Bullock's Orioles Depart!

Bullock's Oriole (female) - Icterus bullockii

Bullock's Orioles nested in several different areas of my neighborhood this year. I spotted this beautiful female (above) just yesterday morning, near the cemetery! She will be departing soon for her winter residence in southern Mexico. Using the stars and land forms for navigation, Bullock's Orioles migrate at night! On their way south they will stop to molt for 70-80 days in areas where the Mexican monsoon occurs, such as New Mexico, parts of Texas, and northern Mexico. The actual molting takes about 47 days! Molting is the shedding of old feathers to make way for new ones. Most birds do not molt all their feathers at once. Molting usually occurs across the bird's body in a symmetrical pattern, one section at a time. Once the orioles' molt has completed, they will continue their migration south.

Bullock's Oriole (female adult) - Icterus bullockii - Bullock's Oriole (fledgling)

An Oriole Tale!

  Here is a summary of observations from this past nesting season, 

at a particular Bullock's Oriole nest near our home!

 In the middle of May, a pair of adult Orioles began making a nest in a tree near our home.  Last year, a pair of orioles nested in the same tree!  (Could they possibly be the same pair from last year?  That would be amazing!!!)  They worked on the nest for almost two weeks.  Unfortunately, the nest was abandoned near completion because (I'm guessing) the fishing line they had used was all broken!  The line was probably too old and brittle to re-use.  I didn't see the two adult orioles together again after the nest was abandoned!  However, about a week later I noticed a pair of orioles flying in and out of the same tree!  At first I thought they were both female orioles, as neither one had the bright orange-red head of an adult male, but later realized one was a first-year male.  They flew around together for a week or more gathering nesting material, and built a new nest in the same tree!  The female then began incubating her eggs.  A little more than a week later, I noticed her (above left) flying back and forth to her nest with insects for her nestlings!  I did not see the first-year male helping her feed the nestlings.  (Did he leave?  Was he injured?)  After almost two weeks I heard a lot of chirping and chattering coming from the nest one day!  I tried taking pictures to see what was going on, and luckily got a photo of the nestling (above right)!!!  Yahoo!!!  Then all of a sudden the nestling flew off and the female followed it!  WOW!!!  Neither one of them has been back since then, so hopefully they are on their way south!  I really hope the female returns again next year!  That would be wonderful!

Yellow-billed Magpie - Pica nuttalli

An Unexpected Visitor!

(all 3 photos are of the same bird)

For the past 3 weeks a Yellow-billed Magpie has been in our neighborhood!  These birds are RARELY seen in our area.  They are endemic to California, but are usually found west of the Sierra Nevada, in the foothills, central valley, and in the valleys of the Coast Range south of San Francisco.  They are year-round residents, and do not migrate outside of California.  Ground-dwelling insects, small mammals, grains, acorns, carrion, and berries are the main components of their diet.  They will also eat dog food and scavenge at compost piles.  They are in the corvid family of birds.  Typically they live in colonies, sometimes numbering over 800 birds in total!  

I have no idea why this Magpie is visiting us!  Apparently it's finding enough to eat!  I first noticed it because of its LOUD varying calls!  It is also quite large, with a wingspan of 25" and a body length of 19".  It seems to cause a stir among the Steller's Jays, which are also corvids.  They squawk loudly and act agitated whenever the Magpie is around.  I'll keep watch and see if it sticks around!  What a treat it is to see this large, strikingly feathered bird!  

Yellow-billed Magpie - Pica nuttalli

Western Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly - Fritillary Butterfly - Tiger Moth

Papilio rutilus rutilus - Speyeria sp. - Spilosoma sp.

Pollinators!

Our garden has lots of butterflies and moths busy pollinating the flowers right now.  They are also busy mating!  Most butterflies go through several generations in a season.  An adult butterfly usually only lives for 2-6 weeks.  The White-lined Sphinx Moths (below) finally showed up!  Last year they showed up early, when the Bleeding Heart flowers were blooming in April!  I've only seen a few of them.  Last year there were lots more of them flying around.  I'll have to do some research and find out what affects their populations.

White-lined Sphinx Moth - Hyles lineata

North Yuba River

July 2018 - July 2017

Hot and Smoky!

