Winter Weather at Last!

Western Gray Squirrel - Sciurus griseus

Winter weather finally arrived this week!  We got about 3" of snow in the past two days!  It was very wet snow at our elevation of 2500', but on the surrounding 4000' ridges the trees were heavily snow covered.  This is the first snowfall in my neighborhood this winter!  This bring our total precipitation to date at 26.82", still low for this time of year.  Last year, in the month of January alone, we received 34.30" of rain!  Hopefully the winter storms will keep coming, and put another drought year at bay.  

If you're interested in following the weather statistics, check out http://www.cnrfc.noaa.gov/ for all the info you need!

Douglas Squirrel or Chickaree  - Tamiasciurus douglasii

The Western Gray Squirrel (top) and the Chickaree (above) are frequent visitors to my bird feeding station.  They just love the sunflower seeds!  Normally I chase them off the feeder, but today I let them feast for a while in the rain and snow!  Chickarees usually live in abandoned woodpecker homes during the winter.  They have also been known to build nests underground, near food they have cached for winter.  In fall they will cut down lots of green pine cones and store them for the winter.  They also eat fungi, the cambium of conifers, twigs, sap, buds, leaves, acorns, nuts, and berries.   pine seeds make up large portion of their diet. Depending on the season, they also eat fungi, cambium of conifers, twigs, sap, leaves, buds, acorns and other nuts, mushrooms, fruits, and berries. From time to time, they also eat arthropods, birds eggs, and nestlings. In fall, Douglas squirrels cut green cones from the tops of trees and cache them in a damp place, so the seeds remain fresh to eat throughout the winter.  Theypine seeds make up large portion of their diet. Depending on the season, they also eat fungi, cambium of conifers, twigs, sap, leaves, buds, acorns and other nuts, mushrooms, fruits, and berries. From time to time, they also eat arthropods, birds eggs, and nestlings. In fall, Douglas squirrels cut green cones from the tops of trees and cache them in a damp place, so the seeds remain fresh to eat throughout the winter.In the spring they will build a cup-shaped nest, in the fork of a tree, out of twigs, mosses, lichen and shredded tree bark.  pine seeds make up large portion of their diet. Depending on the season, they also eat fungi, cambium of conifers, twigs, sap, leaves, buds, acorns and other nuts, mushrooms, fruits, and berries. From time to time, they also eat arthropods, birds eggs, and nestlings. In fall, Douglas squirrels cut green cones from the tops of trees and cache them in a damp place, so the seeds remain fresh to eat throughout the winter.pine seeds make up large portion of their diet. Depending on the season, they also eat fungi, cambium of conifers, twigs, sap, leaves, buds, acorns and other nuts, mushrooms, fruits, and berries. From time to time, they also eat arthropods, birds eggs, and nestlings. In fall, Douglas squirrels cut green cones from the tops of trees and cache them in a damp place, so the seeds remain fresh to eat throughout the winter.They, like the Western Gray Squirrel, are incredible acrobats.  Their hind legs are double jointed, which makes them able to climb up and down trees with ease!   

     Mule Deer - Odocoileus hemionus sp.

 Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargenteus                                Raccoon - Procyon lotor 

   

About 1.5" of heavy wet snow was on the ground on Thursday morning!  I went wandering in my neighborhood, and came across these tracks (above).  Of course there were fox tracks all over the place, but the deer tracks were a surprise!  I haven't seen a single deer in more than a month!  The raccoon tracks weren't numerous.  When I followed them, they usually ended in a blackberry thicket!   

I haven't seen any Raccoons because they're primarily nocturnal.  They have excellent hearing and night vision.  In winter, Raccoons live in a hollow log, an underground burrow, or a rock crevice.  They store fat for winter, about 1/3 of their body weight, but they do not hibernate.  If the weather is cold and snowy, or if food is limited, they may sleep for extended periods of time, and live off this stored fat.  They also eat acorns, insects, berries, rodents, roots, and tubers in winter!  They are skilled climbers and good but reluctant swimmers!  Their hair is not waterproof, so it weighs them down when they swim.  They are solitary creatures except during mating.  Only the females take care of the offspring.  The young will stay with or near their mother for their first winter.

