Silver spears

  

I've been busy at work lately, but I wanted to share this photo of Pacific Saury (Cololabis saira) from 22 September 2024. 

Willy kindly wrote to let me know that Mike and Spinner caught these fish just off Point Reyes on 22 September 2024.  

I don't know a lot about Pacific Saury, but it sounds like they're more common 40-100 miles off the coast, so seeing them so close to shore is notable.  They're often associated with sea water temperatures ~60°F (57-63°F) — and can be hanging out in the same water as albacore.  [I noticed another Pacific Saury report from the Farallon Islands in late August.]

Note the small finlets at the tail end of the body (between the dorsal/anal fins and the caudal fin) — very mackerel like.  Sauries are in the Scomberesocidae family — "Scomber" refers to their similarities with mackerel.

Pacific Sauries are commonly 25-30 cm (10-12") long.  They have a broad distribution in the Pacific Ocean, but are known to migrate north to the Gulf of Alaska for the summer and then south to California in the fall.

P.S.  The species name "saira" refers to a Japanese word for spear, presumably after the long slender shape of the fish.  The genus Cololabis means "short lips" — interesting to me because the Atlantic Saury (Scomberesox saurus) has very long lips!  You can see a nice photo here.

P.P.S.  Many thanks to Willy, Mike, and Spinner for sharing this observation!

To catch a tiger

 

A few weeks ago, Eric's patience paid off with this close-up photo of a Hairy-necked Tiger Beetle (Cicindela hirticollis) at Limantour Beach.  

Tiger beetles can be "flighty" -- as you approach (somewhat like a bird), they'll let you get only-so-close and then they'll take off and fly away, landing not-too-far-away, but far enough away that you have to try again.  But with some practice and some patience and some slowing down, sometimes you can spend some time with them -- appreciating their color patterns, iridescence, hairiness, and interesting behaviors.

For fall

  

Eric photographed this gorgeous Moonglow Anemone (Anthopleura artemisia) at Point Reyes last week.  Seemed like an appropriate photo to help celebrate the autumn equinox!  

Notice that the markings in the center of the oral disk (the brown and cream-colored markings surrounding the mouth) hint at the six-part symmetry of sea anemones, which belong to the taxonomic group called Hexacorallia.

Here's a view of the entire anemone (below).  Interestingly, the color patterns of the anemones we found last weekend seemed a little different than the Moonglow Anemones that we see in Sonoma County.

 Happy fall, everyone!

 P.S.  And thanks for the great shots, Eric!

Avian miscellany

 

 

I didn't have much time to focus on bird photos during our Iceland trip, but here are a few incidental sightings.  Above, a White Wagtail (Motacilla alba).

 

 

Northern Wheatear (Oenanthe oenanthe)

 

 

 

  Redwing (Turdus iliacus)

 

 

  Eurasian Oystercatcher (Haematopus ostralegus)

 

 

 

  Whooper Swans (Cygnus cygnus)

 

 

 

 Tufted Duck (Aythya fuligula)