Too Busy to Blog!

There's lots going on, but I'm too busy to blog!

Check back next week for the latest 

Natural History News from my neighborhood!

Thanks!

Fish Eaters!

Osprey - Pandion haliaetus  

inset: Coastal Rainbow Trout - Oncorhynchus mykiss irideus

A wide variety of wildlife eats the fish in our river! The fish are preyed on during all stages of their life cycle, from eggs to adults. Their predators range from tiny dragonfly nymphs to large Black Bears! For some species of wildlife, fish make up more than 90% of their diet. For other species, fish are just one of their food sources. The most commonly seen fish in the North Yuba River are Coastal Rainbow Trout (inset above), which are native to California, but have been planted locally by the California Department of Fish & Wildlife. There are also non-native German Brown Trout, that swim up to spawn from Bullard's Bar Reservoir. Occasionally you might also see a non-native Brook Trout that has flowed out from a higher elevation lake, during the high water of Spring.

I spotted the Osprey above, eating a fish one morning this week! It was holding the fish with its left foot. Look closely and you'll see the fish tail! About 15 minutes later, I was about 1/4 mile down river and the Osprey flew overhead with another fish! Wow!!!  Ospreys catch fish by diving feet first into the water! The pads on the bottom of their feet are barbed for holding slippery fish. They are usually successful in 1 out of every 4 dives.  Fish make up 99% of their diet!  

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias

  These large Herons search for food day and night!  In addition to fish, they eat crayfish, frogs, aquatic insects, amphibians, small mammals, and other birds!  They are usually solitary except during breeding season. They are the only species of Heron seen above the foothills.

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias

Just about every morning, I see this Great Blue Heron standing in the rapids, up-river from the bridge.  Last week, I watched it catch 2 fish in just 10 minutes!!!  In the pictures above you can see a fish in its beak on the left, then you can see its swollen gullet on the right!  It was amazing!!!

Green Heron (juvenile) - Butorides virescens

I spotted this juvenile Green Heron just yesterday morning on the edge of the river!  As soon as it saw me, it flew up into a tree.  I have never seen one of these birds ever before!  In fact, it is really unusual to see a Green Heron in our neighborhood.  They are usually found in foothill and coastal areas.  Their preferred habitat is a lake, pond, marsh, or stream, that is shaded by riparian trees.  However, they are known to pass through the Sierra during their southward migration.  These herons are much smaller than Great Blue Herons, that can be up to 4' tall.  Green Herons only measure 16.5"-18" in body length, and have short legs.  They eat small fish, crustaceans, insects, frogs, and rarely small mammals.  They hunt for prey day and night!  They wade into shallow water and wait patiently for prey to pass by.  They will also dive for prey from a perch, head first, and become totally submerged!!!  I was so excited to see this unusual and uncommon, 

beautiful bird in our neighborhood!  I hope I see it again soon!

Belted Kingfisher (male) - Megaceryle alcyon

Another fish-eating bird in our neighborhood is the Belted Kingfisher.  These beautiful birds dive from perches into shallow water for small fish, tadpoles, and crayfish.  In the morning, I hear their loud rattling call along our river corridor.  They are one of my absolutely favorite birds!  Such beauty!

Common Mergansers -  Mergus merganser

Common Mergansers are diving ducks that feed on mollusks, aquatic insects, crayfish, worms, frogs, small mammals, other birds, plants and fish!  They mainly eat fish in the winter, when aquatic insects, frogs, worms, and crustaceans are less active. The mergansers on our river molted their flight feathers all at once about a month ago. Flight feathers are the long, stiff feathers in their wings and tail.  The feathers  have since grown back and now they can fly again! 

River Otters -  Lontra canadensis

90% of a River Otter's diet is fish!  They can eat 2-3 lbs of fish daily!  They will also eat frogs, newts, garter snakes, ducks when molting, aquatic insects, and turtles!  I took this photo a few weeks ago from our bridge, when these two Otters swam by!  I haven't seen them since then, but hope I will soon!

  

Aquatic Garter Snake - Thamnophis couchii     Dragonfly Nymph - Odonata sp.

Aquatic Garter Snakes primarily live in the river.  They eat small fish, toads, frogs, tadpoles and fish eggs!  Dragonfly Nymphs live in slow-moving parts of the river, where they are predacious on small fish and aquatic insects!

Fish Eaters Summary: 

With all these critters eating fish it's a wonder that there are any left in the river!  It's also amazing that the "fish eaters" can survive in the wild!  The competition must be fierce out there!

Sunflower head and seeds - Lesser Goldfinch - Carduelis psaltria

Seed Eaters!

