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!
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