Between showers

Between rain and hail showers today, quite a few songbirds visited the plum tree blossoms in our yard.  Two examples photographed from our kitchen window:

 

Dark-eyed Junco (Junco hyemalis), with an entire blossom in her bill.

 

Yellow-rumped Warbler (Setophaga coronata)

The spring equinox is only 15 days away! 

Rainy day

 

White-crowned Sparrow taking a bath in the rain today (4 March 2017). 

Pinks and purples in the low zone

 

Not sure exactly why, but I couldn't resist this view — moving water and reflected light with the pinks of the hydrocoral and the purples of the urchins.

Photographed in the low intertidal zone in northern Sonoma County on 24 February 2017.

A little different

Remember the Glass-spined Brittle Star that was featured on 18 December 2016?

Well, we found one last weekend, but soon after Eric noticed a second brittle star and he knew right away that it looked a little different.  I snapped a quick picture of the two brittle stars side-by-side.  In the photo below, the Glass-spined Brittle Star is on the right.  Look for differences in the overall color; the patterns of banding along the arms; and the spines:

 

Eric managed to get a much better close-up of the second brittle star:

 

Meet the Flat-spined Brittle Star (Ophiopteris papillosa)!  Now you can see the distinctive arm spines — opaque brown, smooth, with blunt (rounded) tips.

And lucky for us, Eric also filmed this brittle star in action.  Here's a short video clip.  Watch for the very active tube feet (below the spines).  Many brittle stars move by "rowing" with their arms.  Although this species uses its arms, you'll see that its tube feet also play an important role in locomotion.  [If you can't see the video clip below, click on the title of the post above to go directly to the website.]

Red Turban

A wonderful Red Turban Snail (Pomaulax gibberosus), photographed in the rocky intertidal zone in northern Sonoma County on 25 February 2017.  This juvenile snail was only ~1 cm across.  (Adults can reach diameters of over 5 cm.)  Look for the distinctive nodules along the body whorl (photo above) and the spiral cords visible on the base of the shell (photo below).

Unlike many snails in this region, Red Turban Snails have a calcareous operculum ("trap-door").  And note that the operculum is very smooth:

 

P.S.  For a view of a different species with a calcareous operculum, review the Pheasant Snail post from 20 December 2015.

Banded tentacles

 

A beautiful feather duster worm, Parasabella media, in a rocky shore tidepool.  The tentacles (called radioles) are used to capture suspended food particles from the water and in respiration.  Photographed in northern Sonoma County on 24 February 2017.

The original sequins

Lepidozona, a genus of chitons, means "scaly girdle."  When you see these chitons up close, you understand where the name comes from.

In chitons, the girdle is the "rim" surrounding the eight shell plates.  

Here are three different species of chitons, all in the genus Lepidozona.  There's a lot to appreciate about each one, but remember to look closely at the texture and markings on the plates and especially at the beautiful scales on the girdle!  [Click on the images for larger versions.]

 

 Lepidozona cooperi

and a close-up:

 

Lepidozona (Tripoplax) regularis

and a close-up:

Lepidozona radians

and a close-up:

 

I hope you can see that these scales and the patterns they create are rather "fancy."  I was thinking that they reminded of something, and then I realized what it was — sequins!

These chitons were ~2-3 cm long and were found on rocks in the intertidal zone.  All photos were taken in northern Sonoma County on 25 February 2017.