White and gold

  

White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis) in our backyard in Cotati on 19 February 2025.

Close to the bark

  

I returned home from the farmers' market to hear a Brown Creeper calling in our front yard.  Luckily my camera wasn't too far away, and the creeper spent some time feeding in a few different trees.  

Here it is searching crevices in the bark:

 

 

The creeper appeared to be successful locating prey, but the prey was too small for me to see while watching.  However, zooming in on photos later revealed a couple of prey items.

 

A small insect larva at the tip of the bill:

 

 

 

 

And possibly a small spider?

 

 

 

 

Turned out there were two creepers, both feeding along different tree trunks.

 

I love how well Brown Creepers blend in with the landscape of the trees—  the bark and lichens and mosses:

 

 

 

I'm also grateful for such wonderful visitors to our yard!

In the shape of a heart

  

These nudibranchs are white
with some orange, too
They're sending a Valentine's wish
directly to you!

Mating pair of Cockerell's Dorid nudibranchs (Limacia cockerelli), photographed on 29 January 2025.

 ♥ Happy Valentine's Day! ♥ 

Gold stripes and gold flecks

  

Beautiful gold-flecked hermit crab in a Three-colored Top Snail (Calliostoma tricolor) shell.  Photographed on 28 January 2025.

Lone ranger and the hermit

  

A couple of neighborhood birds in Cotati today (8 February 2025).

 Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum), above, and Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus), below.

 

 

On the move

  

 

Eric photographed this beautiful Opalescent Nudibranch (Hermissenda opalescens) wandering through a world of pastel colors on 29 January 2025. 

 

In the background: the pale pink is a crustose coralline algae, the bright pink is a Derby Hat Bryozoan (Integripelta bilabiata), and the peach is another species of bryozoan (unidentified species).

A color here, a color there

  

Those sculpin eyes, they get me every time.  (And that green and white patterning is magical!)

Photographed in the rocky intertidal zone along the Sonoma Coast in early January 2025.

Upcoming

  

For all of the marine invertebrate enthusiasts out there — I wanted to mention that Eric will be presenting a webinar for Bay Nature magazine this week on Wednesday, Feb. 5, from 12-1 p.m. PST.  He'll be discussing the local diversity of marine invertebrates and some new discoveries, accompanied by lots of great photos and videos!

If you're interested in checking it out, you can register to join the talk online here.

P.S.  This is a Dwarf Brittle Star (Amphipholis squamata) photographed on Bodega Head last week.

Inspiration, move me brightly

  

Eric noticed this amazing sculpin recently -- the colors behind the eyes are a perfect match for orange sponge and pink coralline algae found in low rocky intertidal zone areas.

This might be a Smoothhead Sculpin (Artedius lateralis), but we'd love input about the identification.

Dusky?

  

Dusky Tegula (Tegula pulligo), a beautiful snail in the low intertidal zone, photographed on 29 January 2025.

P.S.  In this case, I'm not sure about the name "dusky" -- how about pearlescent lavender?  :)

Rose-colored ribbon

  

A ribbon of rose-colored embryos!  

We were working on a few tasks in the rocky intertidal zone last night (28 January 2025) when Eric came across a Hopkins' Rose Nudibranch (Ceratodoris rosacea) that had recently laid a beautiful string of embryos.

Although we could have missed them in the past, we can't recall finding the embryos of this primarily southern species in Northern California before, so it was an interesting observation for us.

Here's a quick shot of the nudibranch with both its prey (the pink bryozoan, Integripelta bilabiata) and the ribbon of embryos:

 

 

Thanks for the great photos, Eric!

Glass-spined

  

Glass-spined Brittle Star (Ophiothrix spiculata) photographed in Bodega Bay on 27 January 2025.

Over in a...

  

I've received lots of feedback and questions about the green flash photos, so here's another -- photographed on 25 January 2025.

In my first post about green flashes back in 2013, I included a link to a website with a helpful introduction to them: https://aty.sdsu.edu/  (This is an older website, so some of the links are no longer working, but there's still a lot of very helpful information.)

When the conditions are right, it's not too hard to see a green flash, but it's helpful to use binoculars.  *Remember that it's important not to look at the sun until it's mostly below the horizon* (it can damage your eyes)...but then get ready because the green color appears fairly quickly and then disappears (although it can linger in some conditions!).

Green horizon

  

a green horizon
sun setting into the sea
we smile and let go

Flocking together

  

Part of a large flock of shorebirds in Bodega Harbor this morning (21 January 2025) -- mostly Sanderling (Calidris alba) and Dunlin (Calidris alpina), with some Least Sandpipers (Calidris minutilla) and Western Sandpipers (Calidris mauri) mixed in.

Twinkle, twinkle

  

Juvenile Short-spined Sea Star (Pisaster brevispinus) photographed in late December 2024.  This individual was only ~20 mm across (arm tip to arm tip).

Winter flashes

  

We've seen several green flashes this week, so if it's a clear night and you're at the coast at sunset, keep an eye on the horizon!  (But don't look until the sun is mostly below the horizon!)

Time for owls

  

Some of you might remember that I sometimes see owls in pieces of sea urchin test.  Here's one perched on a branch of coralline algae.  :)  From 8 June 2024.  Do you see an owl, too?

P.S.  For more "urchin owls," see the post called "Duetting" on 11 March 2013.

Hidden behind the moon

  

We were driving home from work tonight (13 January 2025) during the occultation of Mars by the Moon, but here's a quick shot after Mars had emerged and was visible just above the Moon.  (Yes, that tiny speck is Mars!)  My camera didn't really do this pairing justice — it was quite striking to the visible eye.

Cephalopod break

  

We got lucky tonight -- we were busy doing surveys, but we heard someone nearby exclaim, "Octopus!"  So we took a short break and walked over to see this beautiful Red Octopus (Octopus rubescens).  

Love the green highlights!

And I'm always drawn to the spiraled arm tips and suckers.  So cool!

 

 

P.S.  Many thanks to the tidepoolers who alerted us to this octopus! 

Spotlight

  

Looking west at the end of the day on 10 January 2025.

Ready for takeoff

  

In late December I helped out with the Western Sonoma County Christmas Bird Count.  Here's a male Northern Harrier photo from that day.

Sunset rays

  

Quick shot of the sunset from Bodega Head, 7 January 2025

Winter morning

  

 Sunrise, 1 January 2025

Star of the show?

  

A beautiful nudibranch for you -- Colorful Dirona (Dirona picta) photographed by Eric a few days ago.  I love the green and blue highlights!  [You can click on the image for a larger version.]

P.S.  I'm not sure about the meaning of the name Dirona?  I read that the first part of the word might refer to the Welsh sêr , or "star," hence the name of this post (but more naming research would be needed!).

So green!

  

We've been doing intertidal surveys this week, but last night we had a few minutes to look around a bit more.  It was exciting to find a few beautiful green sculpins near some surfgrass.  I'm always grateful for these sightings.  Even when we're not out there, it's nice to imagine these amazing fish in the tidepools under the moonlight.

P.S.  Thanks for the great photo, Eric!