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, 

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

Thanks!