We have a lot of smoke in our area from some of the fires in California.  It has also been quite hot, with temperatures in the mid 90's.  It is super dry everywhere. Next week the temperature is supposed to drop down into the 80's.  Let's hope the winds die down as well, and rain comes in the not too distant future.  Be safe.  Be careful!

Here's a song I wrote one drought year.  My friends and I like to sing it to encourage the rains to fall!  Enjoy!

Rain, rain, come on down.

Come and quench this thirsty ground.

Come and let wet smells abound.

Fill the air with a joyful sound!

                                   (repeat)

Rufous Hummingbird  

Selasphorus rufus 

Hummingbirds!

 There are so many hummingbirds at our feeders!  They appear to be mostly juveniles.  I think most of them are Rufous and Anna's Hummingbirds.  It's just a delight to watch them, especially when the Rufous hummers fan out their tail feathers!  So beautiful!

Anna's Hummingbirds & Rufous Hummingbirds 

(juveniles)

Calypte anna - Selasphorus rufus

What is making the coppery glitter on the river?

How are the Hairy Woodpeckers doing?

What are the bugs on the left?  The bugs on the right are not alive!

They are Stonefly exuvia!  More on that later!

What was different about the last full moon?

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

If all of a sudden you haven't been getting email notices of my blog being published, just sign up again on my blog.  I don't know why you got "unsubscribed".  It's some kind of problem with Blogspot.com and/or FeedBurner.com.  I apologize for this glitch!

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com

The Heat of Summer

North Yuba River - Summer

It's been really HOT!  Temperatures have been in the mid 90's!  Luckily, smoke from distant fires has been minimal and the skies have been clear.  When it's this hot, it's time to go to the river!  The river is down, but it's perfect for swimming.  This week the water was 72 degrees!  I have spent many hours at the river since I came back from my vacation!  I truly live in paradise!  

Twelve-spotted Skimmer (dragonfly) - Libellula pulchella 

There are several different species of numerous dragonflies hovering over the river these days.  Dragonflies spend their youth as underwater nymphs.  After living underwater for months, or in some cases years, the nymphs emerge from the water and climb up a nearby plant stem.  As they dry out, their exuvia (skin) splits open along their back and they emerge out as adults.  It then takes several hours for the adult dragonfly to straighten its wings, dry out, and take to flight.  Adult dragonflies catch and eat insect prey with their feet, while flying.  The adults usually only live for a week or two.  During those two weeks they will mate.  The females will then lay batches of hundreds of eggs in plant stems, or leaves, or rotten wood, or mud that is close to the surface of water, or in water!  The eggs hatch into nymphs in 2-5 weeks, or the following Spring.  As nymphs, they will prey on live aquatic insects, fish, and even other nymphs!

Mallard (female) - Anas platyrhynchos

River Birds!

I watched this female Mallard dabble, swim, sleep and preen along the river one afternoon!  I didn't seen any other Mallards in the area, and she is the first one I've ever seen on the river!  I was amazed at the detail and complexity of her feathers.  So beautiful!  I'll go back to the same area in a few days and see if she's still around!

Mallard (female) - Anas platyrhynchos

Common Merganser (female) - Mergus merganser

Yesterday morning, I went down to the river early and watched a female Merganser and her ducklings wake up!  The sun was just starting to shine on the gravel bar they were sleeping on.  At first, the group of ducklings looked like a dark brown fuzzy mound.  As the sun warmed them up, they stood up and stretched, scratched, and walked over to their mom.  I'm pretty sure this is the same female Merganser and ducklings, that I photographed a month ago.  The ducklings are a lot bigger now!  I was happy to see that she still had 6 ducklings.  Many ducklings don't survive and are eaten by herons, foxes, snakes, and River Otters!

Common Merganser ducklings - Mergus merganser

Eventually they all went into the river and started hunting for food under the surface of the water, such as aquatic insects and small fish.  I watched them for a total of 15 minutes!  How lucky I was to happen upon them at just the right time!

Common Merganser female with ducklings - Mergus merganser 

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

Mammal Update!

