The bat flew off

Posted on September 15, 2013 by Coastodian

Click the words above “The bat flew off” to see this post how it was meant to be seen.

Driving back from Abbott’s Lagoon as dusk settled the air was thick with mist. I motored down Ottinger Hill slowly, those turns are tight and delicate when dry. The fog had coated the road with a slick coating of condensed ocean that had come in from the Pacific that day. Looking up as I negotiated the turns, the sky was filled with bats, flying in their spastic dance of chasing bugs. Wham! One of them slammed into my windshield and bounced over the car onto the road behind me.

I pulled over quickly and grabbed my small documentary camera, it was all I had. I did not feel like lugging the fancy camera that day – too heavy. Walking a short distance up the road, there it was in the middle of the road, spread out like the symbol on batman’s tight-fitting top. A tiny brown fuzzy-mouse of a body with two leathery wings on each side, laid out as if a museum curator had prepared it for display. No cars in either direction. I crouched down in the middle of the road, turned on the camera, placed it into macro-mode, set the ISO to 200 (it was dark and misting) and pressed the shutter half-way to meter as I composed the shot of this bat I and my car had just killed.

It was so dark the camera strobed the flash a brief moment so it could find some edges and focus. The bat closed up it’s wings and rolled over. Click went the shutter. It was still alive! But now those gorgeous, gossamer, leathery wings were all balled up. I walked to the side of the road to find a sturdy stick to try and spread them once more and record their beauty. As I gently nudged the wings to try to open them up, the bat took stock of the situation, rolled over, looked at me and began flapping those same wings and flew off. It continued on as before, this way and that, looking for bugs to have for bat dinner.

A car was coming so I walked back to the side of the road and tossed the stick in the ditch. As it whooshed by in the heavy mist, I watched the tires trace a path exactly where that bat had just laid.

Me and my car stunned it, knocking it out of the sky.

Me and the stick awoke it from certain death.

I keep poking the stick at my image in the mirror as the sound of the car approaches.

Will my legs flap once more?

Such that I might continue to gather bugs and generate guano a while longer.

Waves & foam & kelp & human debris

Posted on September 14, 2013 by Coastodian

Click the words above “Waves & kelp & foam…” to see this post how it was meant to be seen.

For those of you not able to visit the coast, here is 3.5 minutes of waves and foam on a remote beach at Point Reyes National Seashore

Yet another black plastic oyster tube spacer from the Drake Bay Oyster Company. I found 6 this day. I wonder how may were found by pelagic birds and picked up as food?

Drinking water for people with more dollars than sense. Nothing smart about this water.

Inverness Ridge, into the fog

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Coastodian

Click the words above “Inverness Ridge, into the fog” to see this post how it was meant to be seen.

Riding a bike (or walking) the road to Limantour Beach on a foggy day is a great way to experience the magic of this place so many love.

Condensed fog drips from the branches of fir and pine, providing a delayed rain drop to refresh your face and dampen your clothes. The scent of damp earth fills the air with memories past. The sounds of ravens and jays punctuate the steady whoosh of the wind as it blows over the ridge and across my face while I pedal.

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Malala Yousafzai’s address to the UN

Posted on July 13, 2013 by Coastodian

Nature provides us with both truth and beauty.

Watch this 17 minute video to see both, along with great courage.

Yesterday this young woman celebrated her 16th birthday.

Last year a Taliban (student of Islam) shot her in the head because she was speaking up for the right of girls to go to school.

Happy Birthday Malala!

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The banner image shows The Swat Valley in Pakistan, the home of Malala. It is from Wikipedia and used under the creative Commons license.

Junco feeding cowbird – cool picture, sad picture

Posted on June 16, 2013 by Coastodian

Whenever I come across a bird I am not sure of what it is, I contact one of my more learned friends and ask them to help.
Keith Hansen of Bolinas is one such person. He is an outstanding artist, click on his name to visit his website and admire his work.

Here is what he wrote back about the above image.

