Storm skimmer

  

I've been hearing reports of a Black Skimmer (Rynchops niger) in Bodega Harbor during the last few days, so with a break in the weather today I went to take a quick look around at Doran Beach.

After a little searching I spotted the skimmer near the mouth of Cheney Creek.  Although a bit distant, here are a few zoomed-in photos for the record.

Another flight shot:

 

 

And two while sitting:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And one more, showing the feather patterning in the wings and tail:

 

 

 

Black Skimmers are rare in Sonoma County, sometimes showing up after the breeding season.  They're generally found farther south during the winter (e.g., along the coast in southern California and Baja California, Mexico).  This bird's presence in Bodega Harbor at this time of year is probably related to recent storms.

Magician in the rain

 

 

Merlin (Falco columbarius) in the rain at Doran Beach, 8 December 2022

Lingering

  

We lingered at the coast for a little while after work today (6 September 2022).  The tide was pretty high, but there were some shorebirds gathered along the harbor side of Doran Beach.  Above, a shorebird flock mostly made up of Western Sandpipers (Calidris mauri) but there's one Least Sandpiper (Calidris minutilla), too.  [Look for the one with the brownest back.]

And below, a Pectoral Sandpiper (Calidris melanotos) was feeding on the flats.  It's the bird on the far right.  There are two Semipalmated Plovers (Charadrius semipalmatus) in the center and on the left, and a Least Sandpiper on the foreground.

 

 

Doran angler

  

I almost saved this one for Halloween, but it's a very cool sighting, so I'm excited to share it tonight!  Scott found this fish washed ashore at Doran Beach today (21 October 2021).  Anglerfish live in deep water, so it's rare to see them on the beach.

I'm not an expert in identifying anglerfish, but this appears to be a Pacific Footballfish (Himantolophus sagamius).  

From the side you can see how rounded the body is, how large the mouth is, and how intense the teeth are!   

But the coolest feature is more visible from the front — check out the lure!  Out of water the lure is hanging down in front of the mouth, but look for the long modified spine that ends in a rounded bulb.  In the water, the spine is held upright in the water and the bulb is bioluminescent, attracting prey towards the mouth of the fish in the dark depths of the ocean.

 

 

There's a little more information about Pacific Footballfish on the Cal Academy website.  There's also a very nice photo with the lure in an upright position at the Natural History Museum of LA County.

Many thanks to Scott for sharing this record and the great photos!

Shark in amber

  

Gordon wrote this afternoon to let me know he and a few other folks from Madrone Audubon had come across a small shark at Doran Beach this morning (9 September 2020).  He took a couple of photos and kindly agreed to let me share them with you.

Not only do these photos document an interesting shark stranding, but they also show the unusual amber light in Bodega Bay and elsewhere today caused by the intense smoke from so many large wildfires.

Salmon Sharks (Lamna ditropis) look very similar to White Sharks (Carcharodon carcharias), but they have a shorter snout, the white coloration on the underside extends above the pectoral fin (just behind the gills), and there is a double-keel at the base of the tail fin.  I can't quite see that keel in these photos, but the other characteristics look right for Salmon Shark.

During the late summer and fall, we often receive a few reports of stranded juvenile Salmon Sharks.  Sadly, not too long ago it was discovered that these stranded sharks often have a bacterial brain infection that causes meningoencephalitis (which may result in disorientation).

Here's another photo illustrating the size of the shark, with a pair of footprints for scale.  It appears that the shark was only ~4 feet long or so.

 

 

Many thanks to Gordon for sharing this interesting observation and his photos!

Ruff around the edges

Last night I heard that Dea found a Ruff (Calidris pugnax) near the entrance pond at Doran Beach.  Ruffs are rare migrants in Sonoma County.  They typically breed in northern Eurasia and winter mainly in Africa.  So when I went to the post office today (25 August 2020), I swung by to see if it was still around.  Luckily, it was!

Here's a series of photos.  This juvenile Ruff spent most of its time feeding in shallow salt marsh pools, but it paused a few times to preen and rest.

Check out the beautiful buffy edges to the feathers:

 

 

Sometimes Ruffs walk in a very upright position:

 

 

Although it was feeding in the pools a lot (probing in the water), it also spent some time in the pickleweed along the edges of the pools:

 

 

I didn't get a great photo of the Ruff in flight, but when it was preening you could see hints of the white U-shaped band on the rump (at the base of the tail feathers):

 

There were quite a few Red-necked Phalaropes (Phalaropus lobatus) feeding in the same pools, so here's one shot with the Ruff and a phalarope in the background:

 

 

I think I first wrote about Ruffs in 2012, so to learn more about them check out the post called "Ruff day at the beach" from 30 April 2012.

Many thanks to Dea for spotting this bird and spreading the word!

 

Preening

 

Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) at the entrance to Doran Regional Park on 18 August 2018.

