We hope you've been enjoying the fall season.
Happy Halloween!
Well, that's one benefit of working late -- a chance to see Great Horned Owls (Bubo virginianus) on the way home!
A beautiful sunrise yesterday morning (26 October 2024) with pink highlights in the clouds surrounding the moon.
While watching the sunset tonight (24 October 2024), it felt like good conditions for a green flash.
Sure enough! Nice green color as the sun disappeared below the horizon. Here's a tiny bit of it:
A young Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus) in Bodega Bay on 21 October 2024. [You can click on the image for a larger version.]
I didn't have a lot of time, but as I was leaving work tonight there was nice light on the shorebirds in Bodega Harbor. I'm always a fan of pictures that make it easy to compare species, so here's one with three species of sandpipers. Can you find all three?
Most of them are Sanderlings (Calidris alba) -- there are a dozen of them, the palest of the three species.
On the right side of the photo, in the foreground and background, there are two Dunlin (Calidris alpina) -- they're a little bit larger, with a little bit longer bill, and much browner coloration.
And the last one? In the foreground the 4th bird from the left is a Western Sandpiper (Calidris mauri) -- the smallest of the three species, darker than Sanderlings but lighter than the Dunlin.
We lingered at the coast tonight to try to see Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. After a beautiful sunset (with Venus, above), we eventually located the comet. We had great views with binoculars, and I tried to take a photo, but I'm afraid I don't have experience photographing comets! But for the record, here's a view of the comet from Bodega Head on 18 October 2024:
I wish I had been able to photograph the rising Moon last night -- it looked so big! And nice early evening light surrounded it. But here's a quick shot of the setting Moon this morning (17 October 2024), looking west from Cotati.
Got lucky and noticed this River Otter (Lontra canadensis) at the north end of Bodega Harbor on my way back from the post office today (14 October 2024). The otter was having a lot of luck, too -- I saw it catch at least three fish in a very short time! Above, with a flatfish...
Below, with some sort of gunnel? (Let me know if you can tell what it is!)
Yesterday (10 October 2024) Eric and I made a quick trip to Chatham, Massachusetts, and encountered a nice flock of Forster's Terns (Sterna forsteri).
The terns flew to a sandbar, spent some time roosting and preening, then some individuals took off and started diving on a school of fish in shallow water. The autumn light was nice and I don't often get to spend much quality time with Forster's Terns, so here are a few photos:
Eastern Chipmunk (Tamias striatus) washing up after eating a nut. Photographed in Burlington, Vermont, on 7 October 2024.
We're in New England for visits with family and Eric will be giving a seminar at the University of Vermont this week.
There aren't too many bogs in Bodega Bay, so this afternoon I took a short walk at a bog in Colchester, Vermont. Nice to see these carnivorous Purple Pitcher Plants (Sarracenia purpurea)!