What a surprise!  Recently we were tidepooling with family in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, when Devin spotted this American Mink (Neogale vison) moving among the rocks in the intertidal zone.

The mink moved quickly, ducking under rock tunnels and among the seaweeds, but I managed a couple of photos with my point-and-shoot camera.

 

Many thanks to Flori, Augusta, and Devin for a great adventure in Cape Elizabeth! 

Eric found this amazing spider on the beach at Reid State Park in Georgetown, Maine, yesterday (15 September 2023).  Meet the Shoreline Wolf Spider (Arctosa littoralis)!

The spider blends in with the sand so well that sometimes it was hard to see the entire spider.  It was a little easier from the side, so here's that view:

 

 

 

Shoreline Wolf Spiders have a broad distribution, so if you're walking a sandy beach, keep your eyes open. This wolf spider is so well camouflaged that you may notice some movement across the sand before you realize that there is a predator hiding in plain view!

 

 

 

I usually encounter Red Knots (Calidris canutus) on the tidal flats in Bodega Harbor, so I haven't seen these two species side by side very often. 

The Wandering Tattler is darker gray, shows more subtle pale feather edges (so looks less "scaly"), has more substantial white markings encircling the eye, has a slightly long and thicker (less tapered) bill, and has yellower legs.

The Red Knot is paler gray, has extensive pale feather edges (so looks very "scaly"), has more subtle markings around the eye (but does have a dark line through the eye and pale line above the eye), has a slightly shorter and more tapered bill, and has greenish-yellow legs.

Now I'll show one photo of each so you can guess which is which:

 

 

 

Nicely done!  The first of the two photos shows a Red Knot and the second shows a Wandering Tattler.  Both of these birds are juveniles. 

Although knot so obvious from a distance, now that you know what to look for, it will be easier to help anyone who is wandering how to tell these juvenile shorebirds apart.  ;)

Recently I've been getting quite a few questions about small groups of marine mammals observed swimming near shore off Bodega Head.  They're moving so quickly that it can be hard to make out different features.  But most of the time these are likely to be California Sea Lions (Zalophus californianus) porpoising at the surface, as shown above.

In photos, you can make out that they're sea lions pretty easily, but as they're swimming by sometimes you'll only see a smooth dark back, so it can be confusing.

Sleek sea lions swimming swiftly at the surface!

We were about to start a meeting this afternoon when we noticed a dark mass just offshore — thousands of Sooty Shearwaters (Ardenna griseus) in a very dense flock!  [I recommend clicking on the images for larger and sharper versions.]

Not long after, we started seeing lots of splashing:

 

 

 

The birds were about 1/2 mile offshore, so the photos are distant, but below is a closer view where you can see some of the characteristic stiff-winged silhouettes of the shearwaters.  (By the way, I haven't counted, but scanning the photo below my guess is that there might be >500 birds in this photo alone.)

 

 

 

And one more photo showing the amazing density of the shearwater flock:

 

 

 

Sooty Shearwaters nest in the Southern Hemisphere (e.g., in/near Australia and New Zealand) and then fly across the equator to visit the North Pacific during their non-breeding season.  Take a look if you're out at the coast, it's impressive to see so many shearwaters at once!

Can you find the shrimp?

More info tomorrow night!

...blue supermoon (Caerulea grandeluna)  ;)

Photographed from Cotati on 30 August 2023.

Okay, last night I mentioned there was more to the River Otter story.  A couple of days after I had noticed the mother with an injury, I was doing an unrelated survey and spotted one of the pups.  I was curious about whether the mom was alright, so I decided to watch for a little while to see if she showed up.

I stayed out of sight, and didn't know it at the time, but it was time for the otter pup to take a "gravel bath" and then a nap.  I've seen this behavior before (but not very often) and it's fun to watch — lots of rolling around and sliding through a patch of sand and gravel:

 

 

 

 

Over the years I've learned that young River Otters like to be close to each other, and the next scene made me laugh.  The second otter didn't lie down right next the first, it walked up on top of its sibling and sat down.  Ooof!

 

 

 

Later it shifted slightly and did some grooming:

 

 

 

Well, I'm sure you're wondering if mom showed up.  I didn't see her during this initial observation, but I swung by one more time later in the day and briefly spotted her in the distance.  And then about a week or so later I heard about another sighting of her and the two pups.  So far it seems like she is doing okay and raising healthy pups despite her injury.

This is a follow-up to my last post on River Otters...and a bit of a puzzle.  I had to sort through some photos, but when I was looking at some of them I realized the mother otter had a fairly serious injury.  In the photo above, you can see several oblong lacerations in a row, and I think there was at least 1-2 more of those on her rump and near the base of the tail.  You can also see another larger laceration closer to her mid-section (in front of her hind leg).  

I'm not sure what caused these injuries, but my first thought was wondering whether it could have been a shark.  Researchers at UC Santa Cruz have documented an increase in sea otters with shark wounds (and years ago I found one sea otter on a local beach that had been bitten by a shark), but I haven't heard about shark bites and River Otters.  Have you?  Or can you think of other possible causes for this type of injury?  I'd be interested in any feedback.

If you are concerned about the otter, I'll note that she appeared to be active — swimming and catching fish (for herself and her pups) despite the injury.  And I also saw her the next day (more parts of this story to come!).

During a field trip to Tomales Bay on 17 August 2023, Melissa spotted this small yellowish-green sea hare crawling on some eelgrass (Zostera marina).  At first I wasn't sure about the identity of this sea hare, but after looking more closely I believe it's a Hedgpeth's Sea Hare (Elysia hedgpethi).  (Those small bright blue spots helped with the i.d.)

I've mostly encountered this species on rocky shores where they are a deep green color (see "Not a flatworm!" on 25 June 2013 and "Magic cape" on 17 August 2022).  So the paler "blonde" color was confusing until I read that this species can be yellowish or brownish, too.  Is the color driven by what they are eating?  Or related to the condition of the chloroplasts they ingest?

Eric was able to get a few nice video clips, too, so check out the video below.  Watch for the rolled rhinophores, the two dark eye spots behind the rhinophores, the wide flaps held upright on either side of the body, and the scattered blue spots.  [If you can't see the video player in your e-mail, click on the title of the post above to watch the video on the NHBH website.]

Many thanks to Melissa for spotting this sea hare and to Eric for putting together the video!