Yellow-bellied

  

A quick look at a Western Yellow-bellied Racer (Coluber constrictor mormon) this afternoon (3 June 2026)

With its head raised, the nice yellow color on the underside was easy to see:

 

 

More to come

  

Blue Coast Gilia (Gilia capitata subsp. chamissonis), with some open flowers and others just starting to emerge (look for the tiny purple petal tips below the open flowers).  Photographed on 21 May 2025.

Slender spur

  

Blue Toadflax (Nuttallanthus texanus) in the Bodega Dunes on 19 April 2024.

P.S.  The "spur" is the long slender part of the flower (to the left of the petals) that's curving downward.

Light-eyed?

  

I was checking on some wildflowers in the dunes earlier this week and was noticing it seems to be a good year for many of the annuals, including Dark-eyed Gilia (Gilia millefoliata). 

I had seen hundreds of Dark-eyed Gilias, all with typical purplish petals, when I came across one with all white flower parts:

 

 

I looked around and found eight more plants with white flowers in the same area, but no other white-petaled Gilia flowers elsewhere.  

We've seen this phenomenon of white variants in other species, but I hadn't noticed it in Dark-eyed Gilia before, so I thought it was worth documenting.

The Jepson Manual says that Gilia millefoliata petals can be purple or "colorless," so perhaps this variant appears occasionally and we just hadn't seen it in the Bodega Dunes yet.

P.S.  Should we call the variant Light-eyed Gilia?  ;)
 

Purple and blue

 

 

Close-up of a Blue Coast Gilia (Gilia capitata subsp. chamissonis) flower photographed on 29 May 2023.

Purple petals and pale blue anthers make for a nice combination:

 

 

 

May flowers

 

Hesperomecon linearis photographed in the Bodega Dunes on 13 May 2023.  Many thanks to Eric for the great photo!

In the willows

  

A distant shot, but nice to see an Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin) in the willows in the Bodega Dunes today (11 February 2023).  [You can click on the image for a larger version.]

Copper highlights

  

Purplish Copper (Lycaena helloides) in the Bodega Dunes, 8 September 2022

An ant's view

  

Close-up of a Cobweb Thistle (Cirsium occidentale), 16 May 2022

What a fly!

  

Wow, what a fly!  I had to do some work in the dunes today.  As I was walking back I noticed this fly landing on the sand.  Even from a distance the colors looked interesting, so I bent down for a closer look.  Such beautiful metallic purple and copper coloration!  [You can click on the image for a larger version.]

I think this is a type of bee fly (Bombyliidae), but I'm not sure which species.  If you have any bee fly contacts that could help with an identification, let me know. 

On their way

  

This is an older photo from the Bodega Dunes, taken in May 2017, but I was in the dunes for a short time today (8 March 2022) and could see some of the wildflowers starting to appear.  I'll be hoping for more rain and watching their progress.

In the strawberries

  

I was checking on some wild strawberry flowers in the dunes recently (28 February 2022) and noticed this little bee (Sphecodes sp.?) emerging from one of them.

From this view you can see the red-colored abdomen:

 

 

Spending the afternoon in strawberry flowers...not such a bad idea!

February flowers

  

Silver Bush Lupine (Lupinus chamissonis), 28 February 2022

Orange in winter

  

I haven't been able to take many pictures lately, so this is a version of "Today in NHBH History" — a photo of an Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin) in the Bodega Dunes from 15 February 2018.

Riding thermals

  

I stepped out of my car this morning (18 June 2021) to see this Peregrine Falcon (Falco peregrinus) riding thermals with vultures over the Bodega Dunes.

Opening up

 

Some flowers for you!  Red-flowering Currant (Ribes sanguineum var. glutinosum), one of our earliest flowering shrubs. Photographed in the Bodega Dunes on 11 February 2020.

Bearing brightness

 

I went for a short walk in the Bodega Dunes today (11 February 2020) and spent a few minutes watching an Allen's Hummingbird (Selasphorus sasin). 

 

Here are a few different images, including a couple of shots with some willow buds and flowers for scale:

 

 

 

 

 

Signs of spring in Bodega Bay! 

P.S.  I was curious about the Latin name, and learned that both the genus and species names are interesting.  "Selasphorus" means "bearing brightness."  According to the Birds of North America, "sasin" means "hummingbird" in Nuu-chah-nulth, the language of First Nations peoples around Nootka Sound.

Blue grass in the dunes

 

Sand Dune Blue Grass (Poa douglasii), photographed 18 April 2019.

 

Springtime in the willows

 

Bewick's Wren (Thryomanes bewickii) in the willows (Salix sp.), Bodega Dunes, 2 March 2019.

I liked the view from farther away, too: 

 

Out in the rain

We were on our way to work yesterday (15 December 2018) when we noticed a couple of animals out in the rain:

 

Coyote (Canis latrans) on a dune ridge.

 

Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia) in the grassland.

Looks like we've received a little over an inch of rain during the last two days.