The green flash was photographed by Richard Kuehn!

On February 2nd there was a beautiful green flash and Rich Kuehn was fortunate enough - and good enough - to photograph it from his The Sea Ranch home. Frequent readers of this blog will know that I've been trying, and failing, to photograph a green flash. Lucky for us all, Rich is willing to share his photo with us here.

Rich wrote, "GREEN FLASH - as captured from my dining room. It's the result of the prism-like bending of the last rays of sunbeam through the correct mixture of atmosphere as our planet revolves about the sun. I'm a lucky guy."

Thank you, Rich!

The Gualala River is "Steelhead green."

The Gualala River has the perfect color for fishing (catch and release) of Steelhead. Just look at the green color!

 Steelhead was caught earlier this week. However Saturday the river was closed to the Pacific Ocean.

 And there were thousand of Gulls and a few Brown Pelicans enjoying the sunny weather. Those in the river are washing off - you can almost hear the sounds of their flapping!

We have a storm coming in for today. It should reopen the river so the Steelhead can once again make their way into the river.

Trilliums have begun blooming on the forest floor

Yesterday Rick and I saw our first Trilliums of the year on our property in Anchor Bay. Western Trillium, Trillium ovatum, is always a treat to find. But never pick one! It can take years for the plant to recover.

 Below is a Trillium just unfolding.

The flowers are white when young and turn pink as they age. Ants distribute their seeds, as they do for many other plants. Everything is connected - we just need to learn of these connections and respect them. Mother Nature knows what she's doing!

A Great Egret nabs a Skink and was photographed by Mike Mee

Great Egrets will eat many things, including small mammals. Mike Mee photographed this Egret on The Sea Ranch capturing a Western Skink, a type of lizard, for its dinner.

I thank Mike for allowing me to share his photo with you here.

 If you'd like to see what a Western Skink looks like, here's a prior post on this site: http://mendonomasightings.blogspot.com/2011/08/western-skink-is-not-singing-blues.html

Tula, a golden retriever, has some unusual friends at the B. Bryan Preserve

Linda and Jorge Dorticos share their lives with a beautiful golden retriever named Tula. Tula became fascinated with several of the Grevy's Zebras at the B. Bryan Preserve in Point Arena.

It sure looks like Tula is smiling at the Zebras! Tula and her mom, Linda, are members of the Golden Retriever Love Brigade, a popular entry in Point Arena's 4th of July parade. Here's the link to see photos of last year's Love Brigade: http://mendonomasightings.blogspot.com/2011/07/golden-retriever-love-brigade-point.html

And to learn more about the wildlife preserve, here's an earlier posting on this site: http://mendonomasightings.blogspot.com/2011/08/young-grevys-zebra-at-b-byran-preserve.html

Last night's sunset was the gift that kept on giving

Some sunsets are over in a few minutes and some last a good long while, unfolding before our delighted eyes. The latter was the case last night as the sunset evolved for what seemed like forever. Red and oranges transformed into blue and purples - it was simply magnificent.

The first photo was taken at 5:30 pm, just after the sun had set.

 And the next at 5:44 pm

 And look what happened at 5:53 pm - even the Pacific Ocean appears to be purple!

It's a privilege to watch a Mendonoma Coast sunset.

Irene Leidner taped the opening of the Gualala River

Irene had her video camera in hand when the Gualala River opened up on Jan. 20th. The river had been closed for months. As you watch her video you will see a large tree shoot through the new opening. It was an amazing spectacle to see the river meet the Pacific Ocean.
http://leidnerpics.shutterfly.com/pictures/9

Bob Rutemoeller photographed the moment when the river finally spilled over the big sandbar. The photo below was taken at 10:24 am.

 And the photo below was taken at 11:09 am.

Thanks to Bob for allowing me to share his photos with you here.

To see my photos of that day, here's the link on this site: http://mendonomasightings.blogspot.com/2012/01/gualala-river-finally-opened-last-this.html