The Emperor

We had to make a run down to the post office today, and since word had been passed along that an Emperor Goose (Anser canagicus) had been spotted on the offshore rocks just off the Bodega Head parking lot, we swung by to take a quick look.  Luckily, it was still there!

Emperor Geese are more often associated with arctic and sub-arctic Alaska (and Russia).  It sounds like there are four prior records in Sonoma County (in 1978, 1994-1995, 1996-1997, and 2001).

Here are a few photos from different perspectives.

Sitting:

 

Watching the waves:

 

 

With Black Oystercatchers: 

 

Searching for food and eating some green algae:

 

 

Profile view:

 

Many thanks to Scott for spotting this goose and to Dea for passing along the sighting. 

P.S.  I was curious about the species name.  Apparently "canagicus" refers to the island of Kanaga or Kyktak (in the Aleutian Islands).

Bluer than blue

 

Another thing I'm grateful for?  Visits by neighborhood birds, like this Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) photographed in Cotati on 16 March 2020.

Reflective

 

During these anxious times, I couldn't be more grateful for a walk by the ocean.  View from Dillon Beach, 15 March 2020.

The nutcracker

We walked along the beach with a raven for a little while this afternoon (14 March 2020).  It was searching the wrack line for potential food.  At one point the raven found a walnut (see below).  [I think the walnuts wash down the creeks and rivers and then end up on the beaches.]

 

The raven walked over to a piece of driftwood and held the walnut in place with its foot:

 

 Then it tried to open the walnut by hammering it with its bill:

 

This walnut was apparently too hard to crack, or the raven decided it wasn't worthwhile, so it left the walnut behind and started searching for something else.

 

Little palms

This one goes out to Sarah Ann — 

I know what it's like to miss seeing a species that you connect with.  So here are a few Sea Palm (Postelsia palmaeformis) photos.  I'll post some images from 2020 some time this spring, but for now I browsed my archives and found some nice shots from the past 14 years.  Enjoy!

Sea Palm is a wonderful kelp that looks like a little palm tree.  It lives along the rocky outer coast in wave-exposed sites.

 

 

 

 

 

Restless and resting

 

Mixed shorebird flock, primarily Dunlin (Calidris alpina) and Sanderling (Calidris alba), flying over Bodega Harbor on 3 March 2020.

Marbled Godwits (Limosa fedoa) resting in Bodega Harbor at sunset, 3 March 2020.

True or false?

Last night (9 March 2020), while I was doing a survey in the rocky intertidal zone, an interesting little brown seaweed caught my eye.  I had to get some other things done, but I took a few photos to review later (see below).  The thin and slender brown blades were ~8-10 cm (3-4 inches) long:

 

 

 

Right now I'm guessing that this is Petalonia fascia (sometimes called False Kelp, because it looks like a small kelp at first, but it's not a true kelp).  I'll try to check in with a few seaweed folks to see if that's correct.