Young dove

  

Two young Mourning Doves have been hanging out near the tomato plants in our backyard.  Here's a close-up of one from 31 July 2021.

Shades of gray

  

 Foggy conditions off Bodega Head, 30 July 2021

Head in the fog

  

Bodega Head in the fog, 28 July 2021

Got milk?

An unusual movement caught my eye in the backyard tonight (27 July 2021).  Here's what I saw when I looked with binoculars:

 

 

An adult Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura) was feeding a juvenile.  Doves feed their young by regurgitation.  The young bird inserts its bill into the parent's mouth and the adult regurgitates crop milk.  Not sure I'll have another chance to photograph the juvenile, so here's one more quick shot:

 

 

 

Little wonder

 

 

We've been working hard these past few days, but here's a quick shot of one of my favorite marine snails.  This is a pheasant snail, Eulithidium pulloides.  They're tiny!  Compare the shell to the sand grains in the photo.  I've posted about this species before, and I'm fascinated with the variable color patterns of their shells.  If you'd like to see some other designs, check out the post called "Six of a kind" from 21 August 2014.

A hint of purple

  

We're doing some low tide field work in the Monterey area.  During a short beach walk in Pacific Grove tonight (24 July 2021) we spotted this nice shell of a California Cone Snail (Californiconus californicus).  This species is not common in Bodega Bay, but see this post for a little more information: "Connections" from 19 September 2016.

A big six

  

A nice six-armed sea star (Leptasterias sp.) from Mendocino County on 15 July 2021.  This individual was large for a six-armed sea star — about 7 cm across (arm tip to arm tip).

 

Throwback?

  

I was working on some file sorting tonight, so here's a "throwback" photo of sorts — from Point Reyes back in December 2007.

Ghost bees

  

Up in Mendocino County last week we noticed these small whitish bees flying very close to the ground.  They were very fast flyers, and didn't land very often, so it was easy to lose sight of them as they disappeared into the grassland or along the trail.  This is one of the only photos that came out well enough to share.  

My guess for this bee?  Perhaps a species called Melissodes pallidisignata, sometimes called a Pale-marked Long-horned Bee.  

I first wrote about this species back in 2012.  If you'd like to see a photo from Bodega Head, check out the post called "Mint green and fuzzy" from 25 July 2012.  And note that while the photo above is a male, the females look quite different!  See the post called "Pollen-covered chaps" from 31 July 2013.

New legs and an old tail

  

 A tadpole with hind legs (above)...

 and a frog with a tail (below):

 

 

Sierran Treefrog (Pseudacris sierra) photographed 3 July 2021.

A forest of palms

Wow, the Sea Palm (Postelsia palmaeformis) was really tall in Mendocino County this year!  Here's a photo of Eric making his way through a Sea Palm forest on the way to our study site:

 

 

 

Okay, perhaps you guessed that the Sea Palm isn't really over four feet tall, but it was luxurious up there.  There were lots of nice, extensive patches of this charismatic kelp!

 

Family resemblance

  

After field work in Mendocino County today (15 July 2021), we had a nice view of a couple of juvenile Black Oystercatchers (Haematopus bachmani) with their parents.  

Note the shorter bill with a black tip, the tawny edges on many of the feathers, and the pale pink legs. 

 

 

 

 Below is an adult for comparison:

 

 

 

New neighbors

  

Another barnacle for you — this one is a Thatched Barnacle (Semibalanus cariosus).  These two young barnacles are growing on a mussel shell.  Note the nice new growth at the base.  Barnacles add new material to their shells where they are attached to the substrate.  In this case, the new growth is identifiable by its white coloration.

Fishing in the surfgrass

We were on our way out to do some early morning field work today (11 July 2021) in a rocky boulder field when I heard a high-pitched whistle.  It didn't register immediately, but when my mind starting ticking through possible options, I realized it was probably a young River Otter (Lontra canadensis).  So I looked around for a bit and finally spotted where the sound might be coming from.  Can you find the face of the adult otter in the photo below?

 

 

She's peeking out from around the seaweed-covered rock, in the middle of the photo, just right of center.  It's only her face, but you can see her eyes, nose, and whiskers.  

 

I stood very still and then watched as the adult entered the water and was followed by two young otters.  I don't often shoot video, but the point-and-shoot camera I had has that option, so I decided to give it a try.

