Tag Archives: Walt Rush

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Walt Rush found this little owl on his deck in Irish Beach - a Northern Pygmy-Owl.

I love these little owls. They can be seen in the daytime hours hunting small birds.  Their calls are interesting, a slow, measured hoot. You can hear it for yourself at this link at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology: https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Northern_Pygmy-Owl/sounds

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

Lots of clouds from a tropical disturbance to the south. Maybe some rain tonight? But, please, no dry lightning!

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On most holiday weekends there is a fair at the Gualala Arts Center. Memorial Day weekend was no exception. This baby Opossum was seen and photographed by Walt Rush.

Here's what Walt wrote, "At the Gualala Arts Fine Arts Fair we encountered an art enthusiast of a different kind. This little baby possum was munching away on some shrubbery next to where Susan was sitting next to my jewelry display. Thought your readers would get a kick out of this. He was a friendly kind of guy; he didn’t seem to be afraid of people as I was able to get a couple of feet away when I snapped this picture.”

A female Opossum gives birth to as many as twenty babies in a litter and they are no bigger than a honeybee. Fewer than half survive. Those who do survive crawl into their mother’s pouch while they continue to grow. As they grow, some will fall off the mother. That may be what Walt and Susan Rush saw.

I thank Walt for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see some of Walt's beautiful jewelry, here's his website: http://www.rushstudio.com/

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A Long-tailed juvenile Weasel, a member of the family Mustelid,  was seen earlier this week but no photo was taken. Walt Rush had one appear outside his studio at Irish Beach a while ago and he did get a photo.

And below is the Weasel's burrow.

I'll be telling the story of this week's sighting in my Mendonoma Sightings column in the Independent Coast Observer. It's now available in an on-line edition. There is a fee but it's worth it! Here's the link to the ICO: http://mendonoma.com/

Long-tailed Weasels are carnivores, eating gophers, mice and other rodents. Their long, slender bodies allow them to follow rodents right into their burrows. They can climb trees and are good swimmers too. Owls and Hawks are predators of this short-legged animal with the big ears.

Other members of the Weasel family here on the Mendonoma Coast include Fishers, Badgers and River Otters.

To see a photo of River Otters - a mother with her pup - here's the link: http://www.mendonomasightings.com/2011/08/19/river-otters-seen-in-the-gualala-river/

Thanks to Walt for allowing me to share his photos with you here.