My neighbors have seen lots of animal activity this week!  Just down the street a Mountain Lion killed a deer one night!  A Black Bear has been seen eating green apples!  Groups of bucks have been seen grazing early in the morning.  I haven't seen the bear or the Mountain Lion, but I have seen several bucks cruising the neighborhood.  The Chickaree is still busy feasting on bird seed.  I also spotted a fox peaking through the willows!  Maybe I'll get lucky and see a River Otter soon!     

     Chickaree - Tamiasciurus douglasii       Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargenteus

Yellow-bellied Marmot (adult) - Marmota flaviventris

Yosemite!

Last week we were on vacation in Yosemite!  We did several day-hikes in the Tuolumne Meadows/Tioga Pass area.  On one hike we ended up at a beautiful unnamed alpine lake at 10,439' in elevation!  The lake had a lovely sandy beach and incredible views of the surrounding peaks.  Although it was smokey, from the wildfire near El Portal, CA, it was still gorgeous.  Of course we had to jump into the clear cool lake water!  It was heavenly!  We also saw several Yellow-bellied Marmots near the lake! 

Yellow-bellied MarmotsYellow-bellied marmots inhabit vegetated fortified slopes or rock outcrops in meadows, which serve as support for the burrows that they reside in, as well as sunning and observation posts. The main entrance of burrow, which they dig themselves, is usually about 0.6 m deep into the ground, and extends about 3.8 to 4.4 m horizontally into the hillside. Many short tunnels branch from main passageway, sometimes connecting to other burrows. Burrows stay relatively stable and thus serve as preferable places to raise young, hibernate, and hide from potential predators. Burrow availability may affect marmot distribution, as well as visibility and safety from predators. Most yellow-bellied marmots occur around 2000 m in elevation. usually live above 6,000' in elevation, in rocky talus slopes near vegetated meadows. They dig underground tunnels, with many side passages, in which they raise their young, hibernate, and hide from predators.  Adults range in size from 18.5"-27.56" in length, and weigh 3.5-11.5 lbs.  Most marmots live colonially, but will also live singly or in pairs.  All males and most females leave their communal burrow after their first year.  Marmots are herbivores, and eat mainly flowers, grass, shrubs, and seeds.  In the Fall, they put on a layer of fat that sustains them through hibernation.  Hibernation usually lasts from September through May, depending upon the weather.  During hibernation, young marmots will lose up to 50% of their body fat!  There is only one breeding season per year, which starts two weeks after they wake up from hibernation.  The females give birth to 3-8 pups, after a 30 day gestation period.  The main predators of marmots are coyotes, followed by badgers, martens, bears, and Golden Eagles!

  

Pacific Onion - Allium validum                          Fireweed - Epilobium angustifolium

Alpine Lily & Monkshood - Lilium parvum & Aconitum columbianum

We also explored Lundy Canyon near Lee Vining.  There were more wildflowers there than in any area of the Sierra Nevada that I have seen!  The trail roughly follows the creek bed for several miles, and ends at a beautiful waterfall.  We were astounded by the beautiful Aspen groves, thousands of wildflowers, grassy meadows, the clear-water creek, and the surrounding gorgeous metamorphic canyon!   Not only the abundance of wildflowers was amazing, but the height of some of them was astounding!  We saw larkspurs taller than ourselves, and monkshoods were commonly 4' tall! 

Cow Parsnip - Heracleum lanatum       Rangers' Buttons - Sphenosciadium capitellatum

Paintbrush & Sulphur Buckwheat - Castilleja sp. & Eriogonum umbellatum

Mountain Larkspur - Delphinium glaucum             Monkshood - Aconitum columbianum

Little Elephant Head - Pedicularis attolens

Red-breasted Sapsuckers - Sphyrapicus ruber

(juvenile - female - juvenile)

The campground where we stayed was a haven for woodpeckers!  One morning I was out bird watching and the Red-breasted Sapsucker above landed on a post with a metal sign, about 10' from where I was standing!  She proceeded to hammer on the metal sign with her bill, and created quite a racket!  Within a minute three juvenile Red-breasted Sapsuckers landed on nearby tree trunks!  Wow!!!  I have no idea if she was "calling" them in, but I felt so thrilled to see them all so closely!

