A Red-shouldered Hawk, as photographed by John Batchelder

John Batchelder photographed this Red-shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus, perched on a roof on The Sea Ranch.

You can find this Hawk in California and in the East. They eat small mammals, reptiles, birds, amphibians and crayfish. I bet this Hawk is keeping an eagle eye out (or a hawk eye out) for a nice fat rodent.

Thanks to John for allowing me to share his photo with you here. To see a photo of a seemingly headless Red-shouldered Hawk, here's the link: http://mendonomasightings.blogspot.com/2012/11/craig-tooley-says-to-look-out-for.html

Storm waves, as photographed by Carolyn André

Three big storms, a river of rain, have hit the Mendonoma Coast. Carolyn André, intrepid photographer that she is, braved the second storm to take these photos of the coast of The Sea Ranch.

 The storm coincided with a high tide as you will see below.

 Big waves hit the coast.

At Point Arena Pier there are three red flags posted. No one should be out in this sea except the very big ships.

 Surf's up...or way too dangerous, I believe.

Thanks to Carolyn for allowing me to share her evocative photos here with  you.

Two White-tailed Hawks and a Raven

Allen Vinson recently photographed two White-tailed Hawks observing a Common Raven. Allen entitled his photo, "Raven - what one White-tailed Kite said to another."

Thanks to Allen for allowing me to share his fun photo with you here. To see Allen's photo of a White-tailed Kite close up, here's the link: http://mendonomasightings.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-close-up-look-at-white-tailed-kite.html

The storms hitting the Mendonoma Coast have brought huge waves

Rick and I live a half mile back from the Pacific Ocean yet the sound of the crashing waves can be heard - and felt - inside our house. The ocean is in full voice and there is no denying its presence. Rich Kuehn photographed waves hitting Gualala Point Island yesterday from his home at The Sea Ranch.

There is an amazing amount of power in this photo. I thank Rich for allowing me to share it with you here. To learn more about this special island, here's the link: http://mendonomasightings.blogspot.com/2011/05/gualala-point-island-rocky-island-off.html

Edible wild mushrooms are putting smiles on mushroom foragers' faces

Jane Jarlsberg found these Oyster Mushrooms the day before Thanksgiving. She brought them to a friend's home to add to the celebratory feast. They are exceptionally frilly for Oysters but no less delicious.

Yesterday Rick and I found two beautiful King Boletes, Boletus edulis. You can see the sponge underneath the cap is still white, indicating it fruited recently. With age the sponge turns yellow.

And this morning, under threatening skies, we found a small Queen Boletus, Boletus aereus. The very dark top was nearly munched off, perhaps by a Deer. But the stem was sturdy and pristine. Fresh mushroom for the Jackson household tonight!

Thanks to Jane for allowing me to share her photos with you here.

The Gualala River opened to the Pacific Ocean for the first time in months.

We've had early rains, enough to fill the Gualala River to the brim.You can see that the river is almost breaching the sandbar. This sandbar closes the river every year after the rains stop and creates a lagoon.  The photo below was taken on November 19th.

Another storm hit on the evening of the 20th and when Rick and I went to the Gualala Bluff Trail to take a look on the morning of the 21st, the river was open and draining out to the ocean. The lagoon is gone, replaced by an estuary.

The Gualala opened at the northernmost portion of the sandbar. Muddy water can be seen in the ocean. Any fish, including Steelhead, that were trapped in luxury during the months it was closed were swept into the Pacific Ocean to continue their journey.

A series of storms is set to hit the Mendonoma Coast. How about a final November sunset photo?

The weather warnings sound ominous, with many inches of rain forecast to fall in the days to come. Eight to fifteen inches of rain? It's hard to wrap one's head around it. Up until today we have had wonderful weather with many beautiful sunsets. Here's a recent one I took from our deck in Anchor Bay.

Last Friday the horizon was clear and there was a beautiful green flash at sunset. To see one of the photos of a green flash on this site, here's the link: http://mendonomasightings.blogspot.com/2012/02/green-flash-was-photographed-by-richard.html

And to see a green flash that turned into blue and then violet, here's a very rare photo taken by Ron LeValley: http://mendonomasightings.blogspot.com/2012/08/a-green-flash-that-turned-into.html