Summer foam

 

Summer foam off Bodega Head on 12 July 2017

 

Stauro-gazing

 

Not much time tonight, but I think you can see why I couldn't resist sharing this photo.  It's one of my favorites of the year!

If you've been following this blog for a while, you might have seen this species before, but it's been several years.  This is Manania gwilliami, a beautiful staurozoan. [Staurozoans are now a separate taxonomic class within the cnidarians.  Sometimes they're informally called stalked jellyfish.]  It was found locally today in the rocky intertidal zone.  We didn't measure it, but estimate it was ~12 mm long.

Here's the entire animal:

 

This individual had beautiful purple highlights.  Check out this close-up of two tentacle clusters:

 

When looking at the tentacles, I noticed some whitish pads at the base of some of the tentacles.  Here's one view:

 

After doing some research, I learned that these are adhesive pads.  It is hypothesized that when the staurozoan releases its pedal disc (the base of the stalk) from the substrate, it sometimes holds on with these pads while it reattaches.  Since I haven't been able to find many pictures of these interesting structures, here's one more image.  Look for the swollen white areas at the bases of the front three tentacles:

 

I'm sharing these staurozoan photos with you thanks to Hao Hao, one of Eric's summer students at the marine lab.  Her curious eyes spotted it attached to a blade of algae in the intertidal zone.  Thanks, Hao Hao!

P.S.  For an introduction to staurozoans, review the post called "Twinkle, twinkle, little stauro" from 12 November 2012.

Beach walk

 

Common Raven (Corvus corvax), 12 July 2017 

 

Slightly upturned

  

Marbled Godwit (Limosa fedoa) roosting along the shoreline of Bodega Harbor, 11 July 2017

 

Among the sailors

Here's one from the archives.  It was taken on Salmon Creek Beach in May 2006:

 

Red-necked Phalarope (Phalaropus lobatus) and By-the-wind Sailors (Velella velella)

Color combinations

I've continued to photograph spider web strands in our backyard.  I'm so taken by this phenomenon and the amazing color combinations, it's hard not to take a few photos when the conditions are right.  It's especially nice in the early morning, when the light is interesting and the air is calm (and the spider webs are still).

These are my favorites from the past two days, although it's hard to choose.  See what you think:

 

 

 

 

The pictures above show highlights on single strands, but sometimes several strands are lit up at once:

 

 

And here's one series that shows the same two highlighted areas, just in slightly different positions along the strands:

 

 

 

Whenever I look at these colors, I just shake my head in disbelief.  The diversity and beauty is astounding.

With many thanks to the spiders and the sun, for creating such colorful works of art!

Sandpipers in red

I couldn't resist spending a few more minutes with some Western Sandpipers (Calidris mauri) this morning.  They're so handsome at this time of year!

 

 

 

 

Photos taken in Bodega Harbor on 8 July 2017 (before the fog rolled in).