In the Spirit!

Happy Halloween!

Gone Hiking!

I'll be back blogging next week!

What's happening on the river?

What are the Bears up to these days?

Where are the bucks doing?

How are those foxes?

Check back next week for the answers 

to these questions and more!

Your comments and questions are greatly appreciated!  

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com! 

or

Click on the comments just below, to post a comment!

  Thanks!

Autumn in the Lakes Basin!

I decided to go on one of my favorite Lakes Basin hikes this week, the Round Lake Loop.  I really lucked out and caught the fall colors at their peak!   The aspens were gorgeous, but the ground cover and bushes stole the show!  Every year it's different!  This year the red plants were incredibly brilliant!  It was just wonderful to be in the midst off all the autumn beauty!  

I heard the loud rubbery calls of the Sandhill Cranes as they flew by, on their way to the Central Valley for winter!!!  I also saw quite a few chipmunks and squirrels foraging for food on the forest floor, fattening-up for winter!  Seasonal changes are happening fast! 

Dwarf Bilberry - Vaccinium cespitosum

 The brilliant reds that dominate the landscape are the low-growing Dwarf Bilberry bushes.  The berries are blue, edible, and sparse!  Hermit Thrush, Blue Grouse, Pika, and Golden Mantled Ground Squirrels eat the leaves and berries!  I've never seen or eaten one berry!  I'll need to try one next year, if I can find one!

Dwarf Bilberry - Vaccinium cespitosum

These low-growing shrubs are adapted to the higher elevation where they grow!  Being close to the ground they stay warmer longer, are protected by a layer of winter snow, and don't get buffeted by damaging winds!

Mountain Spirea - Spiraea densiflora

One of the common shrubs in the Lakes Basin is Mountain Spiraea.  They are about 3' tall, and have fragrant pink flowers that attract insects and hummingbirds in the summer!  Right now, their burnished yellow color is stunning against the local rocks or the winter-gray surface of an alpine lake (above)!

 Mountain Ash - Sorbus californica

Mountain Ash is a lovely tall shrub, from 2'-9' in height!  They prefer to grow in moist areas, especially along streams and lakes.  All the Mountain Ash bushes that I came across didn't have any of their bright orange-red berries.  Either they dropped them or perhaps animals ate them.  I tasted a tiny piece of one myself, and it was extremely bitter!!!  I wouldn't recommend them!  I'll try to find out if animals eat them!

   

 Bracken Fern - Pteridium aquilinum

There are many dense thickets of Bracken Fern in the Lakes Basin!  Right now 

their bronzy-gold colors glow when they are backlit by the sun! 

Quaking Aspen- Populous tremuloides

I love the sound of aspen leaves in the wind! It is so calming and alive at the same time! Aspens are pretty interesting plants!  They prefer to live in moist meadows or areas where there's lots of groundwater. Aspens usually live for 50-60 years, attaining about 1' in diameter, and 50'-60' in height.  Its buds, bark, and shoots are a favorite food of wildlife.  

Although a grove of aspen trees may produce millions of seeds, not many are viable!  Pollination is inhibited by the fact that aspens are either male or female, and large stands are usually all clones of the same sex.  Even if pollinated, the small seeds can only survive for a short time as they lack a stored food source or a protective coating.  Instead, aspen reproduce from root-sprouting seedlings!  A grove of aspens is also a group of "clones"!  Each tree grows from a common root system, expanded by root-sprouting seedlings!  The trees in a group of "clones" are genetically identical! 

One clonal aspen colony in Utah is considered the heaviest and oldest living organism in the world, at 13,227,720 lbs. and perhaps 80,000 years old!!!  Wow!

Long-eared Chipmunk (left) - Neotamias quadrimaculatus 

Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel (right) - Spermophilus lateralis

The Chipmunks are storing up fat for their winter hibernation.  They are busy eating seeds, fungi, berries, and insects.  They will also cache a great deal of food 
in their underground burrow.  They do not sleep all winter long, rather they wake up every few days, raise their body temperature to normal, feed on stored food 
rather than fat reserves, and urinate and defecate!!! 

  The Golden-mantled Ground Squirrel is also storing up fat for winter hibernation.  In the fall their main food is conifer seeds.  They will also eat fungi, insects, vegetation, nuts, and fruits when available.  They store food in their dens before they hibernate, mainly to be eaten in the spring when hibernation ends.  Some Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels wake up periodically during hibernation and feed on this stored food!  Their hibernation period usually begins in October and ends in May.  The obvious physical difference between Chipmunks and Golden-mantled Ground Squirrels is the lack of stripes on the squirrel's head.  