Dear Richard,

Cool picture, sad picture.

Yes that is a Dark-eyed Junco feeding a juvenile Brown-headed
Cowbird. Cowbirds are a type of Blackbird that parasites other
birds nests in this case a Junco. They drop their egg into a
“hosts” nest and as the chick Cowbird grows large and fast it out
competes the hosts young thereby killing them.

Although native to N. America, Cowbirds have had a very grave effect
on MANY species of birds throughout America. There are now culling
efforts typically in the winter in Texas where tens of thousands
of Cowbirds winter. This has shown an immediate and very positive
effect on many species of our nesting songbirds.

In “the old days”, (before white man), Cowbirds were
restricted to the Great Plains where they followed Buffalo around
eating the insects that they kick up as they feed. Now that cattle
span all of North America, cowbirds have encroached into all areas
that they have no history occurring in.

This is a very important photo clearly showing this relationship.
Thanks for sharing!

Best wishes,
Keith Hansen

Can you see the real sea, can ya? Can ya?

Posted on June 9, 2013 by Coastodian

Click the words “Can you see the real sea…” above to see this post as it was intended to be viewed.

Instead of sitting in front of a television watching contrived drama written by humans wanting nothing more than your money, head outside, find a place away from the din of progress. Sit yourself down, watch, listen, smell, taste, feel, be.

The actual story is there before us, within us, if we pay attention, ignoring the drone of progress.

See the first video clip in full screen by clicking the rectangularish icon in the lower right corner. Crank up yer volume too!

The kelp swaying in the surf is a species of Laminaria

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If you must be inside, listen to this now and then to be reminded of the raw power and beauty of the sea, with some nice embellishments. Move your volume to 11. Yours does go to 11? These go to 11.

Beauty springs forth

Posted on June 7, 2013 by Coastodian

Orca at California Academy of Science, Indra’s net at Marine Mammal Center

Posted on June 5, 2013 by Coastodian

Click on the words “Orca at California Academy” above to read this post and see a related header image.

In Nov. of 2011 a rare offshore orca washed ashore dead on a remote beach of Point Reyes. Read about that event here.

Today I stopped by the CAS In San Francisco to see the progress on assembly of the skeleton of this extraordinary creature.

The last image shows one of the flippers. I packed both of those out in two trips. Each one weighed over 70 pounds when covered with flesh. It is incredible to see the inside.

What an amazing job these folks have done.

See for yourself. The first 4 are from a few weeks ago, the rest are from today.

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After visiting the orca, I stopped by the Marie Mammal Center to preview a new art installation by my friends Richard and Judith.

They made an amazing piece from a large trawler net I packed off the beach near Slide Ranch last year. It was wet when I packed it out and weighed over 100 pounds.

They have outdone themselves, it is gorgeous.

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Snowy Plover nesting time, please keep fido on a leash

Posted on May 31, 2013 by Coastodian

Click on the title of this post to read it and see a related header image.

Here in West Marin we are so very fortunate to be a part of a delicate and diverse ecosystem.

Western Snowy Plovers, a small shore bird, attempt to nest here each spring, as they have for thousands of years.

With a total population of approximately 2000 birds along the entire Pacific coast (~5000 birds world-wide), giving them the room and time they need to court, build a nest, mate and raise their young is critical to the survival of the species. Each year at Point Reyes, no more than a dozen chicks survive longer than 28 days after hatching.

Please set a good example for the rest of the state that comes to visit and keep your dog on leash at all times in the National Seashore.

As I have learned the past few years, all local dogs are well behaved and do not chase birds.

So whether you are/were on the board of a prominent local environmental action group, a famous photographer, wrangler of all things radio, emporium owner, Tenured professor or anyone else that lives in West Marin, please set a great example and keep your dog on leash when visiting the seashore.

Not only is it the law, the survival of an entire species of birds depends you!

Three Western Snowy Plover eggs in a scrape (nest)

That child, she loved the sea

Posted on May 19, 2013 by Coastodian