When I got back home, after my vacation in Yosemite, it was hot and smokey in our neighborhood! There was a wildfire north of us, and the wind was bringing lots of smoke into our area. The temperatures were in the high 90's! It was hotter than heck, so I spent most of this past week on the North Yuba River! It had warmed up a lot, due to the heat, and was perfect for swimming!
Spotted Sandpiper - Actitis macularia
Shore Bird!
The beautiful Spotted Sandpiper that I saw a few weeks ago, was still hanging around on this one section of the river! It must have been a female, as it was definitely trying to distract me! Remember that the female Sandpipers are the ones that defend the nesting territory, while the male incubates the eggs. I didn't find a nest, but there must have been one in the area. A few days later, I found these parts of a Sandpiper egg on the shore. The eggshell (below left) was in pieces, and the albumen (below right) was kind of thick and rubbery. I don't know if this means the egg hatched, or if a predator got the egg. I couldn't find out if all the albumen would be absorbed by the time a chick hatches. I'll have to ask some of my bird-watching friends. I hope the chick made it!
Spotted Sandpiper eggshell and albumen
Canada Geese - Branta canadensis
Geese!
I saw this pair of Canada Geese, and their gosling, foraging in the river. They were not looking for aquatic critters to eat! They were looking for aquatic plants! They are mainly vegetarians, but occasionally eat small fish, insects and crustaceans! Canada Geese mate for life after their second or third year. The young usually stay with their parents for the entire first year.
Most Canada Geese fly much further north to breed, but these Geese have raised their young in our neighborhood for many years now! I remember the first year they came, it was a cold and snowy Spring, about 10+ years ago. They nested on the first bend in the river, downstream from our bridge. That same year a neighbor couple, that lived right near the bridge, started feeding them. They've returned every year since then to breed, and so have their offspring! The neighbors that had been feeding them have moved. I don't believe the new neighbor feeds them anymore. We'll just have to wait and see how that affects this family of Geese! I think they'll do just fine without being fed! What do you think?
Common Merganser (female) and juveniles - Mergus merganser
Diving Ducks!
A small group of Common Mergansers quickly left the area, when I showed up on shore! They went about 300 yards downstream, where they proceeded to climb up on rocks and preen their feathers! I've been watching them in the river since early Spring!
Common Mergansers live in clear water lakes and rivers, and dive underwater for their food. They eat aquatic mollusks, insects, crustaceans, worms, frogs, plants, and fish!
Their bills have sharp serrations to grab slippery prey! They can stay underwater for up to 2 minutes, but usually stay for 30 seconds. The young are precocial when born, and can catch their own food when they are only 1 or 2 days old! They initially feed on aquatic insects, and then start eating fish at about 12 days old. The young are commonly eaten by birds of prey, foxes, and large fish. Often several females and their ducklings will become one big group for safety! I once saw a female Common Merganser with 27 ducklings!
Flycatchers!
The Black Phoebe and the Western Wood Pewee are some of the most commonly seen flycatchers in the Sierra. I've been seeing both of these birds in our neighborhood since the very beginning of Spring. I saw the two of them definitely interacting with each other down by the river this week!
Black Phoebes prefer to live near water. They fly out from their exposed perches to catch flying insects, crawling insects, and even small fish in the river! Apparently, if conditions are favorable, they stay year-round in the same area! I'll have to watch for them this coming Fall and Winter!
Western Wood Pewees also fly out from exposed perches to catch flying insects. They do not stay here all year. They migrate to the northern end of South America for the Winter!
Whirligig Beetles - Gyrinus sp. & Western Aquatic Garter Snake -Thamnophis couchii
Aquatic Critters
I found these Whirligig Beetles (above left) in a shaded, still water part of our creek! They move so fast I had a hard time getting a picture of them! I have never seen them before! It turns out that they're really interesting insects!
As adults these beetles spend most of their time on the surface of the water, looking for insects to eat. They also look for prey underwater. They can see above and below the water surface, because they have eyes that are divided in half horizontally!!! The bottom half sees underwater. The top half sees above water! If alarmed these beetles will dive underwater for safety. The middle and hind pairs of legs are "natatory" (adapted for swimming), and are quite hairy. Their front legs are used for grasping prey. Their outer wing covers are covered in a waxy layer that is water repellent! If their watery environment dries up, they can fly away to another area! After mating, the female lays eggs on the stems of submerged plants. The eggs hatch into aquatic larvae that live in streams. These larvae pupate in cocoons, above water, when mature. I find all of these adaptations to their watery environment astonishing!
Every time I go to the river I see at least one Western Aquatic Garter Snake (above right) underwater! They like to hang out motionless among the underwater rocks, just waiting for a fish to go by! They are not poisonous, but they might bite if you handle them! I've seen a large 4.5' one, some 7" ones, and this one was about 2' long.
Anna's Hummingbird (female) - Calypte anna
In My Garden!
I finally got a good picture of the iridescent feathers on a Hummingbird! I was photographing this beautiful female Anna's Hummingbird in our garden, when she stopped to check me out! WOW! Aren't those feathers amazing?
I also was lucky enough to photograph a Monarch Butterfly (below left) in our garden. The life cycle of a Monarch Butterfly only takes 6-8 weeks. It begins in the Spring, when female Monarch Butterflies lay 100's of eggs on the underside of Milkweed leaves (below right). Four days later the caterpillars hatch out of their eggs! These newly hatched caterpillars will eat only Milkweed leaves for the next 2 weeks. Then each caterpillar will form a chrysalis and pupate. After 10 days a new adult butterfly will emerge from each chrysalis, and start the whole process again. This process will happen four more times in the Summer. As adults, they feed on nectar from a variety of wildflowers. The one pictured below is sipping nectar from a Butterfly Bush! All mating stops in September. The last generation of Butterflies born in the Summer, is the one that migrates south for winter (all the other generations die after they mate, and lay eggs). Some Monarch Butterflies travel 2,000 to 3,000 miles to reach their overwintering grounds!
Unfortunately, due to the use of systemic pesticides in agriculture, the majority of native milkweeds have been killed in many areas. This lack of milkweed plants has caused a huge decline in the population of Monarch Butterflies. You can help many different organizations preserve Monarch Butterflies. Check out this website for more information http://www.nfwf.org/monarch/Pages/home.aspx.
Monarch Butterfly - Danaus plexippus and Purple Milkweed - Asclepias cordifolia
More Bear Poop!
I found this fresh scat near our garden, but have not seen the bear yet!
Can you guess what its been eating lately?
Where do the Crayfish live in the river?
Why do I keep finding parts of them, but not a whole Crayfish?
I've been finding a lot of individual feathers on the ground.
Are birds molting now?
Are birds molting now?
I just saw a baby lizard! Are their eggs hatching now?
Check back next week
for the answers to these questions and more!
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