Chipmunk unknown - Tamias sp.

Chipmunks are also pretty difficult to identify!  If you can get a photo of the back of a chipmunk, as well as a side, you have a better chance at identifying it.  Unfortunately, I only got one photo of the chipmunk above before he scampered off!  Rats!

Sandhill Cranes - Antigone canadensis

Cranes!

The short days and cooler nights prompt birds to migrate to their winter quarters.  
I've heard and seen these cranes fly over in the fall for many years now!  
This western population of Sandhill Cranes, 
spends the winter in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys of California, 
where they congregate in the tens of thousands!

North Yuba River

Neighborhood Update!

The river rose a little from the rain we got this week!  It's also getting 

colder!  The locust trees, willows, and Indian Rhubarb 

are changing color along the river!   So lovely!

Lesser Goldfinch - Carduelis psaltria

Goldfinches!

There are still a few Lesser Goldfinches in our garden, eating the last of the Sunflower seeds!  Maybe this rain will cause their migration to lower elevations.  

 California Scrub Jay - Aphelocoma californica

A Surprise Visitor!

I was down in the garden when this California Scrub Jay landed!!!  I was SO surprised!  They typically do not come up here!  They usually live in brushy areas and oak woodlands, from the coast to the foothills of California.  Maybe he flew up here because a forest fire in the foothills, about 30 air miles from our area, has destroyed his natural habitat.  I was so excited to see him!  Isn't he lovely!  What a huge beak he has!  I only saw him that one day, but I'll be on the lookout for him!

California Scrub Jays are highly dependent on oaks and acorns.  Acorns are their main food during fall and winter.  One Jay will bury up to 5,000 acorns in small holes in the ground during the months of fall!  These acorns will all eventually be dug up and consumed in the following seasons!  Like other members of the Corvid family, Scrub Jays are quite intelligent and have excellent memories.  Some studies have shown that they not only remember the past (eg. where they buried the acorns) but also think forward to the future (eg. They will move their buried acorns if they think another bird saw them being buried, in anticipation of them possibly being stolen!)  They will also eat insects, other nuts & seeds, ticks off of deer, as well as bird eggs and nestlings when available! 

Western Gray Squirrel - Sciurus griseus

Gray Squirrel!

I watched this Western Gray Squirrel climb all over a maple tree in search for seeds.  Everytime he found one, he would stop and eat it right away!   

 Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargenteus

Gray Fox!

I saw the Gray Fox down in her usual morning sunning spot twice this week!

Just as camouflaged as ever, and just as lovely!

It is wonderful to be able to see her as often as I do!  

So glad she likes her "den" that's near our garden!

 Black Locust leaves - Robinia pseudoacacia

Rain!

We got about an inch of rain on Thursday night this week!  It poured!  
Yahoo!  Now we don't have to worry SO much about forest fires occurring!    

Friday morning there were many leaves on the ground, 

but luckily there are still lots left on the trees!  

Our autumn colors aren't totally gone yet!

This hive is probably a Yellowjacket Wasp hive, 

but I need to do more research.  

I'll talk about Yellowjacket Wasps etc. next week.

There hasn't been any new bear poop around!  

My neighbors aren't complaining about the bears anymore.  

The apples and grapes have all been eaten.  

Maybe the bears have moved on in search of a new food supply!

I haven't seen any deer but my neighbors have!  

Hopefully I'll see some this week!

What's happening in the creek?  

Will the recent rain cause mushrooms to sprout?  

What other critters are migrating?

What is mycelium?  

What does it look like? 

Check back next week for the answers 

to these questions and more!

Your comments and questions are greatly appreciated!  

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com! 

or

Click on the comments just below, to post a comment!

  Thanks!

Bugs & Birds!

Convergent Ladybird Beetle or Ladybugs - Hippodamia convergens

The Ladybugs are Back!

These Ladybugs arrived this week, flying in from the south! They got here just before the super windy day that caused all the wildfires in California!  They hunkered down under the pine needles and leaves on the forest floor, during the windstorm. 

Since the wind died down and the temperatures have warmed up, they've been coming out in the open to mate. They will stay here in large dormant clusters throughout the winter. To keep from freezing, they produce an anti-freeze in their "hemolymph" (insect body fluid).  They've been returning to our neighborhood every fall for years.  I was happy to see them back home again!

Convergent Ladybird Beetle or Ladybugs - Hippodamia convergens

Ladybugs aren't true bugs!

