Out of the sea

 

Dramatic light surrounding the North Farallon Islands.  Photographed from Point Reyes on 29 November 2019.

 

Snowy in the mountains and snowy on the beach

 

Snowy Plover (Charadrius nivosus), Dillon Beach, 28 November 2019

 

Lingering

 

Lingering showers and swell on the morning of 27 November 2019.

 

Perched in the rain

 

Finally, some rain!  This afternoon this Burrowing Owl was perched on the soil mound outside of its burrow.  You can see that its feathers are a little wet.  We've received 0.7 inches of rain so far (as of ~9 p.m. on 26 November 2019).

 

The cave-dweller and the king

The light was getting dim, but it was fun to see this wren and kinglet up close while walking near the Russian River yesterday (25 November 2019).  Both were feeding on the ground, loosely associated with a small flock of sparrows:

 

Pacific Wren (Troglodytes pacificus)

 

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)

P.S.  "Trogolodytes" means cave-dweller and "Regulus" refers to a king.

Facing west

 

Rough-legged Hawk (Buteo lagopus) near Jenner on 24 November 2019.

Monet with merganser?

 

We took a short walk in the Quarryhill Botanical Garden in Glen Ellen this afternoon (23 November 2019).  There was nice fall light, and a view of a Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) in the lower pond.  The effect of the lighting and reflections reminded me of a Monet!

 

Seeing orange spots

 

I was helping with some shorebird surveys in Bodega Harbor today when I noticed some egg masses on the tidal flats where I was standing.  When bent down to look more closely, I saw a few bubble snails nearby.  They looked more orange than others I've seen in Bodega Harbor, so I snapped a few quick photos for the record.

I'm wondering if this could be Haloa japonica (formerly Haminoea japonica), but I'll need to check with some folks to confirm.

 

Sand painting

 

Drift lines in beach sand in Chatham, MA, back in October.  Does it remind you of shadows and light on a mountainous landscape?  I suppose some of the sand grains might have originated from mountains a long, long time ago.  :) 

Tickling the tunicates

 

I was working on a backlog of photo organization tonight, so here's an image from August 2019.  The striped peanut worm (Phascolosoma agassizii) has extended its introvert and is searching for food particles with its short tentacles.  The yellowish-green animals are tunicates or sea squirts (Perophora annectens).

With flare

 

Whew, it's been a little hectic lately, and I haven't had much time for working on photos.  But here's a picture of a nice little isopod.  It was hanging out in some Eelgrass earlier this fall.  Those are impressive appendages at the tail end!

Night sky

 

We've been doing field work during the last few nights, so it's been a bit busy.  Tonight (14 November 2019) the night sky was beautiful with what looked like two bright planets just above the western horizon — Jupiter and Saturn?  (I hear Venus and Jupiter will be very close together on 24 November, so you might want to take a look at the southwestern sky at dusk.)

Shrouded in blue

 

Moonrise over the Bodega Dunes, 11 November 2019

 

Rock art

 

We had to do some work in northern Sonoma County today (10 November 2019).  It was foggy along most of the coast, but the sun broke through in a few spots late in the afternoon.  There's always something to see in these beautiful rock formations!

On the pond

  

Recently Scott mentioned there was a Ross's Goose (Anser rossii) at the farm pond along the Bodega Highway just east of the town of Bodega.  So I pulled over on my way back from Santa Rosa on 7 November 2019 and scanned the pond from the side of the road.  The goose was on the far side of the pond, but here's a picture for the record.  Ross's Geese nest in the central Canadian Arctic and large numbers winter in the Sacramento Valley and San Joaquin Valley.
 

Shades of brown

 

American Pipit (Anthus rubescens) on driftwood, 2 November 2019

 

The golden hour

 

During our beach walk on 2 November 2019, a flock of shorebirds flew by and I noticed a golden-plover (Pluvialis sp.) among them.  Although the sun was setting and the light was getting dim, a few photos came out well enough to share.

Note the golden coloration, especially noticeable on the back feathers:

 

The plover was feeding along the surf zone.  Below are a few different positions and angles:

 

 

 

Although the next photo is a little blurry, it's not a bad comparison of a golden-plover (Pluvialis sp.) and a Black-bellied Plover (Pluvialis squatarola).  It's helpful that both birds are in the same position:

 

P.S.  For anyone wondering, I haven't identified the golden-plover to species because I'm uncertain about the identification.  I was leaning towards Pacific Golden-Plover (Pluvialis fulva) rather than American Golden-Plover (Pluvialis dominica) mostly based on the number of visible primaries (three?  it's possible there were three on one side and four on the other) and the primary extension beyond the tail (relatively short?), but it was also difficult to judge those characters from my photos, so I've left it as golden-plover (Pluvialis sp.) for now.  If you have thoughts about the i.d., I'd love any feedback.

Digging for crabs

Last night I mentioned that we encountered a River Otter (Lontra canadensis) feeding on Mole Crabs (Emerita analoga).  We spent some time watching the otter and documenting the behavior, so here's a bit of a photo journal:

Padding along in the surf zone:

 

Stopping to dig for crabs.  The otter wasn't messing around.  It would actively dig with its front legs, bulldoze through the sand with its snout, and sometimes it would bury its entire head in the sand! 

 

 

 

 

The otter seemed quite successful capturing prey.  When chewing crabs, the otter often assumed this distinctive position with its nose pointed towards the sky (making it look similar to a sea lion):

 

Sometimes the otter caught female Mole Crabs carrying eggs (note the bright orange color):

 

Between prey captures, the otter would look around:

 

And sometimes shake its wet fur:

 

The otter and Sanderlings seemed to keep an eye on each other:

 

Every time we encounter a River Otter, we learn something new and have more questions about them.  And every time, I'm grateful for a few minutes with such an endearing animal.

 

Crab opener

The recreational crab season opened today (2 November 2019).  Most fishermen were headed out after Dungeness Crab (Cancer magister), but one seemed more interested in catching Mole Crabs (Emerita analoga):

Waiting for sunset

 

Burrowing Owl (Athena cunicularia), waiting for sunset, 1 November 2019