At twilight

Today didn't go quite as planned, so I ran out of time again.  I should be able to pull together the "Ultra Violet mystery" story tomorrow.  

Tonight I'll leave you with a beautiful Pacific Golden-Plover (Pluvialis fulva) on the outer beach at twilight:

Another clue

Well, I need to apologize.  I ran out of time again, but here's another clue to last night's mystery, and I promise to show the entire animal tomorrow!

 

More soon!

 

Pantone preview

Here's a mystery close-up for you.  Partly because I'm excited to introduce this animal, but I don't have time to put together an entire post tonight.  And partly because it showcases the new Pantone Color of the Year!

 

I'll reveal the identity of this animal tomorrow night, so stay tuned.

And the Pantone Color of the Year for 2018?  Ultra Violet!

You can read more about it here. 

                                ☺

Fly fishing?

On the way to the post office today, I noticed a few Bonaparte's Gulls (Chroicocephalus philadelphia) near shore at Spud Point (along the west side of Bodega Harbor).

I stopped briefly to take a look and was intrigued to see that they appeared to be catching flying insects.  While sitting on the water, they would paddle forward and then snatch suddenly at something above the surface of the water.  I couldn't see the insects, but the behavior and situation made me wonder if the gulls were flushing and catching flies?

Here are a few pictures:

 

 

 

Another little one

 

Juvenile Bat Star (Patiria miniata) — only ~2 cm across at its widest.  This individual is regrowing two of its arms (the top two in this photo) that were apparently damaged previously.

Supermoon

 

Supermoon photographed in Bodega Bay on 3 December 2017.  Wow!

 

Little ones

 

While conducting surveys in the rocky intertidal zone this afternoon, we encountered some very small juvenile Purple Sea Urchins (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus).  This one was only ~3 mm across.