Springtails - Hypogastrura nivicola

I took this photo of springtails up in the Lakes Basin a few weeks ago.  These tiny creatures, about 1/16 of an inch long, live in the decaying plant material on the forest floor. Scientists estimate there could be as many as 100,000 of these critters per square meter of ground!  Wow!  They eat fungi and decaying vegetation.  No one knows for sure, but they think that springtails come out onto the snow, because they are too crowded underneath!  They do extremely well in cold conditions.  They are called springtails, because they have a tail-like appendage, the furcula, which is used for jumping.  Usually the furcula is folded beneath the springtail's body, but when it is snapped against a surface, it flings the springtail into the air!!!  We watched them for a few minutes and they were indeed hopping all over the place! They weren't interested in us at all, but they did seem to be quite busy communicating with each other!

Evergreen & Deciduous Trees in Winter

Trees!

I've been reading a lot about trees lately, and how their lives are dependent upon underground fungal mycelium (right). This is the same fungal mycelium that produces mushrooms. Here's how it works. The fine hairs of the mycelium grow into the root tips of the tree. The mycelium takes sugars and carbohydrates from the host tree, but provides the tree with an underground fungal network. This network provides a nutrient exchange between trees, filters out heavy metals, and wards off bacteria as well as detrimental fungi! Trees communicate with each other via this network!!! They have found that a forest of trees is a community that protects its members! If one of the trees is "ill", other trees will send it water and nutrients through their roots and this network of mycelium!!  Wow!

The wooden cones and acorns above are the female part of the trees.  I couldn't find any female white fir cones, because they fall apart while attached to the top of the tree.

Here are six common evergreen trees that are found in my neighborhood.  They are the dominant trees here in the North Yuba River corridor.  They cover all the ridges and slopes that surround us.  Even though they are "evergreen" they do lose their leaves or needles over time, just not all at once like deciduous trees.  Healthy firs keep their needles for 10 years, pines keep them for 3 years.  Usually 1/4 of all conifer needles are lost annually.  In winter, conifers replace the fluids in their needles with an anti-freeze!  The needles also produce a thick layer of wax, to reduce transpiration.  Douglas Firs are NOT firs, they are Pseudotsuga, or false hemlocks, and are in the Pine family!  

The wooden cones featured in each photo above are the female cones. 

I couldn't find any male pollen cones, except for the Incense Cedar.

Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargenteus

I've seen the fox several times since last week!  Hopefully she's a female and will be making a den near our garden this year.  That would be wonderful to watch her with her kits!  She stayed out of sight during the rainy and snowy weather, but I did find some of her poop (right).  My sister suggested that the photo is of a  Halloween mask, but actually it's a close-up of hairy, dried, fox poop!  The teeth in the picture are super small, only about 1/4" long!  I'm thinking they might be a woodrat's teeth, but I don't know for sure.  I didn't touch the poop with my bare hands, as animal feces can contain parasites.

      American Robin - Turdus migratorius     Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Regulus calendula

Project FeederWatch Update

There are about 16 Steller's Jays, 29 Dark-eyed Juncos, and 1 Song Sparrow that are at my feeder daily.  This week 1 American Robin (above left) showed up, a day before the snow fell!  What a surprise!  Last year, the first Robin I saw arrived in the end of February.  I also remember seeing several small flocks of robins last February.  I'm not sure if this robin is a month early, or if I just didn't notice them last January.  I'll keep watch and see what happens!

I also saw a Ruby-crowned Kinglet (above right) before the snow fell!  I thought they had all left for the winter!  Warmer weather is predicted for this coming week.  I wonder what other birds might arrive?  

What kind of fungi is this?  

So the opposite of "evergreen" is NOT "nevergreen" (another of my sister's suggestions!), it's "deciduous"!

In proportion to their body size, Flamingos have the longest legs and the Black-necked Stilts have the second longest legs, in the bird world!

Where are those deer that left the tracks?

What other birds are going to show up?

Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!

Your comments & questions are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com, 

or

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

Thanks!

Wetlands & Wildlife

Black-necked Stilt - Himantopus mexicanus 

 Gray Lodge Wildlife Refuge 2018

Last Friday, we made our annual drive down to the Gray Lodge Wildlife Refuge in the Central Valley. It is one of the refuges in the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex. It's about a 2 hour drive, but it is well worth it! Birds by the thousands overwinter in this complex! It is part of the Pacific Flyway that billions of birds travel twice a year! The Flyway spans from northern Alaska to Patagonia! As Wikipedia states, "Every migratory bird travels all or some of this distance, following food sources, heading to breeding grounds, or traveling to overwintering sites." 