White-headed Woodpecker - Picoides albolarvatus               Clark's Nutcracker - Nucifraga columbiana

Black-crowned Night-Heron - Nycticorax nycticorax

I also saw a White-headed Woodpecker in the campground, a Black-crowned Night-Heron in Lundy Canyon, and several Clark's Nutcrackers in the higher elevations!  I bought a new camera last week, and was thrilled to get these photos with my new 83X Optical Zoom!

White-headed Woodpeckers live year-round in coniferous forests between 2,000'-7,500' in elevation.  They feed mainly on pine seeds and insects.  They nest in the trunks of dead pine or cedar trees, usually approximately 8' off the ground!  We watched a pair of these woodpeckers forage on the pollen cones of a pine tree near our campground.  They must have been eating insects, as they are not known to eat pollen!  I don't see many of these woodpeckers in the Lakes Basin near my home.  It was a real treat to watch them around our camp!

Black-crowned Night-Herons usually forage at night and in the twilight hours.  They hold still and watch for prey in ponds, and streams.  Fish, snakes, crayfish, aquatic insects, and other invertebrates are their prey.  Usually these herons live in large colonies.  We were so lucky to watch this single heron during the day, on a beaver pond in Lundy Canyon! 

Clark's Nutcrackers live year-round around at 7,500'-9,500' in elevation in the Sierra Nevada.  They are altitudinal migrants.  They spend spring and summer in the higher elevations and move to the lower elevations in the fall.  They will cache 1,000's of pine seeds, usually whitebark, pinyon, and Jeffrey pine, to live on during the winter.  They have a sublingual pouch at the base of their tongue, that can hold up to 150 seeds, which is used to transport seeds to caches!  It is estimated that one nutcracker alone can store 22,000 to 33,000 seeds in 7,500 different locations!!!  These birds have an incredible memory, and have been know to dig down through 4' of snow to get to a cache of seeds! WOW!!!

How are the Hairy Woodpeckers doing?

What's happening at the Bullock's Oriole nest?

The conical pits in the sand (pictured 2 weeks ago) were made by Antlions.

The Northern Flicker (pictured 2 weeks ago) is classified as a woodpecker.

I have not yet figured out what the two birds (pictured 2 weeks ago) are, but I will.

What kind of insects are these?

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

If all of a sudden you haven't been getting email notices of my blog being published, just sign up again on my blog.  I don't know why you got "unsubscribed".  It's some kind of problem with Blogspot.com and/or FeedBurner.com.  I apologize for this glitch!

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com

On Vacation!

I'm on vacation this week, so no time to blog! 

Check back this coming Sunday

for the latest natural history news 

from my neighborhood!

Thanks!

Hot & Smoky!

This week temperatures soared into the high 90's, and stayed there for several days! It was so HOT, but it cooled down to the mid 80's yesterday! We also had smoke from the Lake Berryessa Fire, filling up the No.Yuba River Canyon. Luckily the smoke comes and goes, depending on the wind direction. The river is super low already, but not slimey. It's the perfect temperature for swimming, and swim we did! We went in every day this week! Surprisingly, today is overcast and we even got a few sprinkles of rain! Starting tomorrow it's supposed to heat up to the high 80's again. Hopefully, cooler temps and a "chance of showers" will be in the not too distant forecasts. The worry of forest fires is ever present at this time of year.

Left: Hairy Woodpecker(adult male) - Right: Hairy Woodpeckers(adults:female & male)

Picoides villosus

Woodpeckers!

I found a newly occupied bird nest this week!  It's a Hairy Woodpecker nest in a telephone pole, just down the road from our house!  I've been watching the male and female taking turns going in and out of the nest cavity!  In the photo above right, the female is waiting on the left side of the telephone pole and the male is emerging from the nest cavity on the right side!!  Wow!  

Hairy Woodpeckers live here year round, and I have found two other nest sites in previous summers.  This is the first one I've found in a telephone pole, although a lot of the local telephone poles have several old nest holes.  

