The Natural History of Bodega Head
With occasional notes from elsewhere
Saturday, May 27, 2023
Bright green
Thursday, May 25, 2023
Cheery
Peter asked if some of the paler flowers in the last photo were Tidy Tips (Layia platyglossa) with almost no yellow. Well, the more distant view and the camera didn't really pick up the color pattern, so here's a closer view showing the petals with yellow bases and fun white tips.
Cheery little flowers, aren't they? :)
Tuesday, May 23, 2023
Saturday, May 20, 2023
Lean on me
Thursday, May 18, 2023
Trio
A quick shot, but it's always useful when you can compare several species in one photo.
From left to right: Greater Yellowlegs (Tringa melanoleuca), Killdeer (Charadrius vociferus), Long-billed Dowitcher (Limnodromus scolopaceus).
Photographed in Bodega Bay on 13 May 2023.
Monday, May 15, 2023
Sailor at sea
By-the-wind Sailor (Velella velella) during the offshore boat trip on 7 May 2023. We encountered quite a few convergence zones with lots of Velella sailing over smooth seas. [You can click on the image for a larger version.]
Sunday, May 14, 2023
Visitors from the South Pacific
I finally found a few minutes to look through my Murphy's Petrel (Pterodroma ultima) photos from the offshore boat trip last weekend (7 May 2023). These aren't stellar shots, but they're the best I have from the day, and I think they're still helpful for learning about different field marks for this species. Murphy's Petrels are generally rare on day trips from shore, but on this day we observed over 40 individuals. It was quite a show!
Some individuals were close enough to see the combination of brown and gray feathers on the back and upper wings. The patterning of silver highlights on the back appeared to be unique to an individual. (Sometimes it was hard to tell whether some individuals made multiple passes by the boat, but looking at feather patterns in the photos I could distinguish different individuals.)
And sometimes bank at strong angles: