Dendroalsia Moss - Dendroalsia albietina
The recent rains have caused the moss, lichen, and fungi to flourish! The moss has turned from dry and tough to soft and cushiony. The brittle dry lichen has become springy and pliable. The fungi have at least doubled their population, and are popping up everywhere!
Moss is a non-flowering plant, that has no roots, no vascular system, and reproduces mainly through spores not seeds. There are approximately 12,000 species of moss in the world! It needs wet or moist conditions to grow. In the hot and dry summer, moss becomes dormant. Dendroalsia Moss (pictured) is the most commonly found species in our neighborhood. It grows on rocks, tree trunks and branches, deadwood, cement, and even fences!
Dendroalsia Moss (close-up) - Dendroalsia albietina
fruiticose lichen
Witch's Hair Lichen (left) - Alectoria sarmentosa
Wolf Lichen (bright apple green on right) - Letharia vulpina
Lichens!
Lichen, like moss, is a non-flowering plant, that has no roots nor vascular system, reproduces mainly through spores not seeds, and is dormant during the hot and dry summer. Unlike moss, lichen is a combination of a fungus and an algae or cyanobacterium, living together in a symbiotic relationship! The fungus forms the external shape of the lichen, and it lives off the sugars produced by the photosynthesis of the "housed" algae! Wow! There are about 17,000 species of lichen worldwide!
There are three main forms that lichens are grouped in, fruiticose, crustose, and foliose. The fruticose form (above) usually grows on shrubs and trees. It is multi-branched, and can be found growing either upright or hanging down.
crustose lichen - species unknown
Crustose lichens (above) grow on rocks and are more or less flat. They can come in a wide variety of colors including, apple green, rust, orange, yellow, black, white and gray. They are extremely slow-growing and long-lived! It's estimated that some of the crustose lichens found in the Arctic are approximately 8,600 years old!
foliose lichen - species unknown
Foliose lichen (above) usually grows on tree bark or rocks, and is distinguished by its "leafy" appearance. I think they kind of look like tiny blue-green kale plants!
Fruiticose and foliose lichens are slow growing like crustose lichen, but may only be a few hundred or a thousand years old!
Fruiticose and foliose lichens are slow growing like crustose lichen, but may only be a few hundred or a thousand years old!
Shaggy Mane (?) - Coprinus comatus Polypore (?) - species unknown
Fungi Update!
I found the Shaggy Mane mushroom (above left) just this week down near the bridge! The brown granular stuff on the bottom of the cap, is sand that was splashed up by the recent heavy rain! I'm not sure it's a Shaggy Mane, but the shape is right! I'll keep watching it and see how it matures!
The Polypore (above right) and the Lion's Mane (below) I found growing on different oak trees several years ago! Hopefully I'll find them again this year! Instead of gills, the underside of the Polypore has lots of pores that are housing the spores! The Lion's Mane has "teeth" instead of gills! The teeth are the slender white pointed appendages that form the fungus! I've only seen one of these in my lifetime!
Lion's Mane - Hericium erinaceus
Rock Creek high water
Rain Update!
This week it really poured for several days, making the creek and river
rise even more! The total rainfall for the week was 9.39", and more is on its way!
Anna's Hummingbird (male) - Calypte anna
Hummer News!
I couldn't believe it, but the Hummingbird down in our garden came back! He was gone during the heaviest rains, but showed up late one afternoon during a break in the storm! I am amazed that he made it! It had been REALLY pouring for days! Wow!
It's tough for tiny birds, like the Hummingbird, to stay warm. They have a higher surface-to-volume ratio and lose heat quicker than bigger birds. Small birds generally seek shelter from the weather more readily than larger birds. When perching in sheltered areas, they can enter a semi-dormant state or torpor, similar to when they're sleeping, and slow down their metabolism to conserve energy. It's been sunny for the past two days, and he hasn't shown up yet! Hopefully he's moved down to the foothills for the rest of winter!
Steller's Jay (foreground) - Cyanocitta stelleri
Spotted Towhee (background) - Pipilo maculatus
Project FeederWatch!
I've chosen to join Project FeederWatch this winter. To quote the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that runs the program, "The main goal of Project FeederWatch is to combine the interests of backyard bird watchers with the needs of ornithologists who study bird populations. By making simple, standardized counts of the birds in their yards and reporting them to the FeederWatch database, Feeder Watchers are contributing directly to the scientific understanding of bird populations."
