Early bird special?

  

Eric took this quick shot of an Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) as we were leaving work tonight (28 March 2023).  I'm not sure about the identity of the fish — perhaps a large surf perch?  

The calm before

  

Looking west from Bodega Head late in the day on 27 March 2023.

After the equinox

 

 

Crescent moon in the western sky,

photographed from Cotati on 23 March 2023.

Rainy day visitor

  

Pretty steady rain and drizzle here throughout the day today (19 March 2023).  Nice to see a Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus) in our yard.  The buds are swelling on the trees — and the equinox is tomorrow (on March 20th)!  Happy Spring!

Back in town

  

Lots of swallows returning recently.  While eating lunch today (16 March 2023) I heard a Northern Rough-winged Swallow (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) and turned around to see it sitting on the volleyball net.

Twinkle toes

  

A quick snapshot of a juvenile Arboreal Salamander (Aneides lugubris) — only ~3 cm long, photographed in Cotati on 14 March 2023.

We've had quite a run of rain recently.  I'm rounding off a bit, but here are some numbers for rainfall amounts in Bodega Bay:

During the last 24 hours = ~1.5"
During the last week = ~4"
During the last month = ~7"
Since January 1st = ~20"
Since October 1st = ~30"

Which means we're very close to our average annual rainfall at this time (98%).

Probing

  

Surfbird (Calidris virgata) probing Pyropia (the seaweed draped over the rocks) to find prey on 11 March 2023.

Rain on the way

 

 

Color around the moon = rain on the way.  

Photographed from Cotati on 8 March 2023.

Gray-green

  

Passing showers this afternoon (6 March 2023) made for a nice gray-green combination.

More on the way?

  

Not much time for photos today, but here's a quick shot of Mount Saint Helena taken from Cotati in the early evening.  Still a little snow at ~4300 feet.  Sounds like there might be more snow up there this weekend!