Spotted Sandpiper (adult) - Actitis macularia
The North Yuba River has been my cool, clear-green haven during these hot and smoky days! I've been going down to one section of the river every morning this week, and am continually being surprised and delighted by the wildlife that thrives there! It was an amazing week for bird sightings! The adult Spotted Sandpiper above, is one of a pair that I have seen many times this summer. I found the shells of a Sandpiper egg a few weeks ago on the edge of the river. I was really hoping the Spotted Sandpiper pair had been successful in raising some chicks!
Spotted Sandpipers (juveniles) - Actitis macularius
inset: Sandpiper eggshells
Spotted Sandpipers
Just this morning when I went down to the river, I spotted two juvenile Spotted Sandpipers! WOW!!! It was so exciting! I took tons of photos and spent about 15 minutes with them before they flew across the river! I have never seen juvenile Sandpipers before! Yahoo!!!
Spotted Sandpipers are quite unusual in their breeding and nesting habits. The females usually arrive before the males, in the Spring. The females practice polyandry and will mate with up to 3 different males, if they are available. However, some females are monogamous, and will mate with only one male. Competition between females can be quite aggressive, if the male population is low. The nests are begun by the females and finished by the males. The nests are built on the ground, in the shade of shrubs, and about 100 yards from the shore. Each mated male will have it's own nest. The males brood 3-5 eggs for 19-22 days, and protect the baby birds when they hatch. The females may help with the care of the baby birds, if they only have one mate. The young birds are born precocial, and can walk and feed themselves within hours!!! Their main food is flying and aquatic insects. They are able to fly within 18 days! Wow! How lucky I was to see these two juveniles teetering and probing along the North Yuba River!
Spotted Sandpiper (juvenile) - Actitis macularia
Black Phoebes (juveniles, left - fledgling, right) - Sayornis nigricans
Black Phoebes
In the same spot on the river, these two juvenile Black Phoebes (above left) showed up one morning! I had seen a fledgling (above right) near my neighbor's home about a week ago. They have been nesting in the eaves of her house all summer. She thinks they may have had 2 broods of chicks this season! Their nests are made from mud, are half-hemispherical in shape, and one side of the nest is cemented to a vertical wall. The female builds the nest. 1-6 eggs are incubated for 15-18 days, by both the male and female. The chicks are born altricial and fledge within 18-21 days. Both parents feed the nestlings/fledglings. They typically become independent in 7-11 days after they fledge. Black Phoebes are flycatchers, and feed by flying out from a perch and catching flying insects, or "hawking". Once the breeding season is over, Black Phoebes are typically non-social and solitary. They are year-round residents in our neighborhood, and do not migrate. I hope these young survive and raise their own families next year! I loved how the two siblings stayed so close to each other!
Belted Kingfisher (female) - Ceryle alcyon
Belted Kingfisher
On yet another morning, a Belted Kingfisher showed up in the same section of the river! Wow! I haven't seen one in our area for quite a while. Prior to the winter of 2017, a Kingfisher had lived on our creek year-round for many years. During that heavy wet winter, the creek was a whitewater torrent for months. Since Kingfishers need clear shallow water in which to fish, it apparently left the area. It hasn't been back. I was thrilled to see and photograph this female on the river! Usually they spot you from quite a distance, and fly away before you can get a picture!
Unlike most birds, the female Kingfisher is more colorful than the male. The male does not have the rust-colored band across its chest, nor patches underneath its wings. Kingfishers catch small fish, crayfish, and tadpoles by plunge-diving from perches, into shallow or surface water. Most of their dives are less than 24" deep into the water. After they catch their prey, they bring it back to a perch and pound it against a branch to stun it! Whatever they cannot digest, such as fish bones etc, is regurgitated in pellets!
Belted Kingfisher (female) - Ceryle alcyon
Belted Kingfishers are solitary except during the breeding season. They are monogamous and usually only have 1 brood of 5-7 chicks. The nests are made in bare earthen banks by both the male and female. The male does most of the work. It will take the pair up to 3 weeks to excavate the 3'-6' long, horizontal, subterranean tunnel, that ends in an unlined nesting chamber! The opening to the tunnel ranges from 3"-5". 5-7 eggs are incubated for 22 days, by both parents. The nestlings fledge in about 16 days, but are cared for by the parents for the following 27-29 days. I'm hoping this female raised some young this season! They are such beautiful birds! I saw her again this morning! Yahoo! I'm going to go look for those regurgitated pellets! I'll let you know what I find!
