Beach tones

  

Eric gathered these little beach stones from the outer beach at Point Reyes so we could document the range of colors.  Each stone is quite small — only 2-3 mm in length, so right on the edge between sand and gravel.

Can you tell that they're resting in a crease in my jeans?  I couldn't decide which view was most interesting, so here are a couple more images, going back in time when we first started the mini-collection:

 

 

 

 

 

 

And here's one more, with a small sand dollar and the surrounding gravel.  The large grain sizes indicate a very high wave energy beach!

 

 

Colors like stones

  

 

Whew, we had a long week of field work during the good low tides this past week.  On the side, Eric managed to photograph this beautiful sculpin.  It looked just like the surrounding stones!

 

Here's a close-up of its wonderful marbled patterning:

 

 

 

Many thanks to Eric for sharing these images.  If anyone has thoughts about which species of sculpin this, we'd love to learn more.

 

In a wilderness of stones

  

On our way out to a field site recently we came across a Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) nest.  We moved on so as not to disturb the birds, but I took a quick photo with my telephoto lens.  It is such a beautifully constructed nest!  Hundreds of rock chips gathered to produce a shallow bowl.

Later I was reading a short story by A.S. Byatt and was struck by the phrase "in a wilderness of stones."  She was writing about "moor birds" (perhaps grouse in Great Britain?), but my mind went immediately to this oystercatcher nest.  Looking at the photo we were struck by the number of stones used to make this nest, and the phrasing seemed just right, describing both the eggs surrounded by stones as well as the world of Black Oystercatchers.

With thanks to A.S. Byatt, the oystercatchers, and the stones, and the elements that shape them.

Beach stones, water, and light

 

Eric captured this nice photo of beach stones under a shallow current of moving water near the mouth of Hatches Harbor in Provincetown, MA, yesterday (2 October 2019).  

Scales and stones, Part 2

We were working farther north in Sonoma County this morning.  On our walk back, we had some nice views of the local lizards and stones.  Here are a few of my favorites:

Green patina:

 

Inner circle:

 

Outer circle:

 

ADDENDUM (26 April 2019): Thanks to Lotsoflux's comment/question, I recalled another time when we observed Black Oystercatchers eating sea urchins.  Here's a photo showing examples of oystercatcher prey items at a site in Mendocino County in May 2013 (clockwise from top left) — Mossy Chiton (Mopalia muscosa), Purple Sea Urchin (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus), limpet (likely a Shield Limpet, Lottia pelta), and California Mussel (Mytilus californianus).  [I positioned them for the photo.] 

 

Which planet is this?

 

Planet Agate!

No, this photo wasn't taken with a telescope.  This is an extreme close-up of a beach stone.  When we lived in Oregon, we often found agates, or agatized rocks, on the beach.  But this is the first one we have found in the Bodega Bay area.

Check out the sparkling white crystals and the needle-like streaks:

 

I don't know enough about agates, but I'm wondering if the soft-looking formations along the edges make this a type of "plume agate"?  If you have more experience with agates, we'd love to learn more about how these structures are formed. 

 

  

Meanwhile, we'll continue to marvel at the beauty of this stone.