Insects make up 75% of a Hairy Woodpeckers diet!  They mainly eat wood-boring beetle and bark beetle larvae, as well as moth larvae in their cocoons.  They will also eat ants, spiders, centipedes, millipedes, aphids, pine seeds, berries, and fruits.  They prefer to nest in dead trees, or large branches, with rotten cores.  Both the male and female excavate the nest cavity, which can be from 8" to 12" deep!  The female lays 3-6 eggs, which the male and female incubate for 11-12 days.  The nesting period for their precocial chicks, which are born without downy feathers, is 28-30 days.  The male and female both feed the nestlings regurgitated food. After fledging, the parents will continue feeding their young for another 3-4 weeks.  During this whole process, the entire family sleeps together in the nest cavity at night!!  I'll keep watching, and hopefully see some fledglings soon!

Hairy Woodpecker (immature male) - Picoides villosus

In the photos directly above, an immature male is looking for bugs in the holes of a different telephone pole!  An immature male has a red crown, whereas an adult male has a red patch on the back of its head.  Compare the red head feathers of this immature male with the red head feathers of the mature male (above) that is peeking out of the nest hole.  Female Hairy Woodpeckers (insert above) do not have any red feathers.

Red-breasted Sapsuckers - Sphyrapicus ruber

Sapsuckers!

I've seen several Red-breasted Sapsuckers in my neighborhood this week!  They've been hammering on telephone polls, announcing their presence!  I haven't located their nests, but they do seem pretty busy!  I'll try to find a nest this week!

Male and female Red-breasted Sapsuckers have identical plumage.  Their main food is tree sap, but they also hawk insects out of the air and pry them from tree bark.  To obtain sap, they will drill horizontal, parallel rows of shallow small "wells" in the bark of a tree, preferrably an apple tree, and eat the sap as well as the insects that get stuck in the sap!   Adults are monogamous in the breeding/nesting season.  Both sexes share in the excavation of the nest, usually 7"-9" deep, as well as the incubation (11-14 days) and care of nestlings (23-28 days).  The male sleeps in the nest cavity at night, until the nestlings fledge.  After fledging occurs, the adult male will roost outside at night.  The female always roosts outside on a tree trunk at night, usually under the base of a limb. The nestlings are born altricial and are nidicolous, or raised in a nest and dependent upon parents for a period of time!  Once the nestlings fledge, the parents continue to feed them and/or lead them to sap wells, for about a week.  The fledglings are usually capable of feeding themselves within a few days.

Red-breasted Sapsuckers - Picoides villosus

Adult Flycatcher with fledgling (sp?)

Baby Birds!

Baby birds are still being fed in our neighborhood!  I saw the Flycatchers (above) way up high on a dead cedar branch.  The little one would flap its wings and open its beak to be fed!  It was SO cute!  There was another pair of Flycatchers up in the same tree, but I didn't see anymore babies.  I don't know what species of Flycatcher this is, they are pretty difficult to identify!

I also hear the demanding calls of the Black-headed Grosbeak fledglings (below left) all day long, down by our bird feeders.  I even watched a female feed this little fledgling!  The hummingbird population has also recently increased at our feeders! The new hummers don't have much metallic coloring, so I'm assuming they're young ones.  They aren't being fed by their parents, so their officially called "juveniles".   They are so tiny, it's amazing they can survive in the wild!  I love watching all these baby birds!

    

 Black-headed Grosbeak (fledgling)  -  Anna's Hummingbird (juvenile)

       Pheucticus melanocephalus - Calypte anna    

Bullock's Orioles - Icterus bullockii

male - female - female's tail sticking out of the nest

Bullock's Oriole Update!

The female Bullock's Oriole is incubating her eggs!  She and the first-year male are still flying around together.  I noticed that she doesn't call that often anymore, perhaps to keep the location of her nest a secret!  I'm so happy she is nesting!  I can't wait for the eggs to hatch in a week or so!

Leopard Lilies - Lilium pardalinum

An Abundance of Wildflowers!

If you've never walked through the Aspen Grove in the Lakes Basin Campground, now is the time to do it!  There are so many wildflowers in bloom!  This year there are more Leopard Lilies than I have ever seen before, as well as Rein Orchids, Monkshoods, and Corn Lilies!  I spent a couple of hours, just in the Aspen Grove, photographing flowers.  It was incredibly beautiful!  A riotous tangle of blossoms!