The Black-necked Stilt pictured above is probably a year-round resident at Gray Lodge. It eats small fish, tadpoles, brine flies, brine shrimp, water boatmen, crawfish, and beetles. I love to watch their slow and delicate movement along the shore! 

Snow Geese - Chen caerulescens

Gray Lodge Wildlife Refuge 2011

You never know what birds will be present at the refuge, as it changes year to year.  Back in 2011 there were thousands of Snow Geese constantly flying over and landing in the refuge (photo above)  This year there were lots of ducks and shorebirds, but not many Snow Geese on the water!  We did hear and see many groups of them flying overhead (photo below)!  There's approximately 3 miles of trails you can walk on, as well as a 3.5 mile loop drive at Gray Lodge Wildlife Refuge.  The Sutter Buttes are prominently on view from the refuge, and create a dramatic background.  On weekdays you can often have the refuge to yourself!  I highly recommend visiting it in the next month or so, before the birds head back to their breeding grounds!

Snow Geese - Chen caerulescens

Gray Lodge Wildlife Refuge 2018

Snow Geese mate for life.  They breed on Canadian and North Alaskan tundra, from the arctic to the subarctic!  Their winters are spent in the fields and wetlands of California's Central Valley.  During the day they feed on grain stubble, willows, sedges, rushes, horsetails, forbs, shrubs, and grasses in the local fields.  They will eat entire plants including its roots or tubers!  At night they roost on water.  The sound of thousands of these birds calling was a noisy, joyous cacophany that surrounded us as we walked in the refuge! 

   

Sandhill Cranes - Antigone canadensis

Gray Lodge Wildlife Refuge 2018

We also saw and heard several groups of Sandhill Cranes flying overhead!  I love their distinctive, loud, rubbery honks!  It's a familiar sound to us, as they migrate over our neighborhood in spring and fall!  These cranes overwinter in California's Central Valley.  During the day they feed in fields on cultivated grains, small vertebrates and invertebrates, roots, seeds and berries.  At night they usually roost in shallow lakes and rivers.  In the spring, they will return to their breeding grounds in southeastern Oregon, northeastern California, and northwestern Nevada.  Usually about 6 pairs breed and nest in Sierra Valley, about an hour east of my neighborhood!  They have an elaborate courtship dance and display which I've never seen!  Hopefully, I'll get over to Sierra Valley early this spring!

Snow Geese (and others) - Chen caerulescens

Sutter National Wildlife Refuge - 2012

I've visited two other refuges within the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge Complex.  Sutter National Wildlife Refuge (above) is mainly used for hunting, but you can hike in the refuge beginning on February 15, when hunting season is over.  I've never done any hiking, but the day I drove out to take a look, in January, there were thousands of Snow Geese at the refuge!  Lovely!

      

Snow Geese - Chen caerulescens    Ross's Geese - Chen Rossii    

Greater White-fronted Geese - Anser Albifrons 

Colusa National Wildlife Refuge 2014

At the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge, there is a great wooden platform for bird watchers.  It is just a little higher than the water level, and the birds are RIGHT there!   At the other two refuges, the birds are a good distance away. The three species of geese pictured above, all breed in the Arctic and spend their winters in California's Central Valley.  The total distance of their round-trip migration is 5,000 miles!  Wow!!!  The Greater White-fronted Geese are the first to arrive and the last to leave.  They all feed on grasses, grains, seeds, sedges and aquatic plants.  The Ross's Geese and the Snow Geese migrate together.  The Ross's Geese are the smaller white ones, without the black gap on their bills.  This refuge has a drive-through loop, that we once saw a river otter on, but unfortunately no hiking trails till after the hunting season. 

For more information on the Sacramento National Wildlife Complex, 

visit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife website at 

https://www.fws.gov/refuge/sacramento/

Snow Geese - Chen caerulescens 

Dusk at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge 2014

Gray Fox - Urocyon cineroargentus

Mammal Update!

