Blustery

Just a brief note to record the blustery and cold conditions...and a large number of Red Phalaropes (Phalaropus fulicarius) visible from Bodega Head today.  

I took a quick look offshore this morning and there were small groups of phalaropes everywhere I looked.  As a sample, in one 20-minute period I counted 83 individuals.

Most of the phalaropes were too distant for good photographs, but a few flocks ventured close enough to shore for documentation:

 

Remarkably, I took some nicer photographs of this species at Doran Beach on exactly this date last year.  You can see those photographs and learn a little more about Red Phalaropes in this post from 7 December 2012.

Late in the day I went out again.  I had to brace myself against the wind, but it was worth it to see the ocean like this:

 

 

(That's a northwest wind blowing at about 20 mph, with gusts above 30 mph.)

Decorated

 

A nicely patterned Foliate Kelp Crab (Mimulus foliatus) photographed at Pinnacle Gulch.  This was a small individual, the carapace was only ~2 cm (3/4 inch) across.

Note the flared leaf-like points on both sides of the carapace and the red-and-white striped hind legs.  

And if you look closely you should be able to see that this crab has decorated its rostrum — the portion of the carapace that extends forward in front of the eyes, which are light pink in this crab.  It has stuck small bits of seaweed (and other material that I can't identify) to tiny hooks to camouflage itself against visual predators such as fish and octopus.

I first wrote about Foliate Kelp Crabs on 14 May 2012 (during a trip to Oregon), so if you'd like to learn more about them, you can read that post here. 

Shiver me thrushes

It was 25°F when I drove to work along Coleman Valley Road this morning.  I stopped briefly for a few frost photos.

On a wooden fence post:

 

On oak leaves:

 

 

I wasn't the only one surveying (and puffed up in) the chilly morning scene:

 

Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius).  This species often blends in with its surroundings, but in this light it was notable how the oranges and blues stood out against the grays and greens.

 

Hermit Thrush (Catharus guttatus).  It landed in a tree right above me and peered down with its large eye.  A magical view!

Cold and clear

 

Well, people in other parts of the world might be surprised that this seems significant, but 23°F is cold for this area!  I took this picture of our outdoor car thermometer (above) in the town of Bodega this morning at 8:07 a.m.  Brrrrrr!  And I'm guessing it will be even colder tomorrow (Thursday) morning.  We'll see!

Cold, clear conditions also made for good celestial viewing at the end of the day.  Have you been looking at the western horizon at dusk recently?

 

The waxing crescent moon and Venus are getting closer and closer together, and will be even closer to each other on December 5th.  Venus is very bright, and apparently will be at its brightest on December 6th (but you'll want to look for it on the 5th because it might be raining on the 6th).

Here's a close-up of the crescent moon.  It sets around 8:16 p.m. on December 5th, but will be visible during twilight before then.

 

Photobombed by a shrimp!

So I was trying to photograph a Short-spined Sea Star (Pisaster brevispinus)...when a shrimp came shooting across my field of view:

 

I looked up from the camera, and then noticed another shrimp off to the right.  This one featured a bold white and green color pattern:

 

And then I saw a third shrimp a little further away, in beautiful claret with a central dorsal stripe:

 

And then yet another, in mottled grays and salmon pink:

 

I believe these shrimp are all the same species, just an amazingly variable one!

Sadly, identifying shrimp is a weakness of mine.  But I love looking at them and hope to learn more about the local species some day.  Feel free to contact me if you know which species this might be.  (I'm guessing it's a species of Heptacarpus.)  These shrimp were in a shallow sandy tidepool in an intertidal boulder field at Pinnacle Gulch.

P.S.  If you're unfamiliar with the term "photobomb" — it means "to spoil a photograph of (a person or thing) by unexpectedly appearing in the camera’s field of view as the picture is taken, typically as a prank or practical joke." (definition from oxforddictionaries.com)

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!

 

Babblers, homebodies, and featherballs!

Do you recognize this bird when seen up-close?

 

Wrentits (Chamaea fasciata) are more often heard than seen, so don't worry if you weren't certain of the identification.  And their tails are actually one of their more distinctive features, so here's another view with the long tail being held off to the side:

 

This photograph was taken near the start of the Pinnacle Gulch Trail.  

Many of you know that although I've been living in California for 9 years now, I still have a lot to learn about the local wildlife.  This is especially true for species that are limited to the West Coast and aren't encountered elsewhere in the country.  Wrentit is a good example.

On Bodega Head, I've listened to Wrentits sing in Owl Canyon and around Campbell Cove.  But I haven't done much reading about them.  So tonight I started perusing the Birds of North America account and learned a few interesting things right away:

- Wrentits are the only representative of the Old World babblers found in North America.  (Babblers are a very large, diverse family of songbirds primarily found in tropical areas of Europe/Asia/Africa.)

- Wrentits are homebodies.  Their average natal dispersal distance is only 400 meters!  That means that young birds generally nest within 400 meters (1312 feet or 1/4 mile) of where they were raised.

- Wrentit breeding pairs are monogamous and both the male and female defend their territory by singing.  According to the Birds of North America, "The male habitually shares in incubation and is normally in vocal contact at all times with the female, and the pair is even known to roost together, forming contiguous "featherballs," and to mutually preen."

I was so intrigued by the term "featherball" that I did a Google search for it, hoping to find an image of Wrentits roosting together.  Unfortunately, I didn't come up with one.  Babblers in general are supposed to be known for soft, fluffy plumage, so here's one more image that perhaps hints at that characteristic and will allow you to visualize a Wrentit featherball for yourself!