 Rein Orchids - Plantanthera leucostachys  -  Leopard Lily - Lilium pardalinum

The word "pardalinum" means "leopard like".  An easy way to remember that they are not Tiger Lilies is that "leopards have spots, and tigers have stripes".

    Vireo sp.(?)                    Lincoln's Sparrow(?) - Melospiza lincolnii (?)

These little birds (above) came down from the tree tops and checked me out while I was photographing in the Aspen Grove.  I'm not sure what they are, but will ask some friends for help.  Check back next week for their correct ID's and more!

Who made these conical pits?

Is this bird a woodpecker?

Where are the reptiles, amphibians, and bears?

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

If all of a sudden you haven't been getting email notices of my blog being published, just sign up again on my blog.  I don't know why you got "unsubscribed".  It's some kind of problem with Blogspot.com and/or FeedBurner.com.  I apologize for this glitch!

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com

Young Birds!

Evening Grosbeak (juvenile) - Coccothraustes vespertinus 

All of a sudden there are LOTS of young birds in our neighborhood!  Since I haven't found many occupied bird nests, I haven't seen any nestlings.  Mainly what I'm seeing this week are fledglings and juveniles. They have been keeping me busy refilling our bird feeders!  They are so delightful to watch!

Nestlings are baby birds that are usually covered in soft downy feathers, stay in their nests, and are completely dependent on their parents for food.  Right now the local Brewer's Blackbirds are constantly bringing bugs to their nests to feed their nestlings.

Fledglings are young birds that have left their nest but don't have all their adult plumage yet, and are still fed by their parents.  The fledgling stage usually lasts for several days.

American Robin - Turdus migratorius

I found the following definition of juvenile birds at thespruce.com.

"Juveniles are slightly older birds that may still have some fledgling markings or coloration, but their flight feathers are nearly fully developed and they are able to feed themselves well. These birds do not rely on their parents any longer, though they may stay in small family groups until they are fully mature and seek their own mates. The juvenile stage can last several weeks or months until these young birds molt into full adult plumage and will then be indistinguishable from their parents."

The juvenile American Robin is dotted and speckled unlike the adults.  The juvenile Steller's Jay (below) still has lots of downy under-feathers that are absent in adults.

Juvenile birds may also have shorter, stubbier tails and wings, brightly colored beaks that will fade over time, and a ruffled appearance!  Often the young male birds look like females.  They also chirp a LOT and eat LOTS of food!

Steller's Jay (Juvenile) - Cyanocitta stelleri

American Dipper - Common Merganser - Spotted Sandpiper

Cinclus mexicanus - Mergus Merganser - Actitis macularia 

River Birds

Last week I promised to talk more about these birds, 

so here are some interesting facts about them!

American Dippers were John Muir's favorite bird!  They are specially adapted to finding food underwater in fast moving rivers and streams.  They can close their nostrils underwater using specialized scales.  They have nictitating membranes that cover their eyeballs underwater, which work like a pair of goggles.  They have powerful legs, long toes and streamlined bodies that allows them to walk underwater with ease.  They have enlarged oil glands for waterproofing feathers.  They are the only aquatic songbird in North America.

Common Mergansers are diving ducks.  Their bills have sharp serrations for grabbing slippery fish!  They also eat aquatic mollusks, crustaceans, and insects, plants, worms, frogs, and even small mammals!  They can stay underwater for up to 2 minutes, but usually stay under for about 30 seconds.  The young ducklings are born precocial, and can catch their own food 1-2 days after they are born!  They will start diving for aquatic insects and fish when they are about 12 days old!  The ducklings will stay with their mother until migration in the Fall. 

Spotted Sandpipers are unusual in that the females practice polyandry.  They will sometimes mate with up to 4 different males!  The males will incubate the eggs and care for the young.  The females will defend the nesting territory!  The chicks are born precocial, and leave the nest after 1 day.  They eat midges, flies, mayflies, larvae, grasshoppers, beetles, worms, snails, and small crustaceans.  Infrequently, adults may even dive down and search for insects on the river bottom!!!  They are the only shorebird in the Sierra!