I finally saw the fox near our garden today!  We had 1.5" of rain yesterday, so she was out in the intermittent sun, warming up!  How healthy she looks!  I think it's a female, but I'm not sure.  Male foxes are slightly larger than females.  I've never seen two adults together, to compare sizes.   Foxes are usually solitary except during mating season, which begins in January and lasts until the end of February.  Foxes do not mate for life, but they are usually monogamous.  Approximately two months after mating occurs, 1-7 kits are born.  The average number of kits is 4.  The kits (or cubs, or pups) are weaned 2-6 weeks after birth.  The female fox (or vixen) is the one that finds the den.  The male fox (or dog, or tod, or reynard) is the main hunter and provider of food, once the kits are born.  The male fox also teaches the kits how to hunt!  After 10 months, the kits will be sexually mature and leave the family unit.  

I did see a fox with 2 kits last year, near our garden.  If this is the same fox, she is on her own now.  I haven't seen any other foxes around.  Hopefully, she'll have a successful mating season again this year, and raise some more kits!  

How lucky to have seen her again!  

Western Gray Squirrel - Sciurus griseus

This Western Gray Squirrel is quite an acrobat!  I've watched it climbing, running and leaping through trees all year long!  Its large fluffy tail is used for balance and stability while it races through the tree tops!  Its tail is also used as an umbrella, sunshade, blanket, or even for camouflage!  Squirrels will also use their tail to cushion their landing, if they fall from a tree!  They can also rotate their hind feet 180° backwards, when climbing head-first down a tree trunk!  Take some time to watch these skilled acrobats!  They are truly amazing! 

In winter, Gray Squirrels forage on the ground for acorns, pine seeds, and fungi.  They eat over 25 species of fungi!  A few mushrooms have started to pop up since the recent rains.  One that I found yesterday, had been chewed on by some critter!  I learned at the Fungi Foray that there are lots of animals that eat fungi, including; Northern Flying Squirrels, Trowbridge Shrews, Deer Mice, Bushy-tailed Woodrats, Douglas Squirrels and Mule Deer! Wow!

 Black Bear - Ursus americanus      Chickaree or Douglas Squirrel - Tamiasciurus douglasii  

This week I saw a Black Bear around 4:30 pm, on Hwy. 49, about 15 miles from our home!  Unfortunately, the bear was only visible for a few seconds, so I didn't get a good photo!  What a surprise it was to see it!  Bears don't truly hibernate, and are known to become active in winter if the weather is warm.  Hopefully, this last bit of rainy weather made the bear go back to its den.  It would be hard for a bear to find enough food to eat at this time of year!  I hope the storms keep coming!

    

Last week I asked if there were any Chickarees around.  I've seen two of them on our property.  One lives near our house, the other one is down by our garden.  They are busy eating acorns, fungi, tree buds, and pine seeds, as well as the sunflower seeds at the bird feeder!  They are also incredible acrobats, like the Western Gray Squirrel!  They can run, climb and jump with incredible speed!  Their hind legs are double jointed which helps in their acrobatic maneuvers!

Steller's Jay - Cyanocitta stellerii

Clever Corvids!

Steller's Jays and Common Ravens are both in the Corvid or Crow family of birds.  
Corvids are considered the smartest birds in the bird world, and Ravens are considered the smartest of them all!  There have been many studies done on corvid behavior.  Thanks to these studies we now know that corvids can solve problems, recognize themselves, recognize human faces, use tools, mimic a wide variety of sounds and voices, play and perform pranks, and memorize exactly where their food is stored!  They also have a strong sense of family and will mob anything or anyone that is harmful to one of their own.  They will adopt other corvid babies (even a different species), and they mourn their dead!  Wow!

We have about 15 Steller's Jays and one pair of Common Ravens in our neighborhood.  They all stay here year-round, which is an amazing feat in its self!  The highway provides carrion for the Ravens and Jays, and my bird feeder seems to be just what the Steller's Jays need to fill out their diet!  Jays and Ravens will also eat native seeds, fruit, small mammals, fish, garbage, pet food, and insects in season.  

Both Ravens and Jays talk a lot.  I love to hear the croaking calls of the two local Ravens, and the raspy, squawky conversations of the Jays!  I can recognize one particular call of the Jays that happens when a storm is coming to its end.  It can be raining or snowing, but all of a sudden the Jays will start calling to each other in a particular voice, and sure enough the storm ends within 5 minutes or less!!!  I've heard and witnessed this many times!  They can probably sense 100's of things, that we don't even notice!  Jays are also super aware and observant of anything going on in the neighborhood!  I've seen them dig up walnuts that a squirrel buried, just a few seconds after the squirrel left!  Amazing!