 The word "bug" is commonly used as a name for any insect.  However, Ladybugs are not true bugs, they're beetles!  A more scientifically correct name for them is Ladybird Beetles.  There is an actual group of insects called "True Bugs".  They are part of a group of insects that includes aphids, cicadas, leaf hoppers, plant hoppers, and shield bugs.  They are distinguished from other insects by having piercing and sucking mouth parts that are, in most species, used on plants.

In Science, all living organisms are classified into ordered groups.  Insects are in the Kingdom Animalia, the Phylum Arthropoda, the Subphylum Heteropoda, and the Class Insecta.  There are 30 Orders of insects within the Class Insecta.  

Ladybugs are in the Class Coleoptera.  

In the United States, 91,000 different species of insects have been classified, just a fraction of the total 8.7 million insect species found on Earth!!!

Orb Weaver Spiders - Family Araneidae

Spiders!

I took these web photos early one morning this week.  I was amazed to see that the webs had a rainbow iridescence, that I never noticed before!  Beautiful!  The webs are usually made at night by the female spiders!  The male spiders don't weave webs!  They just cruise the neighborhood looking for females to mate.  

The female will use the web to trap insects.  Once they're stuck, the female will bite the insect, wrap it in silk and wait for it to die.  Once it dies, the female vomits digestive fluid over the wrapped dead insect, to soften it, then eats it by chewing and sucking!  The female spider doesn't get stuck in her own web because she mainly travels on the non-sticky structural lines.  Sometimes she has to walk on the sticky spiral lines, but her hairy legs have an oil that keeps them from sticking!!!

Right now, the female spiders are laying their last clutch of eggs for the year.  Usually there are over 100 eggs in one sac!  The eggs will overwinter, but the female and male spiders will die at the first frost.

Orb Weaver Spider - Family Araneidae   &   Sheetweb Spiders - Family Linyphiinae

I found both of these webs in small deciduous trees.  The Sheetweb Spiders are quite different than the Orbweaver Spiders.  I'll let you know all about them next week!

Spiders are not insects!  They are classified in the Kindom Animalia, the Phylum Arthropoda, the Subphylum Chelicerata, and the Class Arachnida.  Spiders are in the Order Araneae.  The main differences between insects and spiders are that they have 8 legs (insects have 6 legs), and only 2 body parts (insects have 3 body parts).

Cabbage White Moth - Pieris rapae              Dusky-winged Skipper - Pyrgus oileus

Garden Update!

There's been an abundance of skippers, moths, and butterflies in our garden since springtime!  Things will change soon, as we just had our first frost last night.  There are still some roses and cosmos in bloom, but not much else for them to feed on.  Most butterflies and moths lay eggs that overwinter, but some species overwinter as pupa in a chrysalis or cocoon, and others overwinter as caterpillars!     

    California Sister - Adelpha californica            Field Crescent - Phyciodes pulchella    

Butterflies and Moths are insects! They are classified in the Kindom Animalia, the Phylum Arthropoda, the Subphylum Hexapoda and the Class Insecta.  They are in the Order Lepidoptera.  Like all insects they have 6 legs and 3 body parts.

Isabella Tiger Moth Caterpillar alias "Woolly Bear" - Pyrrharctia isabella

I've found several of these Woolly Bear Caterpillars in our garden lately.  They are still eating, but will probably find a protected spot to spend the winter soon.  They overwinter as caterpillars under bark or plants on the forest floor!  As the weather gets colder, they produce an anti-freeze in their tissues so they don't freeze solid over the winter!  Wow!  

Lesser Goldfinch  -  Carduelis psaltria

The Lesser Goldfinches are still eating the sunflower seeds in our garden!  It is always fun to watch them hang upside down and sideways in their quest for seeds!  Once the seeds are all eaten, they will probably migrate down to the foothills for the winter.

Anna's Hummingbirds - Calypte anna

The two Anna's Hummingbirds are still chasing each other, down at the feeder in our garden!  I'm surprised they are still here!  

Fox Sparrow - Passerella iliaca                        Pine Siskin - Carduelis pinus        

Fox Sparrows and Pine Siskins have been in our garden for the past month.

Fox Sparrows have migrated down from the higher elevations, where they spent their summer.  They feed on the ground in a scratch-and-hop method like Spotted Towhees.  Their diet consists of seeds, berries, plant buds and insects. They'll stick around until the colder weather arrives, and then migrate down to the foothills for winter.

Pine Siskins are named for their preference for pine, and other conifer, seeds.  They will hang from the tips of branches to glean seeds from the cones.  They also feed on the ground for a wide variety of grass and shrub seeds, garden vegetable leaves and stems, and insects.  Sap in tree trunk holes, that Sapsuckers have made, can also be part of their diet!  They will also ingest minerals along the sides of roads!  They range widely and erratically in response to seed crops.  In winter their migration is dependent upon cone crops.  Maybe they'll stay here all winter!  I'll have to keep watch!

