Family time

Mōlī, or Laysan Albatross (Phoebastria immutabilis) chick, photographed on O’ahu, Hawaii, on 29 March 2024.

And here’s a close-up of the parents:

Update on nest #2

  

Okay, hummingbird fans, here you go -- an update on nest #2!  

On 23 March 2024, we checked in to see whether the female was still sitting on the second nest.  Here she is from one side (above)...and below is the view from the other side showing the general setting.

 

 

She appears to be actively incubating.

 

While in the area, we also heard one of the juveniles from the first nest calling from a little farther away.  And a different hummingbird flew in and gave the more typical Anna's Hummingbird call notes (see below), but it looks like it could be one of the juveniles that has been out of the first nest for 10-11 days now.  I haven't aged Anna's Hummingbirds, so if you can confirm this is a juvenile (or not), let me know!

 

 

 

Owl moon?

  

We heard Great Horned Owls calling outside of our house tonight (25 March 2024), so I stepped outside to listen.  A great night for owls -- calm, clear, lots of stars, and a bright moon to the east.  An owl moon!  :)

Splashes, fins, and leaps!

Okay, here's a fun story.  Yesterday (21 March 2024) I was working at my desk, which at the moment has a view of the ocean, and something white offshore caught my eye.  I thought it might have been a whale spout at first, but I saw it again and could see it was more of a splash, so I grabbed my binoculars for a better view.  I could now see extensive splashing and backs of cetaceans that didn't look like whales, but they were ~3/4 mile offshore, so a bit distant. They were moving quickly to the south, but I had a spotting scope nearby, so I ran down the hall with it and set up just outside the door in hopes of identifying them.

Now I could see a very large group of dolphins, probably over 100 individuals!  I could see large distinct dorsal fins, some full-body breaches, some tail slapping — a very energetic group.  It was still far enough away that I wasn't sure about the species, but because it's rare to see so many dolphins close to shore off Bodega Head, I started shouting down the hallway for others to come see.

We had nice views of the dolphins, but I still wasn't sure about the species.  I could tell they weren't Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) — they didn't have long beaks and the group size was too large.  I'd never seen Pacific White-sided Dolphins (Lagenorhynchus obliquidens) so close to shore, and usually they have some paler color on their dorsal fins and these dorsal fins looked dark to me.  Long-beaked Common Dolphins (Delphinus capensis) or Short-beaked Common Dolphins (Delphinus delphis) might have been possible, but they're not common in this area, and I couldn't see enough details to be sure.

At one point I had wondered about Risso's Dolphins (Grampus griseus) because some of the dorsal fins looked quite tall (tall enough that Orca even crossed my mind).  But I was thrown off because some of the smaller individuals leaping out of the water looked very pale below, especially in contrast with the darker backs.  I haven't seen Risso's Dolphins that often, but I think of them as being more uniform gray.  However, my lack of experience with the variation in this species likely biased my expectations.

I could see at least one boat out where the dolphins were, and was hopeful someone might have gotten a photo, so I sent out a few inquiries.  I didn't hear back...until this afternoon!  Bill Keener from The Marine Mammal Center let me know that they had a team on a research cruise out by Tomales Point around the same time.  They photographed a group of 100-200 Risso's Dolphins near Bird Rock.  The Marine Mammal Center kindly shared a couple of their photos, so here you go!  

Photo credit for both photos: N. Cristales/The Marine Mammal Center under NOAA permit # 26532.  [You can click on the images for larger versions.]

 

 

 

 

 

Such great photos!  

 

Risso's Dolphins are medium sized, reaching lengths of ~8.5-13 feet.  Note the prominent dorsal fin and the overall grayish coloration.  On a few individuals in the second photo you can also see that they're blunt-headed (similar to pilot whales).  Risso's Dolphins tend to prefer deeper water, but they are occasionally observed from shore.

 

With many thanks to The Marine Mammal Center crew for sharing their observations and wonderful photos.

On sail?

  

Thousands of By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella) were washed up on the beach tonight (21 March 2024), and this time they were much larger.  We measured some that were ~8-9 cm long.  

With south/southwest/west winds coming during the next couple of days, we could see even more Velella in drift lines on local beaches.

One-way flight

  

Quick shot of a Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) with prey, an American Coot (Fulica americana).  You can see the lobed feet of the coot.  Photographed flying over Bodega Harbor today, 20 March 2024.

Turning the corner

  

A Coast Larkspur (Delphinium decorum) to help usher in spring!

The Vernal Equinox occurs on 19 March 2024 at 8:06 p.m. PDT.

Round two

  

Well, I wasn't sure we'd see the juvenile Anna's Hummingbirds (Calypte anna) again, but we were in the area this afternoon and started to hear the begging call.  Eric was able to locate one of the fledglings as mom flew in for a feeding (above).  The juveniles have been out of the nest for 4-5 days now, but apparently the mother keeps feeding them for 1-2 weeks after they leave the nest.

I watched the fledgling for a little while.  Fun to see the juvenile probing some leaves/buds while sitting on a branch.  I had been wondering how they start to feed on flowers and this view provided a clue:

 

 

 

And also fun to see the juvenile take short flights.  Here's a takeoff and a landing:

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks to Eric's sharp eyes, we also observed something today that surprised me at first.  The female already has a second nest in progress, in the same tree!  

It sounds like two broods per season are typical in Anna's Hummingbirds, but I didn't know she would start again so soon...or while she was still feeding the fledglings from the first nest.  The Birds of the World species account reports several records of this, with females feeding young that are 3-5 days out of the nest while also incubating a second clutch of eggs.

Here's mom on the new nest (below).  I don't know if she's incubating yet.  It looked like she was still gathering nest material (including from the original nest), but she was also spending quite a bit of time on the nest:

 

 

 

Time will tell how the second nest attempt turns out!  If it's successful, fledging could occur in late April/early May.

 

May luck be your friend

  

A couple of photos to help celebrate St. Patrick's Day!  

Above, a Sierran Treefrog (Pseudacris sierra) framed by Douglas Iris (Iris douglasiana) leaves.  

Below, Coast Rockcress (Arabis blepharophylla) and clover (Trifolium sp.) leaves:

 

 
With many thanks to Eric for the great photos!

Warm enough for tortoises

  

Wow, hard to believe, but air temperatures reached ~75°F (~24°C) on Bodega Head today.  And yesterday they were only ~5° lower than that.  

There have been lots of California Tortoiseshells (Nymphalis californica) flying by.  Here's one on Claytonia perfoliata.  It was probing the surface of the leaf with its proboscis, but I'm not sure if it was after moisture or salt?