Common Raven - Corvus corax

Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis

Raptor!

A raptor is a bird of prey.  I saw this Red-tailed Hawk perched near an open field in my neighborhood. He was looking for live prey to eat, such as gophers, rabbits, voles, mice, wood rats, rabbits, snowshoe hares, jackrabbits, and ground squirrels.  They will also eat largish birds, such as quail, as well as snakes and lizards in season.  Red-tails do not hunt in the forest, they prefer open habitats, such as grassy fields.  They kill prey by using the blunt force of a direct dive, along with powerful legs and talons.

Red-tailed Hawks are the most commonly seen hawks in North America.  They are large birds with a body length of 17"- 22", a wingspan of 45"- 52", and a weight of 24-45 oz. oz! They are here year-round, as long as they can find enough food!  This warm winter has probably made it easier for them to survive!  

Salmon Lake and the Sierra Buttes - January 2018

Lakes Basin Update!

Last week, I also went for a hike up at Salmon Lake in the Lakes Basin.  There was hardly any snow!  We drove right to the lake.  The forecast is for snow these next few days, so I really hope we get some.  I'll keep you posted!

These little orange-brown pods are the male pollen cones 

of an Incense Cedar Tree!

Next week I'll talk about...

How many kinds of evergreen trees are in my neighborhood?

What is the opposite of "evergreen" (in trees)? 

What the heck is this? 

Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!

Your comments & questions are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com, 

or

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

Thanks!

Rain & the River!

For almost the whole month of December we've had sunny, warm, and dry weather! The river was incredibly clear and a beautiful glass green in color! I spent many hours on the river photographing! How lucky to have the time to linger and explore!

The weather has changed, and in the past 10 days we got a series of rainstorms that dropped a total of 4.5" of rain!  The river has risen a good six inches, in places, in the last 24 hours, and its raining more right now.  The green clarity of the river has diminished (below right) but, we are all relieved that the winter storms have returned to our area!  Fingers crossed that they keep coming!

A section of the North Yuba River - 1/7/18        Same section after the rain - 1/9/18

American Dipper - Cinclus mexicanus

More year-round Residents!

Every morning when I take our dog for a walk along the North Yuba River, I see this lone American Dipper busily diving underwater for food!  With a heavy coat of oil on their outer feathers coupled with a dense coat of downy feathers underneath, Dippers can tolerate the frigid winter river.  As they dive under the water, special scales slide to cover their nostrils and nictitating membranes cover their eyes!  The scales keep water out of the Dipper's nose, and the membranes make it possible for it to see underwater.  They eat aquatic insects and larvae as well as tiny fish.  They have powerful legs, long toes (NOT webbed) and streamlined bodies that makes walking on underwater rocks, in swift currents, possible.  They also swim underwater using their wings like flippers and their tail like a rudder.  They live here year-round, because our river doesn't freeze.  They are North America's only aquatic songbird, and are truly amazing to watch!  They were John Muir's favorite bird!

Common Mergansers - Mergus merganser

I got this photo of Common Mergansers a week ago!  They were in a loose group of eight males and females, and were floating down the river!   I was surprised to see them!  Apparently, some Common Mergansers stay at middle to high elevations year-round, while most migrate down to low elevation lakes, rivers, and reservoirs for the winter.  Mergansers are mainly fish eaters in winter, and need clear water to catch their prey.  They have serrated "teeth-like" projections on their bills, that makes them able to grasp slippery fish!  They can stay underwater for up to 2 minutes, but usually stay about 30 seconds.  A few winters ago, when the river was clear, I was lucky enough to watch them swim underwater!  It was amazing!!!  I wonder if some of these Mergansers were the ones I watched grow up this year (photos below)!  That would be cool!

Common Mergansers - female & juveniles - Mergus merganser

Canada Geese - Branta canadensis

These Canada Geese showed up last month and they're still here!  Usually they migrate to lower elevations in winter, but due to the warm weather they've stayed.  Canada Geese usually stay in family groups year-round, so these 4 geese are probably related.  In winter they feed on the ground, eating mainly grasses and sedges. If the weather stays mild, do you think they might become year-round residents?  We'll just have to wait and see! 

