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!

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Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com