Thanks to Eric for allowing me to share his photos with you here.
oh, it was a beautiful day here on the coast today, albeit quite cool. The horizon is clear and I'll be watching to see if there is a green flash at sunset.
The last sunset of 2022 was so beautiful. The colors started out orange and yellow, and then morphed into pink and purple. Paul Brewer took this photo showing the Gualala River in the foreground, the sandbar, and the Pacific Ocean behind it.
Tricia Schuster took her photo from The Sea Ranch, perhaps a few minutes earlier than Paul's photo.
Pure loveliness! Thanks to Paul and Tricia for allowing me to share their photos with you here.
We had a short rainstorm today, but it dropped quite a bit of rain, over a half inch. A big storm is coming in Wednesday, a river of rain event. Wow!
Several weeks ago, the weather was clear with just a few scattered clouds, giving photographer Rozanne Rapozo a perfect opportunity to photograph the full Moon setting over Galleons' Arch Rock off The Sea Ranch.
I love the stairway of light from the Moon. Some call this the stairway to heaven.
Thanks to Rozanne for allowing me to share her photo with you here.
We had nearly three inches of rain from the last storm, and several more are moving in. I've had over 21 inches so far this season, a cause for celebration! More rain beginning around 8 pm tonight. Temps are in the low fifties.