Western Bluebird - Sialia mexicana

I photographed this Western Bluebird in a large open field, up by the cemetery.  It's the same area where I saw a group of five Bluebirds earlier this winter.  I only saw this one male, but I was happy to see him.  His colors are so striking!  Bluebirds like to live on the edge of open meadow areas, where they can hunt for insects.  There were lots of bugs flying around in December, due to the unusually warm weather, so that's probably what he was looking for!  I photographed these insects (below) the same week, but have no idea what they are.  Since then the temperature has cooled off, insects aren't flying around anymore, and the Bluebirds have gone back to eating berries.  Will he stay here all winter?  I'll keep watching!

Unknown insects in December!

Columbian Black-tailed Deer - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

Mammal Update!

I photographed this deer about a month ago and that's the last time I saw any deer in my neighborhood!  I've looked for them in the cemetery, along the river, along the water ditch, and on my neighbor's property, but they aren't there!  They must have migrated to a new area to forage.  In winter, deer mainly forage on the growing tips of young trees and shrubs, as well as acorns and berries.  They will also eat grass, but it is usually only 11-26% of their diet during winter.  Deer do not have upper incisors or canine teeth.  They cannot nip off buds of trees.  They have to press the twig between their upper hard palate and their bottom teeth, and jerk their heads up to tear it free!  Deer are ruminants, and have four stomachs in which plant material ferments before it is digested!  Deer will regurgitate this fermented material, re-chew it, and re-swallow it!  Wow!  

Western Gray Squirrel - Sciurus griseus

This Western Gray Squirrel is a frequent visitor to my bird feeding station.  Everyday it cautiously climbs onto the garden fence and makes its way to the sunflower seeds.  Once on the feeding station, it will proceed to eat the seeds rapidly, one after another.  It is very wary of me, and zips away if I get too close.  It is probably living in a hollow log or limb nearby, or even in a nest up in a tree.  In winter, they will cover a nest with a dome of twigs, leaves and grass, which protects them from stormy weather.

I have only seen glimpses of the fox that used to live near our garden.  She has obviously moved to a warmer, drier area for the winter.  I do miss seeing her and her two young foxes!  Hopefully, I'll see them again in the near future!

Waterfowl along Hwy. 99

 Central Valley Wetlands

Over the holidays I traveled to San Francisco to visit my family and  friends!  On the way there (and back!) I was amazed at the number of birds there were in the irrigated fields along Hwy. 99!!  I stopped briefly to get a few photographs and was greeted by a LOUD cacophony of honks and bird calls!  It was LOVELY!  Immediately a large group of Snow Geese flew in and landed in the crowd of waterfowl that was already there!  There were hundreds perhaps even thousands of birds there!  Tundra Swans, Pintails, Mallards, and White-faced Ibis were a few of the common ones I saw!  I'm going to go back down there this month and spend a whole day bird watching!  I'll post what I see!  

Tundra Swans - Cygnus columbianus

These Tundra Swans have flown down from the high Arctic, where they breed, to spend the winter in California's Central Valley.  They are large birds weighing in at 16 lbs, and with a wingspan of 7'!!!  They mainly feed on the leaves, stems, and tubers of aquatic plants, but will also eat the seeds and shoots of rice and other grains.  They will be here for a few months before they had up north again.  Their round-trip journey is a total of 5,000 miles long!  Wow!!!  

A Not-so-Full Moon in January!

  We had SUCH a bright  moon on the nights of January 1-3!  It was SO bright our neighborhood was totally lit up!  It would have been a great night to be out wandering and watching for critters, but it was too cold!  It turns out that it was a "Supermoon", or in other words, "a full moon while at its closest orbit to earth."  The next full moon is on January 31st, but it sets early and their will be a full lunar eclipse that same night before it sets!  I'll have to check that out!  I think I'll spend the night out a few days before the lunar eclipse, and watch for animals!!  Should be fun!

What are these little orange-brown pods?  

What kind of plant are they growing on?  

How many kinds of evergreen trees are in my neighborhood?

What is the opposite of "evergreen" (in trees)?

Are there any Chickarees around?

Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!

Your comments & questions are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com, 

or

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

Thanks!