   

          Osprey - Pandion haliaetus

River Update!

This week I watched an Osprey land on a branch right above the river!!!  Wow!  I hadn't seen one on the river in years!  I only got a few photos before it took off and flew upriver!  These amazing birds hunt for fish in the river.  When they spot a fish, they dive feet first into the water to catch it!  The pads on the soles of their feet are barbed and help grab slippery fish!  Ospreys are the only raptors that feed almost exclusively on live fish.  There are 80 different species of fresh and salt water fish that make up 99% of an Osprey's diet!  Right now Ospreys are migrating to South America for winter!  In its 15-20 year lifespan, an Osprey may migrate a total of 160,000 miles!!! 

Common Merganser (female) - Mergus merganser

I saw the Common Mergansers again, but this time the three juveniles 

were separate from the mother!  Pretty soon all of them will be migrating down 

to the Central Valley to spend the winter!

Common Merganser (juveniles) - Mergus merganser

American Dipper - Cinclus Mexicanus                  Water Striders - Gerridae sp.           

I've seen several American Dippers along the river this week.  

They are one of our year-round river residents!  

Their thick under-coat of downy feathers keeps them warm during winter!   

The Water Striders are still on the river!  The smaller ones are congregating together in large groups!  There was over 100 of them in the group I photographed!  I still haven't found out what species the smaller ones are, but I do think they are different than the larger ones. I'll keep you posted on how long they stick around! 

What kind of insect made this hive?

If you guessed that the insects in last week's photo were wasps, you're right!  Specifically, I think they are 

Black Jacket Wasps, not Yellow Jacket Wasps! 

What's the difference between Yellow Jacket Wasps 

and other wasps?  

Why do they show up in the fall?

So far, the year-round residents are probably going to be Steller's Jays, Spotted Towhees, and American Dippers.

What other birds do you think might stay all year?

What are the Bears up to these days?

Where are the deer?

How are those foxes?

Check back next week for the answers 

to these questions and more!

Your comments and questions are greatly appreciated!  

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com! 

or

Click on the comments just below, to post a comment!

  Thanks!

Too Busy!

Too Busy to Blog!  

Check back in a week!  

Thanks!

Signs of Fall

The first day of fall was last Friday, September 22nd.  Just down the street, a Sugar Maple has already started to change color!  The best fall colors happen after a spring and summer that are somewhat wet, followed by a sunny autumn with warm days and cool, but frostless, nights.

As the nights get longer in the fall, the transportation of chlorophyll from the leaf to the branch, and from the roots to the leaves becomes blocked. As the chlorophyll is blocked from the leaves, it disappears completely.

This lack of green chlorophyll allows the yellow (xanthophylls) and orange (carotenoids) pigments to be visible. The red and purple pigments (anthocyanins) are manufactured from the sugars that are trapped in the leaf. These pigments are what cause the vivid color changes in leaves!

So far we've had the perfect weather for vivid fall colors!  We just need a little more rain to keep the leaves from drying up!  Hopefully rain will be forecasted in the near future!

Black Bear - Ursus americanus

Black Bears

I finally saw a Black Bear!  A friend of mine had been chasing this bear away from his house, when I came across them!  It was a small to medium size bear, probably about a year old.  It climbed up a small tree and stayed for a while, but eventually climbed down and ran off!  Usually, Black Bears are active at night, so I was lucky to see this one during the day!  

The bears have been causing havoc in our neighborhood, dumping over trash cans, breaking into unoccupied sheds, trashing my neighbor's outdoor kitchen (her freezer AND refrigerator!), eating produce out of gardens, as well as climbing and breaking fruit trees and grapevines!  Sheesh!

During the Fall, Black Bears are busy eating as much as they can and building up a layer of fat to last them through the winter.  Black Bears are considered highly efficient hibernators.  They can exist in a dormant state without eating, drinking, or producing body wastes for up to 7.5 months!!!  Hibernation is a complicated process in mammals.  I found the following summary of hibernation at www.denali.org/denalis-natural-history/black-bear-hibernation/.

"Hibernation is the mechanism that black bears use to conserve energy and reduce their internal fires of metabolism. For a long time people thought that the bears slept through the winter in cozy dens and emerged in the spring fully charged.

However, far from being a long, uninterrupted sleep, hibernation consists of periods of sleep punctuated by periods of arousal. Sleep time is long during the dead of winter but is shorter at the beginning and end of the season. To prepare for this long season black bears feed ravenously from midsummer through the end of autumn, gleaning up to 20 thousand calories in a day. Bears are omnivores and will eat meat too, including ground squirrels, carrion and whatever they can find. By the end of autumn, a black bear will have added about 4 or 5 inches of body fat and more than doubled the insulation provided by its pelt.

