Growing up fast

  

A quick hummingbird update (3 April 2025): In the nest we've been following, the chick has grown a lot during the last couple of weeks.  (Compare tonight's photo to the one on 20 March 2025.)  I'm guessing it will be another 7-10 days before the chick is ready to leave the nest.

Buoyant packets

  

We were doing some field surveys this morning (2 April 2025) along the rocky shore when Eric noticed these unusual compacted packets of By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella) floating in tidepools.

He recognized what was going on right away (and there's a hint in the photo above), but it's likely this only happens under rare circumstances.

Here's another photo with an even stronger hint:

 

 

Giant Green Sea Anemones (Anthopleura xanthogrammica) have been feeding on By-the-wind Sailors...and there have been so many of them recently that the anemones are expelling large packets filled with the indigestible parts of Velella.

 

The basic idea — an anemone swallows lots of Velella, digests what it can, and then expels the leftover bits from its mouth in a dense ball (like an owl pellet) surrounded by mucous.

 

Here's a photo just before the Velella packet is expelled:

 

 

 

Today was a blustery spring day with strong northwest winds.  Because these packets of Velella float at the surface, there were often clusters of them at the downwind ends of tidepools (especially in pools with good numbers of anemones):

 

 

With thanks to Eric for noticing and documenting this interesting phenomenon!

Land Ho!

  

You might have heard or noticed that there have been a lot of By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella) washing ashore on local beaches recently.  Here's a photo from Bodega Head today, 31 March 2025.

Numbers of Velella vary from year to year, but this is a relatively common phenomenon during the spring, especially when there are strong west winds.

Sometimes when there are lots of Velella, there could be other species from farther offshore mixed in with them, so I often take a closer look to see if anything else stands out.

Interestingly, when I was looking at one Velella that was still floating, it looked like there was something on the "deck" (the skirt or mantle):

 

 

And with an even closer view, I realized what it was:

 

 

 

What?  Stuart Little with a spyglass!

 

 

 

Well, just kidding...Happy April Fools' Day!  

 

I couldn't resist documenting the recent Velella strandings, and it's also fun to think about all of the little By-the-wind Sailors out on the open ocean.

 

Spring green

  

Eric spotted this beautiful green hairstreak during a walk in Glen Ellen this afternoon (29 March 2025).  The taxonomy of this group has been challenging, but it sounds like this is currently being called Lotus Hairstreak (Callophrys dumetorum).  

With many thanks to Eric for sharp eyes and patience with the camera, and to Alan for assisting with the identification and taxonomy update.

Make way...

  

Mallard duckling (Anas platyrhynchos) along the Cotati Creek trail on 28 March 2025.

Light waves

 

 

Male Anna's Hummingbird (Calypte anna) stretching wing and tail feathers.

A second before the photo above, the hummingbird was turned to the left.  You can see how much the angle changes the color of the head and throat feathers -- bright pink/rose colored (above), darker and more purplish (below):

 

 

Photographed in Cotati on 26 March 2025.

The flip side

  

Last week I was watching a small group of Ruddy Turnstones (Arenaria interpres) along the shore of Bodega Harbor.  At first they were resting, but then they started feeding among the cobbles, actively flipping stones in search of prey.

Below is a short video clip showing the active turning-stone behavior.  [At ~12 seconds, a Black Turnstone (Arenaria melanocephala) enters the frame from the right.]

The turnstones appeared to be quite successful finding prey.  Sometimes it was hard to tell what they captured, but several times I could see small shore crabs in their bills:

 

 

Crab for lunch!