 |
Snails Sharing a Meal
(click images to view larger) |
I couldn't tell what those two snails (dogwinkles?) were up to, even with my glasses on. I figured they were either mating or fighting. But as soon as I got the image up on my computer screen I could tell that the "weird appendages" I'd seen through my lens were not parts of the snails, but were actually crab legs. Earlier I'd watched a crab escape from my prying eyes by burying itself in pebbly sand. It seems a little amazing that a snail can catch a crab. Although it also seems amazing that even sea anemones catch crabs. I would soon find one such kelp crab being devoured by anemones and possibly a turban snail, which is supposed to be an algae-eater.
With low tide arriving before sunrise over the weekend, and not being terribly low at that, I was unable to roust myself out of bed so early for the hourlong drive out to Duxbury Reef. I wasn't even sure it would be worth the drive this morning despite a post-sunrise low tide of +0.46. Although there wasn't a whole lot of reef to explore by the time I got there, I was reluctant to leave even when the reef had mostly returned to its underwater realm. If I'd been in Hawaii I'd probably have gone snorkeling. I didn't want to stop to exploring.
 |
| Pair of Snails Feasting on a Crab |
 |
Limpet Covered with Tiny Animals
(the white things with black dots) |
 |
| Close Crop of Limpet Shell |
 |
| Hermit Crab Hanging Out |
 |
| Deadly Elegance |
 |
| Captured Kelp Crab |
 |
| Camouflaged Kelp Crab Playing It Cool |
 |
| Small Mossy Chiton |
 |
Another Strange Unknown Creature Similar to This One
(Note brown cylindrical waste pellets around it.) |
 |
| Band-Tailed Pigeons Feeding on the Bluffs at Agate Beach |
 |
Wider View of the Group
(feeding on dirt?) |
Very Shaky Video of the Band-Tailed Pigeons
 |
| On The Edge (Bolinas Ridge) |
 |
| Fog Beams on the Edge of the Woods (Mt. Tam) |
 |
| Silhouette With Cool Clouds Above Mt. Tam |
* * *
