Mark your calendar for the upcoming winter meteor shower: the Geminids are next. This December shower is described as very active, with up to 120 multicolored “falling stars” peaking on Dec. 13. Fog permitting, begin watching eastward in the early evening hours, as the twins constellation of Gemini rises. The new moon of Dec. 12 brings extreme morning high tides in the 6-foot range, if your plans include beachcombing. As always, never turn your back on the ocean.
Colder days continue the cycle of migrations. A loveliness of ladybugs—the collective noun for ladybugs—has massed in the Bear Valley picnic area. They share warmth and will soon move east to overwinter in the warmer Central Valley, though some also overwinter in dense oak leaf litter. Also on the move are coho salmon and steelhead trout. They are swimming through Tomales Bay, waiting for a flush of rainwater out of Papermill Creek to start their return upstream to spawn.
A unique recent sighting on the beach was an innkeeper worm. These large, sausage-like, pinkish-brown worms spend most of their lives in sand burrows under the ocean. They are thought to emerge to mate, and sometimes get caught in rough surf conditions that push them out of the water and onto the beach.