Isopod and friends

  

We've been busy doing surveys in the field during the low tides recently, but here's an isopod photo from back in February -- a Blunt-tailed Isopod (Idotea urotoma) photographed in the low intertidal zone.  

Among other things in the photo, you can see pale pink crustose coralline algae, a small iridescent snail, Lirularia sp., and a darker pink and red bryozoan (Integripelta bilabiata, formerly Eurystomella).

All in one

  

Well, if you're going to put all of your eggs in one basket, you better have a lot of them!

Fish eggs in the rocky intertidal zone, photographed in April 2009.

Spring ornaments

 

 

A flock of Cedar Waxwings (Bombycilla cedrorum) perched in the early evening light behind our house on 7 April 2023.  The entire flock was much larger -- tree ornaments in spring!

 

 

 

April moon

 

 

Full moon from Cotati on 5 April 2023.

 

In the grooves

  

Along with Velella and other wash-ashores, Eric spotted this glass bottle washed up on the beach yesterday (2 April 2023).  The bottle's shape was unusual, but the grooves and indentations were perfect attachment spots for pelagic gooseneck barnacles (Lepas sp.):

 

 

P.S.  Anyone know what kind of bottle this is?  I tried to locate something similar on the Internet but couldn't find a match.  If you have any ideas, let me know!

Sailors on the beach

 

 

A quick shot of a By-the-wind Sailor (Velella velella) washed ashore in Bodega Bay on 2 April 2023.  These Velella were relatively small, most were less than 1 cm long.  Have you been seeing them on the beaches recently? 

Lower limits

 

 

Whew, I'm finally getting over a heel injury...and it's just in time for spring field work!  Eric and I were doing some intertidal surveys this afternoon (1 April 2023) and Eric took this nice photo of Ochre Sea Stars (Pisaster ochraceus) —  some feeding on very large California Mussels (Mytilus californianus).