 

Looking for flies

I'm running out of time tonight, but I'll share this nice picture of a Red Phalarope from Doran Beach.  Hundreds of Red Phalaropes were feeding along the beach today (in the water and on the sand).  I think they were primarily feeding on flies. 

 

I don't know how long they'll stay, but if you're interested in trying to see Red Phalaropes, you might try looking between the whale monument and the North Jetty (see park map here).

Beamed across

Here's something interesting that washed up on Doran Beach:

 

Although it's hard to tell, this beam was about 7 feet long.

Can you see those holes in the end of it?  Do you know what kind of animal made the holes?

Here's a view of some of the smaller holes on the top of the beam:

 

The holes belong to "shipworms" — indicating that the beam was at sea for a while.  Shipworms are actually not worms at all, but rather are marine bivalves — small clams that tunnel through submerged wood.

I decided to share pictures of this beam and the shipworm holes because it might have an unusual origin.  Jim let me know that it's possible this is a piece of debris from the Japanese tsunami in 2011.  He's been involved with the Japanese Tsunami Marine Debris project, and there are characteristics of this beam that indicate a possible origin from the Tohoku coast of Honshu.  (An expert is working on identifying the shipworms — they might be a species from the Western Pacific called Psiloteredo.)

It's unknown when the beam washed up at Doran, or how it made its way across the Pacific Ocean, but it's amazing to think about such a long-distance journey.

 

P.S.  If you'd like to read a little more about shipworms, there's a Wikipedia article here.

P.P.S.  For more information about the Japanese Tsunami Marine Debris program, visit NOAA's web site.

 

Dining out on the Innkeeper

I received a few inquiries about mystery animals washing up on Doran Beach during the last few days.  Liz thought they could be innkeeper worms, and Phil sent a photo that made it look like a possibility.  Both of them mentioned that gulls were eating the worm-like animals.  

It seemed worthwhile to confirm the identity of these animals, so I took a quick look today.  Sure enough, quite a few innkeeper worms (Urechis caupo), also known as spoon worms (echiurans), were washing up on the outside of Doran Beach (the bay side, not the harbor side), fairly close to the North Jetty.

Here are a few documentary photos of the gulls (primarily Western Gulls) taking advantage of a food resource not often available to them: 

 

 

 

 

And here's a close-up of an innkeeper worm washed up on the sand, before a gull encountered it:

 

This innkeeper worm was not in its best form — that is, they normally live in U-shaped burrows in the mud, and I'm guessing it had been out of its burrow for while and that its condition had deteriorated while washing around in the surf.  But you can still see a few important characteristics — the pink coloration, the sausage-like shape, and the golden setae (bristles) at both ends.  The ring of bristles at the posterior (back) end are quite prominent in good light, while the two bristles at the anterior (front) end are harder to see.

Perhaps you're wondering about why they're called innkeeper worms?  I mentioned they live in U-shaped burrows.  A few other animals are resident alongside the innkeeper worms in their burrows — see diagram below:

 

From Fisher, W.K. and G.E. MacGinitie.  1928.  The natural history of an echiuroid worm (Urechis).  Ann. Mag. Nat. Hist. 10: 204-213.  (a) innkeeper worm, (b) scale worm, (c) pea crab, (d) goby.

So the remaining question with this current observation is: Why are the innkeeper worms washing up on the outside of Doran Beach?

Have you seen this phenomenon before?  Do you have ideas about what could be happening?

As far as I know, most of the innkeeper worms live on the mudflats in Bodega Harbor.  Do some of them live on the outer coast?  Or, were they somehow flushed from their burrows in the harbor and then washed around to the bay side and concentrated near the jetty?  If so, how did this happen?  Could it have been related to the storms last weekend?  Did the heavy rain cause channel scouring that removed some innkeeper worms from their burrows?  It is possible they were impacted by fresh water?

Lots to wonder about.  Let me know if you can think of other scenarios that would concentrate innkeeper worms in this way.

The Magician

 

I managed two distant shots of a Merlin (Falco columbarius) along the Bird Walk Coastal Access Trail today, 10 February 2015.

Friends from Cape Cod call this species "The Magician," and even though I haven't lived there for 10 years now, it's the first thing I hear in my head when I see a Merlin.

 

Merlins are rare in the Bodega Bay area.  I would love a few more Magician sightings every now and then.

  

In the lee

 

It was breezy this afternoon — the wind was out of the east, blowing at about 12-15 mph (10-13 knots).  We went for a short walk at Doran Beach and noticed Snowy Plovers (Charadrius nivosus) sheltering in the lee of various objects.  My favorite was this dried-up kelp holdfast.  It was just the right height for the plover to hide behind.

World Shorebirds Day!

September 6th is World Shorebirds Day, so it seems appropriate to post some images of one of my favorite shorebirds.

While doing a shorebird count in Bodega Harbor this afternoon, I noticed some movement in a shallow marsh pool: 

 

Several Red-necked Phalaropes (Phalaropus lobatus) were actively feeding in the pool.

