Morning light in a tidepool with sea urchins (purple) and sea anemones (green).
The Natural History of Bodega Head
With occasional notes from elsewhere
Friday, April 26, 2024
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Slender spur
Blue Toadflax (Nuttallanthus texanus) in the Bodega Dunes on 19 April 2024.
P.S. The "spur" is the long slender part of the flower (to the left of the petals) that's curving downward.
Sunday, April 21, 2024
Happy Earth Day!
Happy Earth Day!
Most of our recent photos our from Hawai'i, so here's one from the north shore of O'ahu to help celebrate our amazing planet.
Friday, April 19, 2024
Light-eyed?
I was checking on some wildflowers in the dunes earlier this week and was noticing it seems to be a good year for many of the annuals, including Dark-eyed Gilia (Gilia millefoliata).
I had seen hundreds of Dark-eyed Gilias, all with typical purplish petals, when I came across one with all white flower parts:
We've seen this phenomenon of white variants in other species, but I hadn't noticed it in Dark-eyed Gilia before, so I thought it was worth documenting.
The Jepson Manual says that Gilia millefoliata petals can be purple or "colorless," so perhaps this variant appears occasionally and we just hadn't seen it in the Bodega Dunes yet.
P.S. Should we call the variant Light-eyed Gilia? ;)
Monday, April 15, 2024
Lots of loli!
We saw at least 10 species of loli, or sea cucumbers, while snorkeling in Hawai'i. Eric made this great mosaic before we saw the 10th, so above you can compare 9 different species! [You can click on the image for a larger version.]
Top left: loli, or White-spotted Sea Cucumber (Actinopyga varians)
Top center: loli, or Teated Sea Cucumber (Holothuria whitmaei)
Top right: kohe lelewa, or Sand Sea Cucumber (Holothuria arenicola)
Middle left: loli, or Difficult Sea Cucumber (Holothuria difficilis)
Middle center: loli okuhi kuhi, or Black Sea Cucumber (Holothuria atra)
Middle right: loli koko, or Impatient Sea Cucumber (Holothuria impatiens)
Bottom left: weli, or Conspicuous Sea Cucumber (Opheodesoma spectabilis)
Bottom center: weli, or Tahitian Sea Cucumber (Euapta tahitiensis)
Bottom right: loli, or Light-spotted Sea Cucumber (Holothuria hilla)
And the 10th (not pictured) was a loli ka'e, or Stubborn Sea Cucumber (Holothuria pervicax).
Fun to see so many different species of loli!
Sunday, April 14, 2024
On the windward side
While in Hawai'i, we walked some east-facing beaches to look for pelagic invertebrates washed ashore.
Above, a small Portuguese Man O' War (Physalia physalis) on Kaua'i on 4 April 2024.
Below, a Purple Sea Snail (Janthina umbilicata). (Interestingly, the Janthina we found on Kaua'i were quite a bit smaller than the Janthina we observed in California back in March.)
Saturday, April 13, 2024
Birds of a different feather
A few more miscellaneous bird photos from Hawai'i for you...
Above, a kōlea, or Pacific Golden-Plover (Pluvialis fulva), all dressed up for the breeding season and departing soon for the Arctic tundra.
Thanks for tuning in for some special guests from Hawai'i!