FeederWatch just began last Saturday, November 11 and will end in April, 2018. They sent me a very informative pamphlet on how and when to take your counts, as well as information on birds, bird food, and bird feeders, etc. My job is to count the amount of birds, and their species, at my feeder for two days in a row. I can count them twice a day, or less, and once a week or less. The number I report to FeederWatch, is the highest number of birds seen at one time, per species.
So I decided to watch our feeder on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, in the morning and afternoon. The first birds to visit our feeder were 9 Band-tailed Pigeons! I was so surprised! I haven't seen them in months! They all flew off as soon as I came around the corner, so no photos to show you! Rats!
Spotted Towhee - Pipilo maculatus Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis
(both males)
Things settled down to a rather predictable group of visitors after the pigeons left! Steller's Jays are there first thing every morning, along with Dark-eyed Juncos, and a few Spotted Towhees! They all came rain or shine and ate every single seed! I found out that if I added more seeds toward the end of the day, any leftovers would be gone in the morning. Some critters ate them overnight!
Chickaree or Douglas Squirrel - Tamiasciurus douglasii
One super rainy day a Chickaree showed up at the feeder! He stayed out in the pouring rain for a couple of hours, eating and eating! It was so fun watching him! I was glad he found something to eat!
So my totals for this week's Feeder Watch are:
9 Band-tailed Pigeons
10 Dark-eyed Juncos
2 Spotted Towhees
6 Steller's Jays
If your interested in joining Project FeederWatch use this link,
www.feederwatch@cornell.edu! It's fun and you're helping birds! Yahoo!
Mule Deer - Odocoileus hemionus californicus
More Mammals!
My neighbors showed me this deer feeding right in their backyard! What a beautiful buck! I've seen him since then, down by our garden and across the street! He was eating grass, butterfly bush leaves, and the buds on plants today! I saw this female (below) down in the same area where I saw her before. She was pretty wet from all the heavy rainfall! Her young daughter was close behind her, but I missed getting a photo! They both looked really healthy!
Columbian Black-tailed Deer - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus
Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargenteus
I haven't seen that female fox down by our garden lately. She probably moved into an underground burrow, a hollow log or tree, or a den under a large rock. I hope I see her again soon! This young one was in our backyard several times during the day this week, eating up leftover sunflower seeds! I don't know if it's male or female, but it is super cute! It's probably one of that female fox's offspring!
Broad-footed Mole - Scapanus latimanus
I found this little dead mole on the Canyon Creek Trail yesterday, Friday. It was the first sunny day after a week of rain! I don't know why he died. Maybe he got flooded out in his underground home. His broad front feet looked like they'd be great for digging! I was amazed at how thick and dense his fur was! You can't see it, but his nose was quite long, and so were his whiskers! I've read that moles, because they're small, have to eat 70-100% of their body weight every day! They do this by eating underground insects, worms and occasionally seeds and plant bulbs. I was sad that he died, but felt lucky to be able to really look at him! If you come across a dead animal, it's a good idea to not touch it with your bare hands. You can just use a few sticks instead.
Striped Skunk - Mephitis mephitis Raccoon - Procyon lotor
The change in the weather has brought lots of hungry animals to our backyard, especially at night. They're eating the sunflower seeds that are leftover from this past spring and summer, when we were feeding lots of Grosbeaks. I took these flash photos of them, to discourage them from coming around. I don't think it worked. They're still showing up! The glowing white of their eyes is caused by the tapetum, or mirror-like layer behind their retinas, lighting up from the flash. Apparently, you can tell what kind of mammal is out there by the color their eyes reflect back. Camera flashes don't work, but a flashlight does. Apparently Mountain Lion eyes reflect back yellow-green! Deer eyes reflect back yellow! Skunk eyes reflect back amber. Black-tailed Jack Rabbits reflect back red! Fox eyes reflect back white! I'll have to try it with my flashlight!
What about those Woolly Bear caterpillars?
Did this last storm bring lots of snow?
How much longer are the leaves going to last?
How are the ladybugs doing?
What new fungi are going to pop up?
Where are those foxes living now?
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!
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Click on the comments just below, to post a comment!
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