As the bear enters hibernation, its metabolic processes such as body temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate are reduced. But bears do not lower the body temperature as much as once thought. Their hibernation temperature is around 88 degrees and waking temperature is 100 degrees F. This relatively high sleeping temperature allows black bears to become fully alert if aroused, perhaps to enable the bear to protect itself from predators and other dangers without unnecessarily taxing their energy reserves. Over the course of a hibernating season it is thought that black bears use approximately 4 thousand calories a day, which results in a weight loss of about 20 percent of it body weight by spring."  

WOW!!!  No wonder they've been eating everything they can!

Black Bear - Ursus americanus

Gray Squirrel -  Sciurus griseus

Gray Squirrel

I watched this Gray Squirrel peel and bury several Black Walnuts a few days ago.  Unlike Black Bears, they remain active in winter and forage for food daily.  They are called "scatter hoarders" as they stash food for winter in many different areas, instead of in one main area.

 Columbian Black-tailed Deer (left) - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus   

California Mule Deer (two on right) - Odocoileus hemionus californicus

Mule Deer

It's been confirmed that these deer are the same genus and species, but different subspecies!  I posted this photo on www.iNaturalist.org and got an immediate response!  Apparently they are both Mule Deer (Odocoileus hemionus) but different subspecies!  The obvious difference is the ear size and tail markings.  I'll try to get a photo of their tails the next time I see them!  I find it really interesting that they are associating with each other!  Mating season is coming up, and my neighbor saw 5 bucks walking together along the water ditch a few weeks ago!  Hopefully, I'll get a photo of them as well!

Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargentus

Gray Fox Update!

I've learned, through observation, that our local foxes like to sun themselves in the morning!  I got these photos two days ago around 9:30 in the morning, just after the sun had reached our canyon!  So beautiful!!

Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargenteus

I was also lucky to watch this Gray Fox stalk, pounce, and shake an old towel that a bear probably dropped!  It very slowly and cautiously approached the towel (dirty brown and fuzzy), then snapped it up and shook it lightning quick!  I'll bet it was surprised when the towel remained inert!  Curiosity satisfied, the fox returned to the sunny entrance to its den and proceeded to groom its fur!  WOW!!!  Wildlife in action!

Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargenteus

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis

River Update!

The Canada Geese are still living on the river!  There is a group of 6 of them that feed off the algae on the underwater rocks.  They mate for life, and maintain their family group throughout the year!  Several generations have raised their goslings in our neighborhood!  They'll be migrating down to the Central Valley, or further south, as the weather gets colder and temperatures drop!  I lovely their stateliness and elegant posture!

Common Merganser - Mergus merganser

Yahoo!  I saw the Common Merganser with her 3 ducklings yesterday!  The ducklings look full grown!  I am so happy that they have survived!!!  I wasn't so sure they would make it, with a Great Blue Heron and River Otters in the neighborhood!  Soon they will be flying down to the Central Valley, or the Southwest, to spend the winter!  

Rainbow Trout "Fry"- Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus

I found these tiny fish in a side-pool of the river this week.  The don't look much bigger than they were in July!  How long does it take for fish fry to mature?  I'll do some research this week and let you know what I find out!

Common Green Darner - Anax junius

These dragonflies are still zooming over the river in big groups!  My neighbor, who lives right by the river, had a lot of ladybugs show up in her yard this week.  When the sun warmed the ladybugs up enough to fly, dragonflies zoomed in and caught them in the air!  Most of the time the dragonflies dropped them, but some of them were eaten!  Wow!  I didn't know dragonflies ate ladybugs! 

     Jelly Fungus -  Tremellaceae                                    Conk - Polypore

It hasn't rained lately, and I haven't yet found any fungi on the forest floor.  I did, however, come across the fungi above while we were hiking in the Lakes Basin this week.  These fungi were growing on deadwood, and tree trunks, not on the forest floor!  The jelly fungus was about as big as my thumbnail, but the conk was about 18" wide!  Hopefully rain will come soon, and fungi will thrive!

What kind of insects are these?

If you guessed that the animal tracks pictured last week are Black Bear tracks, you're right!

 Are the ladybugs back yet?

What's happening in the Garden?

And what about those birds that are year-round residents?  

Check back next week for the answers 

to these questions and more!

Your comments and questions are greatly appreciated!  

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com! 

or

Click on the comments just below, to post a comment!

  Thanks!