Clear Skies!

Chipmunk - unknown species

Although fires are still burning in California, the smoke hasn't been blown into our area for about week.  The sky has been clear and blue, and we even got some clouds!  Since I hadn't been up in the Lakes Basin for about a month, due to the smoky conditions, I went up there 5 times in the past 7 days!  It was wonderful!  It's starting to look like Fall up there.  Some of the bushes are turning yellow and most of the wildflowers have gone to seed, except for the Asters, Yarrow, and Angelica.  I saw LOTS of chipmunks scampering all over the place!

Chipmunks - unknown species

Chipmunks!

There are several different species of chipmunks in the Lakes Basin, all in the Tamias genus, but it's difficult to determine which ones were visible.  Individual species are determined by fur color, stripe color, ear size, distinctive markings, and geographic location.  I should have taken more photos of each chipmunk, including their front, sides, and back.  Next time I will!  Some of the possible species are Lodgepole Chipmunk, Long-eared Chipmunk, Yellow-pine Chipmunk, and Shadow Chipmunk!  

All chipmunks have black and white facial stripes, and 5 dark stripes separated by 4 pale stripes on their back and sides.  They also have large, internal, fur-lined pouches to carry food.  At this time of year, Chipmunks are busy storing seeds, nuts, fruits, and forbs for the winter.  They do not hibernate.  Instead, they sleep a lot and wake up periodically to eat their stored food.  Their winter burrows are usually underground or in a hollow tree limb.  

Hairy Woodpecker - Red-breasted Nuthatch - Olive-sided Flycatcher(?)

Picoides villosus - Sitta canadensis - Contopus cooperi(?)

Lakes Basin Birds

I saw quite a few birds up in the Lakes Basin this week.  The most conspicuous ones were the noisy woodpeckers and colorful songbirds!  I saw several Yellow Warblers in the dry meadows along the Round Lake Trail.  I also saw several fledgling Yellow-rumped Warblers in the forest!  I saw two different Red-breasted Nuthatches climbing downward on tree trunks, looking for insects.  The White-headed Woodpecker I saw, looked like it had a wad of sap stuck on its beak!  I'm going camping again in the Lakes Basin this coming week!  Can't wait to see what other birds are there!

Yellow-rumped Warbler - Yellow Warbler (female) - White-headed Woodpecker (male)

Dendroica coronata - Dendroica petechia - Picoides albolarvatus

Red Fir cones -   Red Fir with Cones - Western White Pine cones

Aibes magnifica - Aibes magnifica - Pinus monticola

An Abundance of Cones

This year there are TONS of green cones on the firs and pines in the Lakes Basin. Depending upon the species of tree, cones can take 2-3 years to mature.  The cones we are seeing now started growing several years ago.  Most of the literature I read, states that trees produce lots of cones when they are stressed.  2-3 years ago, we were in an extended period of drought and the trees were stressed by the lack of water.  The woody, green cones visible on the trees are the female cones that contain seeds.  The male pollen cones are tiny in comparison, don't look like cones, and disintegrate within a season.  The fir cones sit upright on the tops of the trees (except for Douglas Fir cones, which hang down).  Pine cones hang down from the trees.  Most of the woody cones you find on the ground are female pine cones.  Female fir cones are not as woody, and usually dry-up and fall apart while they are still on the tree.  Squirrels and chipmunks are busy right now cutting green cones off the trees, and eating or storing the ripe seeds.    

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias

Neighborhood News!

I saw this beautiful Great Blue Heron on the river several times these past few weeks.  I also found lots of heron feathers in one part of the forest.  At first I thought a Heron had been killed and eaten, but I didn't find any bones or other remains.  Then I realized that there was a bunch of bird poop on the forest floor as well, right below a pine tree.  I think the tree was used repeatedly as a nighttime roost by a Great Blue Heron!  It was probably molting, and that's why there were lots feathers on the ground.  The feathers were amazingly beautiful!  There were stiff gray flight feathers, and fluffy, delicate, elaborate, downy feathers!  I was thrilled to find them!

Great Blue Heron feathers and poop below roost site

Western Tanagers - Piranga ludoviciana

Western Tanagers!

Several mornings this week I saw a group of 9-12 Western Tanagers calling and flying up in the trees off the highway!  I was so surprised!  I've never seen a group of tanagers before!  Usually, I'll see one by itself, or a male and female together.  They varied in color from bright yellow to olive-green yellow.  After breeding and nesting, males lose their bright red head feathers and resemble females in color.  So I think I was seeing both males and females!  Apparently Western Tanagers start their nocturnal, southern migration sometime in August-September.  They are known to migrate singly, in pairs, or in groups of 30!  Some will overwinter in coastal s. California, while others will travel to Middle America, from Mexico to Costa Rica.  Maybe the group of tanagers I saw, were getting ready to migrate south together! 

Western Tanagers - Piranga ludoviciana

Hairy Woodpecker - Picoides villosus

Hairy Woodpecker Update!

The Hairy Woodpeckers that had a nest in the telephone pole, successfully raised two babies!  They hopped out of the nest while I was in Yosemite, but my neighbor saw them. I haven't seen any juveniles flying around since then, but I hope they survived!

Northwestern Fence Lizard (female ?) - Sceloporus occidentalis occidentalis (?)

I've seen tiny young lizards everywhere this week!  The one pictured above was about 2.5" long including its tail!  It probably recently hatched from its egg!  After mating, female lizards bury their eggs in small pits of loose, damp soil, from May to July.  The eggs hatch in about 60 days, usually from July to September.  The young lizards are about an inch in size when they first hatch.  They will not attain adult size until next Spring.  Lizards eat insects, as well as spiders, scorpions and centipedes.  Lizards have no vocal chords so they communicate with body language!  Lizards can blink, but snakes can't!   

Can you guess what species of lizards these are?

Last weeks mystery bird is probably a hybrid 

between a Steller's Jay and a Brewer's Blackbird!

There's a fledgling Yellow-rumped Warbler in this photo.  Can you see it?

Where are the bear, deer, and foxes?  

What other birds have begun their migration south?

Are there crayfish in the river this year?

How low is the river?

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

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Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com