Tom Eckles saw the first Monarch Butterflies in his garden in Gualala.
The fall migration is just beginning. Journey North is a citizen science project where you can report your own sightings of Monarchs and other creatures. Here is their website: http://www.learner.org/jnorth/
Thanks to Tom for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see much more of Tom's photography, here is his website: www.tomeckles.com
It's not easy photographing CA Quail chicks, as they always seem to be in motion. Two chicks recently came to a water dish to take a few sips, and Clay Yale had his camera at the ready.
Here is a photo of the beautiful male, taken by Tom Eckles. The male is always on guard duty while the female tends to her covey of little ones.
My all-time favorite photo of CA Quail was taken by Siegfried Matull
14 chicks are on the bench, with Dad acting as a sentry. It looks like Mom is on the left.
Thanks to Clay, Tom, and Siegfried for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see much more of Tom's photography, here is his website: www.tomeckles.com
A Doe can have one fawn, and often has two little ones. Triplets aren't unheard of but they are rarer. Tom Eckles photographed the threesome from his home in Gualala.
One of my favorite fawn photos was taken by David McFarland. This tiny, newborn fawn fell asleep on the side of a road in The Sea Ranch. The mother left it alone for a few minutes so she could feed herself. Security put cones up so the fawn would be safe. The fawn was gone thirty minutes later. This is why you should never try to "rescue" a newborn fawn or any other creature such as Harbor Seal pups. In almost every case the mother will return to take care of her newborn.
Thanks to Tom and David for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see more of Tom's photography, here is his website: www.tomeckles.com
Two Gray Whales decided to swim close to shore near the mouth of the Gualala River. Photographers Tom Eckles and Ron Bolander were on the Gualala Bluff Trail with their cameras in hand. The first two photos are Tom's. You can see a fellow on the sandbar was having an up close and personal experience that day!
These next three are Ron's photos:
In this last photo you can see the head of this Gray Whale is encrusted with barnacles. That means it is an adult. It is spy hopping - taking a good look around.
I wish I had been on the Gualala Bluff Trail while these two Gray Whales were making a personal appearance!
Thanks to Tom and Ron for allowing me to share their photos with you here. To see much more of Tom's nature photography, here is the link to his website: www.tomeckles.com
Tom Eckles was out on the public hiking trails recently and got a beautiful photo of Sea Foam.
I learned from the NOAA website that sea foam is often indicative of a productive ocean ecosystem. Seawater has lots of tiny pieces of organic matter, plus salts, dead algae and more. When the ocean is agitated - a washing machine comes to mind – sea foam occurs. But this event was an amazing occurrence. All we need for Tom’s photo is a cherry on top.
Thanks to Tom for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see much more of Tom's photography, here is his website: www.tomeckles.com.