Rocks, lichens, mosses...and an owl! Can you spot it?
I wandered outside tonight with salamanders on my mind. This is the first one I encountered — a young Arboreal Salamander (Aneides lugubris) in Cotati on 27 January 2021. We received ~1.5-2" of rain during the last 24 hours.
These tubular shells look a little bit like macaroni, don't they? I had noticed examples of this family in shell books over the years, but I hadn't seen a live animal until this past summer.
While examining some sediment samples, Maddy spotted these tiny snails crawling around among the sand grains. They reach a maximum length of 2.5 mm (⅛ inch) — even smaller than a grain of rice.
Meet Caecum orcutti! This species has been documented as far north as Pacific Grove, but this appears to be the first record north of San Francisco.
Although the shells themselves are interesting, the live animals are even more intriguing. Eric captured a few of them in a short video clip (see below). They're quite speedy! Note the long antennae, the short foot, and the circular operculum ("trap door") that seals the opening of the aperture (visible at ~0:44 seconds). [If you can't see the video in your e-mail message, click on the title of this post to go to the NHBH web page.]
Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa) in Bodega Bay in 18 January 2021
P.S. There's a little more information about Golden-crowned Kinglets in an older post called "Grooves on the soles of her shoes" on 27 January 2013.
Pygmy Nuthatch (Sitta pygmaea) as it pecked at what looked like an insect pupa that it had wedged into a fissure between the scales of a pine cone. Photographed in Bodega Bay on 18 January 2021.
I suppose everyone has species that they're drawn to for some reason and Brown Creepers (Certhia americana) are in that group for me. There's just something about how subtly beautiful they are. I've posted about creepers several times over the years, but yesterday I had a close encounter with one, so here are a few of my favorite images. [You can click on the images for larger versions.]
Looking like bark:
I'm working on some photo organization (an endless task!), but here's a Northern Harrier (Circus hudsonius) from 24 December 2020.
Birders have been reporting two Long-tailed Ducks (Clangula hyemalis) in Bodega Harbor near Porto Bodega, so I swung by there this afternoon (13 January 2021) after a stop at the post office. They weren't too hard to find, but they were a little distant, so this is the best photo I have. Long-tailed Ducks are rare winter visitors to this area. (Males have very long tails when in breeding plumage.)
My eyes were also drawn to some intriguing patterns on the surface of the water close to shore. [You can click on the image for a larger version.]
No joke — I've been hoping for a badger photo for over 16 years now, and tonight (11 January 2021) it finally happened. We often see evidence (digging) of American Badgers (Taxidea taxus) in coastal grasslands in this area, but seeing the animals themselves is rare (they're more active at night, which I am not).
Tonight Eric suggested one more task which would require going for a short walk. Somewhat unusually, I wasn't so sure...it was cold and foggy and getting dark. But we got ready to go, and somewhat unusually (again), I decided to leave my camera with the zoom lens behind. It was so foggy I didn't think it was worth carrying the larger camera. Then Eric said offhandedly, "Okay, let's go find a badger."
Not long after leaving the car, I couldn't believe my eyes because I looked to the west and there was a badger...rambling around in the coastal prairie...and all I had was a point-and-shoot camera! Lucky for me, Eric was willing to go back to retrieve my larger camera while I kept an eye on the badger, and we ended up with a few fun photos. Here it is — surveying, smelling, listening, looking:
Large west northwest swell today (12-15 feet). [You can click on the images for larger versions.]
The other day we were watching a coyote hunting — walking, pausing, listening intently:
A quick shot of another backyard visitor — Townsend's Warbler (Setophaga townsendi), in Cotati, 2 January 2021.
It was a cloudy and wet day in Cotati today (2 January 2021). Rain often brings many birds to our backyard birdbath. This Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) came by several times, but I'll never get tired of her visits!
