Blue highlights

 

Buckeye on buckwheat, 9 July 2020

Up ahead

One morning this week I was following Eric up a coastal trail when he stopped and whispered something.  We were done with field work and headed back to the car, and honestly I was hungry and I was thinking about a snack.  So I was a little confused when Eric paused, but then I registered what he had said — "There's a raptor up ahead."

A raptor?  Up ahead?  But we were just below the parking area along a busy road.  How could there be a raptor there?  He said it again, but it was a narrow trail so I couldn't see beyond him at first.  Eric had turned to the side, so I could just peek around him and look at what might be there.  

This was my first view (taken with a point-and-shoot camera).  That's the drawstring on Eric's sweatshirt in the foreground.

 

Not only was there a raptor perched about 20 feet from us, but it was a Peregrine Falcon!

This is a young falcon, probably recently fledged, so its behavior was a little different than what you might encounter with an adult.  It sat there, looking a bit curious, scanning the landscape, and then eventually took off and headed for a flock of gulls out by the ocean.

 

So cool!

 

Not far from the tree...

During one of our recent intertidal zone surveys, Eric noticed this tiny little orange blob on a rock:

 

Although the blob was only ~2 mm long, Eric's eyes are good enough that he wondered if it might be a very young Scarlet Sea Cucumber (Lissothuria nutriens).  I looked with a hand lens and I thought I could see tube feet, which meant that sea cucumber was a definite possibility.  Then we thought — since Lissothuria broods its young, if the blob is a tiny sea cucumber perhaps the mother is nearby.  You've heard that old expression, "The cucumber never falls far from the tree..."?  [Instead of growing up in the plankton, the embryos develop on the mother's back and then the juvenile sea cucumbers walk away from the mother as smaller versions of her.]

We looked more closely and there she was!  Here's a zoomed out view.  Although Scarlet Sea Cucumbers are red, they hold small bits of seaweed and other debris on their backs, so they can be very hard to see at first.  In the photo below, there's one adult sea cucumber and five juveniles.  This will be tricky, but can you spot them all?

 

Below the sea cucumbers are circled, mom in blue and juveniles in orange:

 

Since this is one of the species we're tracking, we documented them with some microscope photos and yes, a video!

These are beautiful little sea cucumbers, so it's a treat to see them up close:

 

With a ruler for scale (marks are in millimeters):

 

At this stage, the sea cucumbers are almost transparent, so it's a wonderful view of their ossicles.  Look for the shiny plates in the body wall and the tentacles.  (For more info about ossicles, see the post called "Scarlet fire" on 12 February 2017.)

 

 

And as if those pictures weren't enough, Eric captured some amazing video.  Check it out!  [If you can't see the video player in your e-mail, click on the title of the post to go directly to the website.]

Morning moon

 

We looked for the partial lunar eclipse last night (~9:30 p.m. on 4 July 2020), but couldn't make it out.  Then on the way to the coast for work this morning, we saw the moon again, this time on the western horizon ~5 a.m. on 5 July 2020.

 

Wandering

 

Wandering Glider (Pantala flavescens), Bodega Head, 4 July 2020

 

Bursting forth

 

A botanical firework for the Fourth of July — a native Brownie Thistle (Cirsium quercetorum) from the coastal prairie.  Photographed on Bodega Head on 10 May 2020.

From a distance, Brownie Thistles might not stand out.  They're low to the ground and don't look that colorful, but when you get close, they're pretty spectacular:

 

And even closer!

 

P.S.  This post goes out to Michelle, who I'll always think of when getting up close and personal with Brownie Thistles, and who taught me the value and beauty of a bee's-eye-view of flowers.  :)

Lunch and a nap

 

 

An adult Black Oystercatcher (Haematopus bachmani) bringing food to two young chicks.

And now that you've seen the chicks, can you find one resting in the picture below?

 

The chick is in the upper right corner, sitting down, and partially tucked underneath a shady ledge.  It looks slightly darker (and softer) than the rocks in that part of the photo.  If you have trouble finding the chick, it's just above the arrow in the next picture: