Like mother, like otter?

During our recent visit to the Carmel area, we noticed a couple of sea otters (Enhydra lutris) offshore.  Here's a mom and a pup grooming (above), nursing (below), and a few extras of the pup, too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Magic blue spiral

  

We were long overdue on a survey that we needed to get done in Monterey County, so we made a quick day-trip down to the Carmel area this week.  Thankfully, we were able to finish the survey in a few hours, and at the very end of it Eric spotted this beautiful tube worm in a tidepool.  Although time was short, he managed to take this wonderful photo.  Meet Spirobranchus spinosus!  This is a more southern species, but we'll be on the lookout to see if any show up in Bodega Bay in the future.

Isn't the blue color amazing?  The tentacles of this species aren't always blue, and I hope to show some of the color variation in another post.

Out for a stroll

  

Small white sea cucumbers can be hard to identify.  This one might be a Stiff-footed Sea Cucumber (Eupentacta quinquesemita).  Photographed in northern Sonoma County earlier this month.

Sunshine corner

  

Air temperatures reached daily record highs today (23 February 2021).  It was in the high 70s and perhaps the low 80s in Cotati this afternoon.  With warmth like that, it's not surprising a few butterflies were out basking in the sun.  Late in the day we found one little sunny corner in our neighborhood with a handful of butterflies — a mixed "flock" of California Tortoiseshells (Nymphalis californica), shown above, and West Coast Ladies (Vanessa annabella).

Sculpin blues

  

 Another pretty intertidal sculpin just for you!  [You can click on the image for a larger version.]

Little horseshoes on the sand

  

Yesterday (20 February 2021) when Eric and I walked on Salmon Creek Beach, we found lots of these horseshoe-shaped gelatinous structures.  There were a variety of sizes and some variations in the details of the shape, but we think it's likely they all belong to the same species.  Here are several views with a ruler for scale:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of you might recall that we found something similar several years ago (in 2015 and 2016).  We think these are the nectophores of a siphonophore called Hippopodius hippopus.  This primarily southern species is not common in Bodega Bay, but yesterday we found over 50 of these nectophores on the beach in about one hour of walking. 

 

If you're not familiar with siphonophores, don't worry.  These planktonic colonial invertebrates are usually found offshore in the open ocean, so they are unfamiliar to most people.  And siphonophores are fragile, so if they wash up on the beach, they're usually found in pieces.  The entire colony looks quite different.  

 

To help you envision what the colony looks like, Eric cleaned up this older illustration of Hippopodius hippopus (see below).  The parts we found on the beach (the nectophores) are arranged adjacent to each other at the top.  The trailing sections of the colony below the nectophores include units for feeding, reproduction, and defense.

 

 

 

Modified from Haeckel, E. 1888. Report on the Siphonophorae collected by H.M.S. Challenger during the years 1873–1876. In: Report of the Scientific Results of the Voyage of H.M.S. Challenger, Zoology, 28: 1–380. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.6513

 

For more explanations and a little more information about Hippopodius hippopus, you can review the post from 16 April 2015.

 

P.S.  I'm interested in other observations of this species, so if you're out walking the beach and see one of these little "horseshoes," take a photo and send it to me! 

 

P.P.S.  I'm posting this as is, but after comparing the 2021 photos with the 2015 photos, I'm not feeling 100% certain about the identification.  I'm going to look into it further and will update this post if I find that this is a different species.

 

First of spring

  

Today (20 February 2021) we encountered our first By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella) of the spring.  Hundreds of Velella were washed ashore on Salmon Creek Beach, although most were very small (even smaller than the one shown here, which is ~15 mm long).

Along with Velella, we saw a handful of different pelagic species, so watch for other wash-ashores during the next few days.

Emerald in the afternoon

 

 

Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) in the late afternoon sun.  Photographed in Cotati on 19 February 2021.  [You can click on the image for more detail.]

 

Ring around the anemone

  

Proliferating Anemone (Epiactis prolifera) with a large brood in a ring around the base of the column.  Those small beige bumps (of various sizes) are juvenile anemones that will be spend ~4 months with the parent before becoming independent.  

In the photo above, the juveniles are closed up, but check out the image below to see some of the little ones with their tentacles expanded.  The range of juvenile sizes is because embryos are fertilized at different times and added to the "family" around the column.  Photographed in northern Sonoma County on 10 February 2021.

 

 

Rain thrush

 

Whew, it's been a busy couple of days, but here's a nice view of a Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) during a hike near Sonoma Mountain on 14 February 2021.  It was just starting to rain.

Red end of the spectrum

There's a lot of red in the intertidal zone, along with pinks and oranges and golds at that end of the color spectrum.  Sometimes it's fun to scan across different species to see the color similarities.  Here's a little tour from a recent outing:

 

 Fish eggs

Aldisa sanguinea (nudibranch)

 

Peanut worm (Themiste sp.) tentacles

Clam siphons

 

 

Veiled Chiton (Placiphorella velata) in hunting position

 

Juvenile Red Sea Urchin (Mesocentrotus franciscanus)

Kiting into the wind

  

Several days ago I posted a photo of a Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis) perched in a grassland in Mendocino County.  This one was photographed "kiting" into the strong northwest winds near Dillon Beach today (13 February 2021).

A little orange

  

A little orange to start your day!  This is a Cockerell's Dorid (Limacia cockerelli) nudibranch, photographed in the low intertidal zone on 10 February 2021.

A hint of blue

  

I really wish I knew more about how to identify intertidal sculpins, but some time ago I decided I wouldn't let that stop me from sharing photos of them, so here you go!  Photographed in a low intertidal zone pool on 9 February 2021.

In sun and fog

  

We had to do some field work in Mendocino County today (8 February 2021).  On the walk down to the study site, we passed this beautiful Ferruginous Hawk (Buteo regalis).  In the first view (above) there was a hint of sunlight.  A little later we noticed it sitting on a fence with fog and trees in the background:

 

 

This way and that way -- Part 2

Last night I posted a mystery photo that looked something like this:

 

 
This is probably a hard one to identify unless you've spent some time around marine invertebrates.  Doesn't it look like a petroglyph?  Here's another view:

 

These are the grazing marks of a limpet on an intertidal rock surface.  A limpet scrapes microscopic algae off rocks with its radula — a long membranous ribbon (it looks somewhat like a tongue) that's armed with many rows of tiny teeth.  Most of the time you don't get to see the results of their feeding bouts, but occasionally the conditions are just right and the route that the limpet took while grazing is revealed:

 

 

This patch of grazing marks was extensive!  It was fun to look around to see the various paths that the limpet followed.  (You can click on the images for larger versions.)

 

 

 

Munch, munch, munch!

This way and that way

I haven't shown a mystery close-up photo in a while, so here's a fun one.  Can you guess what created this pattern?  (The answer will be revealed tomorrow.)

 

 

Among the oaks

  

A couple of quick shots from Crane Creek in the late afternoon today (4 February 2021).  Nuttall's Woodpecker (Dryobates nuttallii), above, and Brown Creeper (Certhia americana), below.

Chance of rainbows?

  

 
Tonight I started wondering, "What if weather forecasts included the chance of rainbows (like a chance of showers)?"  Or maybe it's just more fun to be watching the sky and trying to predict whether the conditions are right for a rainbow to appear?  There sure were some beauties today (3 February 2021)!

 I photographed this one on the way home from work late in the day.

 

 

 

Sea-esta

  

From December 2020 — Northern Elephant Seal (Mirounga angustirostris) on the outer beach at Point Reyes.