Northern Bluet Damselflies - Enallagma cyathigerum
Small River Critters!
While down at the river I managed to get a photo of these Northern Bluet Damselflies and a Rainbow Trout. I was amazed by the beautiful blue color of the damselflies! Look at their eyes!!! In color, I think they must be the "Mountain Bluebirds" of the insect world!
The trout were difficult to photograph! I didn't know how camouflaged they are, and how much the water distorts their image!
Northern Pacific Rattlesnake - Crotalus oreganus oreganus
Reptile Weather!
Snakes are ectotherms, and are dependent on external sources to maintain their body heat. To regulate their body heat they will bask in the sun when it's cool, and hide in the shade when it's too hot. With the hot temperatures we've been having, I've been wondering if snakes would be out during the day. It turns out that extremely hot temperatures can kill a snake within 10-20 minutes. So when the air temperature reaches the high 90's and into the 100's, snakes seek out shade and wait for the temperature to drop.
I haven't seen many snakes this year. During one of my morning walks this week, I found this dead, poisonous Northern Pacific Rattlesnake on the side of the road! It had been run over by a car. It was a healthy looking specimen, about 3' in length! I was able to look closely at its incredibly patterned scales, the scoots on its underside, and its rattle.
All snakes move by using scoots, which are the large scales that are found on its underside. Each scoot, attached to a rib, slides along the ground independently of the other scales. These scoots enable the snake to propel itself forward, but it cannot move backwards very efficiently because of the way the scoots overlap each other.
The scales are keeled, not smooth, and have a raised ridge running lengthwise down the center of the scale. This "keel" scatters the light differently than the flat portions of the scale, and creates a dull non-reflective appearance.
The rattle had 9 segments. Rattlesnakes create a new segment on their rattle every time they shed their skin. Snakes shed their skin more than once a year when young, and less than once a year when old, so the number of segments in a rattle does not indicate their age. Additionally, segments can get broken off during a snake's lifetime.
Most Northern Pacific Rattlesnakes are active from dusk to dawn, looking for prey! They eat birds, lizards, snakes, frogs, insects, and small mammals, including mice, rats, rabbits, hares, and ground squirrels.
Rattlesnake bites are seriously dangerous, although rarely fatal in humans.
Watch your step! Be careful!
Western Aquatic Garter Snake - Thamnophis couchi
This non-poisonous snake, the Western Aquatic Garter Snake, is often mistaken for a rattlesnake. There are many differences between the two snakes.
Western Aquatic Garter Snakes are not poisonous,
even though they might bite when agitated.
They are active during the day, and can be mainly found in lakes, ponds, streams and rivers, or basking at the water's edge.
They eat mainly fish, and amphibians and their larvae.
Yellow-billed Magpie - Pica nuttalli
Yellow-Billed Magpie update!
The Magpie is still in our neighborhood! I find it quite surprising that it stays! I have watched it eat our birdseed, as well as pluck snails and other invertebrates out of the dry grassy fields in our area. It probably hangs out up at the local horse stable, eating grains and bugs! Apparently, their numbers have been in decline in the lower elevations due to the West Nile Virus. Hopefully, it won't carry or contract that disease up in our neighborhood! I'll keep you posted!
What is this mystery bird?
The two baby birds that I posted last week were
a Black Phoebe and a Steller's Jay!
That was not a "Blood Moon". It was a photo of the sun being obscured by smoke!
I promise I will update you on the Hairy Woodpeckers next week! For sure!
I haven't seen the Black Bear in person but there's lots of scat around, filled with apples and blackberries, and our bird feeders have been pulled down!
Maybe I'll see it this week!
Where is that fox?
What birds have left for their winter residence, besides the Bullock's Orioles?
The two baby birds that I posted last week were
a Black Phoebe and a Steller's Jay!
That was not a "Blood Moon". It was a photo of the sun being obscured by smoke!
I promise I will update you on the Hairy Woodpeckers next week! For sure!
I haven't seen the Black Bear in person but there's lots of scat around, filled with apples and blackberries, and our bird feeders have been pulled down!
Maybe I'll see it this week!
Where is that fox?
What birds have left for their winter residence, besides the Bullock's Orioles?
Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!
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Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com
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