 

It was so much fun watching the otters hunt for prey among the surfgrass (Phyllospadix sp.) and seaweeds.  They were so fluid and so fast!  They disappeared under the surfgrass blades, but their movements were still visible at the surface.  Then they would dive and reappear from below some kelp fronds.  So cool!  Here are a couple of short video clips:

 

[If you can't see the video player in the e-mail, click on the title of the post above to go directly to the NHBH website.]

And one more photo, of the mom (on the right) and one of the young ones (on the left), both feeding on fish:

 

 

Plate tectonics?

  

A photogenic Pink Volcano Barnacle (Tetraclita rubescens), thanks to Eric!  Photographed on 3 July 2021.

Pink Volcano Barnacle shells are made up of four wall plates.  The boundaries between the wall plates are hidden by the sculpturing on the outside, but if you find a shell washed up on the beach, you can turn it over to see where the four plates meet.  [Or perhaps I'll post a picture of that view sometime!]  Most other barnacle species in this area have six wall plates.

First to return

 

 

A flock of Western Sandpipers (Calidris maurii) in Bodega Harbor on 7 July 2021. 

 

 

These birds seemed hungry and tired, not so surprising I suppose as they likely just made the long-distance flight from their breeding grounds on the tundra to Bodega Bay.

Rockscapes

  

A few photos of rocks from along the northern Sonoma coast this past weekend.  Thanks to Eric for his excellent eye and framing some beautiful patterns!

 

 
 

And here's one from me:

 

 

 

One more, from Eric, because the fence lizard matched the rock so nicely:

 

Join the club

  

When we were in northern Sonoma County a few days ago, Eric called me over to see some high density clusters of limpets.  The limpets were on the vertical sides of some channels.  

The photo above is an overview of the setting, but here's a closer view where you can see 5-6 tight clusters of limpets on the walls: 

 

 

 

And a slightly different perspective:

 

 

 

 

And here's an even closer view of one cluster (below).  These are Fingered Limpets (Lottia digitalis).  It's a common species in the rocky intertidal zone in this area.  Although this limpet is known to form aggregations, I don't think we've ever seen such striking, numerous and dense clusters.

 

 

 

So why so many limpets in such dense clusters?  We're not sure, but it could be related to high wave exposure (the limpets might be more vulnerable on the horizontal surfaces), or perhaps predation pressure (again, more vulnerable when horizontal).  Another possibility is that this site has a lot of good food resources, so the limpets are doing exceptionally well, and therefore the clusters have even more limpets than usual.  Perhaps you can think of some other options!

Nice breeze on the bay

  

We haven't been sailing since the pandemic started last year, so it felt really good to get out on Tomales Bay today (5 July 2021) — a beautiful, breezy afternoon.  Tomales Point is in the background.

On the rocks

  

Last night I mentioned we were up in northern Sonoma County yesterday (3 July 2021).  In one spot Eric thought there might be a driftwood log out on a rocky ledge, but when I looked through my camera lens, I could see it was a large Steller Sea Lion (Eumetopias jubatus).  Note the pale fur in the neck area and the bulky profile, creating a mane-like appearance.  

Later when we looked back we could see the sea lion sleeping — check out the very long whiskers in the photo below:

 

 

 

Not long after this I heard a gull making an alarm call and we looked up to see the gull chasing a young Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus).  The eagle eventually landed on an offshore rock:

 

 

 

Some nice wildlife sightings on the rocks!

The blue zone

 

 

We spent part of the day in northern Sonoma County today (3 July 2021).  This was the view just south of Fort Ross.  There were fog layers near shore and out near the horizon, but there was a narrow strip in between with sun.  The contrast between the foggier sections and the blue zone was intense!

 

White with maroon accents + update about blog e-mails

  

A very nice chiton called Lepidozona radians.  This species is known for being highly variable in color.  Most of the individuals we've found in Sonoma County have been more brownish overall, with radiating flecks on the plates (see note below).  But during a recent low tide we came across several individuals with this white and maroon combination.  Interesting!  

P.S.  For a look at a different color form, check out the post called "The original sequins" on 26 February 2017.

P.P.S.  I've been informed that the service for sending out e-mails with NHBH blog posts will no longer be offered starting this month.  I'll be looking into a new one, and I hope I can transfer everyone over to a new service, but if not, watch for a note here (on the NHBH website) with a new way to subscribe to receive blog posts via e-mail.  Sorry about this!  I'm not that savvy about these types of things, but I'll be working on a solution.