Gray Fox - Chickaree/Douglas Squirrel - Western Gray Squirrel

(left - top right - bottom right)

Urocyon cinereoargenteus  -  Tamiasciurus douglasii  -  Sciurus griseus

Mammal Update!

I haven't seen that beautiful fox for a while, because my in-laws are living in the space where it used to live.  Rats!  However, I saw it a few evenings this week in a different area!  Yahoo!  If it is a female it should have its kits by now!  Maybe I'll get lucky and see them this coming week.  That would be amazing!

A Western Gray Squirrel and a Chickaree are frequent visitors to our bird feeding area.  They forage daily on the ground for seeds.  I haven't seen them with any young, but I did see an adult Chickaree and a young kit, up in a Locust tree just down the street.  Sitting right next to each other, made their size difference obvious.   Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to tell that one of them was a kit.  Squirrel babies don't leave the nest until they are fully furred and capable of taking care of themselves.  That's why you don't see tiny baby squirrels running around!

Columbian Black-tailed Deer - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

Yesterday morning I got up early and went looking for wildlife!  To my delight I came across some Mule Deer, 3 males and 1 female!  The males were sporting their new, velvet-covered antlers!  The "velvet" is actually skin that provides oxygen and nutrients to the developing bone.  Once the antler is full sized, the velvet falls off and the antlers stop growing.  I watched them wander around our neighborhood for 20 minutes, eating grass and shrubs.  I was surprised to see the single female with the 3 males.  Usually, males and females form separate groups at this time of year.

There are two kinds of Mule Deer in my neighborhood, the Columbian Black-tailed Deer and the California Mule Deer.  The California Mule Deer have larger ears than the Columbian Black-tailed Deer.  Another way to determine which species you are seeing is to look at their tail.  Columbian Black-tailed Deer have a more-or-less solid black tail.  The California Mule Deer's tail is black only on the tip, sometimes with a thin strip of black running down the tail.

  

Striped Skunk - Mephitis mephitis         Raccoon - Procyon lotor

The last two evenings have been exciting in our backyard!  Right around dusk a Striped Skunk and her 5 BABIES came looking for food, and a large Raccoon also showed up!!!  The 5 baby skunks traveled in a moving, liquid-like line JUST behind their mother!  It was so incredible to watch!!!  All my pictures came out blurred, but I managed to get this one of the mom by herself.  The male kits will become independent by July or August, but the female kits will stay with their mom until next Spring.  

There weren't any babies with the Raccoon.  The reason why these wild animals showed up, is because my husband had chucked some food out in the backyard for our dog.  This is not a good thing to do!  You don't want to attract wild animals to your backyard, because they can get used to you providing food, as well as cause damage and/or bring disease.  Raccoons and Skunks can both carry rabies.  Raccoons can also carry a nasty round worm in their intestines, that could possibly be passed on to your pets through their feces!  Yuck!  We won't repeat that mistake!  In fact it is against the law to feed wild animals.  We all need to leave wild animals WILD!

Leopard Lily - Lilium pardalinum

Lakes Basin Update!

I've gone on several hikes up in the Lakes Basin this past week.  The flowers are in full bloom and gorgeous, with more blooming Leopard Lilies than ever before!  The snow is all gone, and the lakes are swimmable and so refreshing!  Here are a few of the flowers that were blooming along the trails. 

Bog Asphodel - Leopard Lily - Western Monkshood

 Narthecium californicum - Lilium pardalinum - Aconitum columbianum 

Corn Lily - Lemmon's Catchfly - Hot Rock Penstemon

Veratrum californicum - Silene lemmonii - Penstemon deustus

 I haven't had a chance to figure out what kind of spider this is.  

I'll submit a photo to bugguide.net and see what they say!  

The big white sphere is an egg sac.

This is a Plume Moth (Amblyptilia pica).

Where are the reptiles and amphibians?

Where are the bear?

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

If all of a sudden you haven't been getting email notices of my blog being published, just sign up again on my blog.  I don't know why you got "unsubscribed".  It's some kind of problem with Blogspot.com and/or Feedburner.com.  I apologize for this glitch!

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com