I chose these pictures tonight because they also show some of the habitat the phalaropes were using.  Sometimes the birds would swim in open water.

 

Other times they would cruise up and down small creeks lined with Salicornia:

 

The phalaropes would occasionally pause to look for insects among the floating algal mats: 

 

I hope you get to enjoy or think about some of your favorite shorebirds this weekend!

 

Two white spots

Many feathers are difficult to identify, but some are relatively easy.  Do you recognize this one? 

 

The two white spots against the dark background are distinctive.  Any guesses?

This is a loon feather.

On the East Coast I wouldn't have hesitated to call it a Common Loon feather.  But after taking this picture tonight, I realized that I wasn't certain how to distinguish a Common Loon feather from a Pacific Loon feather.  I'll have to do more research about that, or if you know the answer, feel free to write in. 

For pictures of a Common Loon at Spud Point Marina, including some white-spotted feathers, see the post from 3 April 2012.

Found and lost

This will be tricky, but can you tell what's going on in this picture?  (Apologies for the blurriness, but things were happening very quickly.  The first four pictures below were taken within four seconds of each other.)

 

You probably noticed the splash in the water...and the larger bird in the center of the image...and perhaps the smaller birds in the water below the splash?

Here's the next photo in the sequence:

 

And the next, which is the best one, at least for identifying the prey:

 

This is a Peregrine Falcon that has just grabbed a duck off the water.  Michelle and I were standing near the edge of the salt marsh on the inside of Doran Beach when this falcon appeared out of nowhere and dove on the ducks in the creek.

We had been looking at waterfowl at the time, which turns out to be helpful when trying to narrow down the choices for the falcon's prey.  For small ducks, we know there were Green-winged Teal, Bufflehead, and Ruddy Ducks in the area.

Look closely at the picture above to see the wing pattern on the duck.  You can see a dark speculum and a narrow golden or buffy bar above the speculum (the speculum is on the secondary feathers — it's a rectangular patch close to the base of the wing and along the trailing edge).  This wing pattern should help distinguish the species of duck.  Can you guess which species it is?

Buffleheads would have a white wing patch, and Ruddy Ducks would have all dark wings.  The prey is a Green-winged Teal.

The next thing that happened was a little surprising:

 

The falcon dropped the teal!  Its grip must have been loose, and the teal fell into the marsh.  (As far as we know, the duck didn't survive the strike; it didn't emerge from the marsh vegetation, and note the blood on the falcon in the next picture.)

The falcon started circling right away, apparently searching for the duck.  

 

  

It spent at least one minute doing so, but then (to our disappointment), it gave up and flew off to the south.

I'm not sure how often falcons drop their prey, but I can't help thinking that it must be frustrating for them to lose prey that they've almost secured.

Sombrero or Umbrella?

On 28 November 2013, we went for a walk on Doran Beach and noticed these animals washing ashore.  Most of them were ~3 cm (a little over an inch) across.  Viewing them from above, they looked like little suction cups!

 

We picked one up, and this is what it looked like on the tip of Eric's finger:

 

And here's another spread out on my mother's hand:

 

The view above made us laugh and led us to make up a name for this gelatinous animal — the "Sombrero Jelly."  

Note the tiny black dots around the perimeter...the peak in the center with a gray smudge on top...and four radiating beige lines on the flat portion (like spokes on a wheel).  (If the medusa is a clock, the beige lines are at about 2, 4, 8, and 10 o'clock.)

We weren't certain which way was up.  Was the animal right side up, or upside down?  We needed to submerge it in water so it would orient itself.

You'll laugh at me and the next picture, but it's a good lesson in transparent camouflage.  First I tried to place the medusa in a shallow pool of salt water on the beach:

 

Can you see it?  It's there, believe me.  Right in the center of the picture.  If you look very closely for a circular outline and the four radiating spokes, you might be able to find it.  But don't worry if you can't.  As mentioned, it illustrates just how effective it is to be transparent!

Then I remembered that I had a very small plastic container in my backpack.  So I filled it with salt water and placed one of the medusa in the water:

 

Now you can see the animal in its natural position.  They had been washing ashore and we had been holding them upside down!  

It has a shallow domed bell at the top.  The black dots around the perimeter mark the positions of hundreds of short tentacles.  The protuberance hanging down in the center is called a peduncle and there are four frilly lips at the tip of it.  The four beige radiating lines are gonads.  

Not a great picture, but below is one more view looking up into the mouth/lips with the four radiating gonads and the rim of tentacles in the background.

 

I'm not 100% certain, but my best guess for this species right now is a hydromedusa called Eutonina indicans, sometimes called an Umbrella Jelly.  I'll be checking in with a hydromedusa expert to see if she can confirm the identification.

Has anyone else been seeing sombreros or umbrellas washing up on local beaches?  :)

ADDENDUM (6 December 2013): Yes!  Claudia Mills (University of Washington) has confirmed this as an Umbrella Jelly (Eutonina indicans).  Thanks, Claudia!