A little late

  

In the Bodega Bay area, most black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus columbianus) fawns are born in the spring/early summer, but this year we noticed one in the late summer.  This is a photo from yesterday (29 September 2021).  If you look closely, you can still see its white spots.

Rolling in

 

 

The first large swell of the season rolled up onto the coast this afternoon (28 September 2021).  Waves were predicted to be ~10-12 feet.  Looks like the strong winds built them up even more — the offshore Point Reyes buoy was reading 15-17 foot waves at the end of the day.

 

Rainbow connection

  

So nice to see some heavy drizzle and rain showers today (27 September 2021).  On our way home from work, conditions were just right for rainbows and we counted at least five!

Barking up the right tree?

  

Brown Creeper (Certhia americana) looking for insects while working its way up a tree in our yard in Cotati, 25 September 2021

Tucked in

  

Young Western Sandpipers (Calidris maurii).

Fun to see how well they blend in with various shades of granite:

 

 

A portion of a large flock that landed on the rocky shore and did some preening and resting in the high intertidal zone:

 

Poolside

 

 

Semipalmated Plover (Charadrius semipalmatus), 24 September 2021

Evasive maneuvers

  

 
A tight flock of shorebirds over the waves...

...often means a falcon is nearby.

 

 

Salmon Creek Beach, 21 September 2021

Ushering in the fall

 

Harvest moon, welcoming the autumn equinox. 

Photographed in Cotati on 21 September 2021.

Not the only onessssss

 

 

When we were at the Gualala River recently, we realized we were not the only ones searching for toads.  We came across a few garter snakes, including the one above that had swallowed a toad!  (More on this below...)

 

There are several species of garter snakes in this area, which can make them challenging to identify.

 

Two of the snakes we saw had a lot of red coloration on their heads and bodies.  Here's a side view of the same snake shown in the first photo:

 

I could use some help, but my guess on this individual is California Red-sided Gartner Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis infernalis).  

We also photographed a different individual that I think might be the same species:

 

 

 

 

But the third snake looked very different:

 

 

 

Here's a side view of the same individual:

 

 

 

The identification of this snake was confusing to me.  Usually garter snakes have a paler yellow dorsal stripe down the middle of the back.  This one only had a partial stripe on the neck.  

As you can see, there is no red coloration anywhere.  And if you're interested in comparing, the labial scales (along the jaw, below the eye) and the internasal scales (between the nostrils) are different (in number and shape, respectively) relative to the first two snakes.

My best guess right now for the third snake is an Aquatic Garter Snake (Thamnophis atratus, possibly Thamnophis atratus hydrophilus).  But I haven't been able to locate another example of an Aquatic Garter Snake with this coloration.  [The color pattern is a better match for a Two-striped Garter Snake (Thamnophis hammondii), but that species isn't found in Sonoma County.] 

 

If you have any input about these identifications, I'd be grateful for any feedback!

P.S.  Fun natural history note: If you look closely at the first photo in this post, you'll see that the snake looks swollen in its midsection.  We weren't sure what was causing that at first, but while Eric was watching the snake, it regurgitated a partially digested toad!

Tales from the Gualala toad

Last night I mentioned we went up to the Gualala River to look for toads.  Eric grew up with toads in his backyard and I used to interact with toads on Cape Cod.  We don't see toads on Bodega Head, so every now and then we both miss finding and watching toads.

We hadn't looked for them along the Gualala River before, but I had heard that young toads have been reported emerging from the river in the fall.  So with yesterday's rain showers, we figured it was worth a shot and it would be new territory for us.

It took some patience and persistence, but eventually we found two toads.  The first was a small individual (~3 cm long) hiding under a rock.  Here's the view I showed last night and two others.  Note the variety of colors, including orange under the feet:

 

 

 

 

It sounds like I should be calling these California Toads (Anaxyrus borealis halophilus) now, a subspecies of Western Toad. But it can be hard to track the taxonomy, so let me know if you have different information.

 

Later, Eric encountered a larger toad partially buried in the rocks near the river.  It was hard to spot, but luckily it moved slightly, revealing itself as amphibian rather than rock:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have a few other fun observations from our time in northern Sonoma County yesterday, so stay tuned!

P.S.  Sounds like Gualala was one of the wettest places in the county yesterday with ~1.5" of rain.

Toadally thankful

  

We were hopeful that today's precipitation would bring us some luck in finding a toad...and it did!  I'll write more tomorrow, but here's a wonderful photo that Eric took of a juvenile Western Toad (Anaxyrus boreas) near the Gualala River on 18 September 2021.  So thankful for the rain!

Sunset snack

 

 

Young Sanderling (Calidris alba) with a Mole Crab (Emerita analoga), 16 September 2021

Orange mystery fish

  

A couple of days ago I noticed a large group of cormorants, gulls, and pelicans just offshore from Salmon Creek Beach.  It appeared to be a feeding flock (lots of diving and splashing), but I couldn't tell what they were catching at first.  Then I started noticing some birds with fairly good-sized orange-colored fish.  

I've been having some trouble with my camera lens not focusing properly, and this flock was distant, but I'm hoping the photos might still be good enough to identify the fish they were eating.

Other times when I've seen flocks like this, they've been eating smaller silvery bait fish, so I'm not used to seeing them catch a larger orange fish.  Although they caught a lot of these fish, they seemed to have trouble swallowing them.

I'm not sure about the identification of this fish, but my first guess is Striped Surfperch (Embiotoca lateralis).  If you can help with the i.d., I'd appreciate it!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning to fly

  

Young Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus), 11 September 2021

Cloud progression

  

Interesting clouds in the afternoon today (9 September 2021)...looking a bit like mountains!

And nice colors in the sunset over Bodega Harbor in the early evening:

 

 

 

Reaching for the...

...flies!

 

 

 

Near the Bodega Bay Post Office this afternoon (7 September 2021), I noticed several Red-necked Phalaropes (Phalaropus lobatus) feeding near the shoreline in Bodega Harbor.  It must be a good spot for catching flies.  I'm guessing this site is in a bit of a lee and that the flies are concentrated here and perhaps easier to catch.  [Dragonflies do this, too — feed on flying insects in the lee of trees and shrubs.]

I have some more questions and perhaps some video of this fly-catching behavior, but I'm running out of time tonight, so here are a couple of photos for now.  

 

Above, I'm guessing you'll be able to spot the fly just ahead of the phalarope's bill.  And below, note the fly that's just been caught and is visible at the tip of the phalarope's bill.  [You can click on the images for larger versions.]

 

Wide-eyed

  

Pacific-slope Flycatcher (Empidonax difficilis), 4 September 2021

Feathers like fog

  

Wandering Tattler (Tringa incana), 4 September 2021

 

 

Coming in to roost

  

I went out to check on the grill tonight and looked up to see some White-tailed Kites (Elanus leucurus) flying overhead.  If you've been following this blog for a while, you might recall that in some years we've seen kites roosting in our neighborhood.  We haven't seen this roosting activity in a while, but maybe this will be one of those years?

Around 7 p.m., there were several young kites flying east to west.  Here's a close-up showing the rust-colored feathers across the breast:

 

 

I was also somewhat surprised to see a darker looking raptor around the same time.  When I saw it out of the corner of my eye, I could tell it wasn't a kite, but I wasn't sure about the i.d.  I only had my camera (no binoculars), so I took a couple of quick shots.

I think this is the first time I've photographed a Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) flying over our house in Cotati (see below).

 

A fun few minutes in the backyard — and I'm lucky I didn't burn the fish!

 

 

P.S.  To see more photos of kites coming to roost in our neighborhood in previous years, you can search for "kite" or "kite roost" in the search box at the very bottom of the NHBH website.