Okay, so I tried to figured out how many seeds a Lesser Goldfinch might eat in a day.  My research was based on the information that birds eat 1/2 to 1/4 of their weight daily, and that a Lesser Goldfinch weighs about .33 oz.  I pried the sunflower seeds from the dried flower heads (It's not as easy as you would think!) and found out that 37.5 seeds add up to .01 oz. in weight.  However, the seeds I weighed were still in their hulls.  The actual weight of JUST the seeds is probably at least half that weight.  So I assumed that it would take 75 seeds to add up to .01 oz of weight.  So, if a Lesser Goldfinch ate 1/4 of its weight (.0825 oz) in a day, it would need to eat approximately 619 seeds.  If a Lesser Goldfinch ate 1/2 of its weight (.165 oz) in a day it would need to eat approximately 1,238 seeds!!!  WOW!  That is a lot of seed hulling!  It also explains why they appear to eat continuously during the daylight hours!  This is just an estimate, but it was fun to figure out!  

Fruit Eaters!

Lately the Black Bears have been feasting on the apples, grapes, and plums that grow in our neighborhood.  Every morning, there's fresh bear scat on our road.  We've been careful to keep our garbage inside, and out of the reach of bears.  I haven't seen them in person, but I don't go looking for them at night either!  Maybe I'll get lucky and see them one of these mornings!

  Who is this?

Where are the foxes?

I'll explain what American Dippers and Great Blue Herons have in common next week!

That circular, yellow-green mystery I posted last week 

was crustose lichen on a rock!

Those skeletonized leaves that I posted last week, were in a California Tent Moth colonial web.  I'll explain more next week! 

 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

Clouds and a little Rain!

North Yuba River -  9/15/18

This week, welcomed clouds passed by for several days in a row! It was wonderful! The clouds came in all kinds of shapes and arrived at different times of the day. One day it was solidly overcast for the whole day! We kept our fingers crossed and hoped for rain. On Friday morning around 9:00, I was out walking and it started to rain! Everything instantly smelled richly damp, the dust quieted down, raindrops landed on the backs of ducks and created concentric ripples in the river, and the plants glistened! It was heavenly! The rain only lasted for 5 minutes, but I'm so grateful for what we got! 

The temperatures also dropped quite a bit this week, with low 40's at night, and mid 70's during the day! This should really help reduce the threat of fires, but they are still an ever-present worry. Hopefully more rain will come soon!

One bank of clouds had rainbow colored sundogs in it!  

One sunrise colored the morning clouds a beautiful tawny yellow! 

Several banks of clouds formed and dispersed during the week.  Such beauty!

Lesser Goldfinch (juvenile with wings flapping - female) - Carduelis psaltria

Down in the Garden!

There are lots of Lesser Goldfinches gleaning sunflower seeds down in our garden.  More keep showing up every week!  I'm still seeing juveniles beg for food, even though they look full sized.  It seems that family members stick together in loose groups, while they're feeding in our garden.  I've only seen the female feed the juveniles.  When the temps get cooler, these little birds will migrate down to the foothills and valleys of California for the winter.  It is so fun to watch these little birds (4.5" in length), the smallest of all goldfinches, feast in our garden!

Lesser Goldfinch (male) - Carduelis psaltria

These little birds eat LOTS of seeds!  On average a bird will eat 1/4 to 1/2 its body weight daily.  A Lesser Goldfinch only weighs 0.33 oz.  So it might eat 0.0825 - 0.165 oz of seeds in a day.  How many sunflower seeds do you think that will be?  How many thistle seeds?  I'll measure it out and count the seeds.  Check back next week for the totals!

Common Side-blotched Lizards (?) - Uta stansburiana (?)

Tiny Lizards!

I've been seeing lots of these little lizards in our garden.  Most of them are only 2.5" long!  I think they might be Side-blotched lizards, but I'm not sure.  I'm hesitant to try and catch them, because I don't want to stress them out!  They are so camouflaged in the dry grasses and weeds!  These little ones won't be full-sized till next Spring.  Soon, cool temperatures will cause them to bury themselves under the decaying leaves on the forest floor, where they will spend the winter in a state of torpor.   

Monarch - Fritillary sp. - Two-tailed Swallowtail

Danaus plexippus - Speyeria sp. - Papilio multicaudatus

Battered Butterflies!

Butterfly adult lifespans range from 2 weeks to 9 months!  By the end of their adult life their wings can be quite tattered!  Right now most of the butterflies flitting around in our garden are looking pretty worn.  Before it gets too cold, some will lay eggs that will overwinter.  Some have already laid eggs, which have hatched into caterpillars.  Some of these caterpillars will overwinter as caterpillars, others will overwinter in a chrysalis.  Some butterflies even overwinter as adults!

  

Spotted Towhee (male) - Pipilo maculatis - Green-tailed Towhee - Pipilo chlorurus

Towhees

Towhees are seed and small insect eaters.  They search for food on the ground, using their characteristic hop forward followed by a back-thrust with both legs.  The Spotted Towhees live here year-round.  The Green-tailed Towhees pass through our neighborhood on their southern migration to northern Mexico. Although Green-tailed Towhees are common they are difficult to spot.  We count ourselves lucky to have them visit our garden!

Twelve-spotted Skimmer (male) - Black Saddlebag Skimmer
 Libellula pulchella - Tramea lacerata

Dragonflies

Dragonflies are in the order "Odonata", which means "toothed ones"!  Their sharply serrated mandibles earned them this name!  They will catch an insect in the air, tear off its wings with their mandibles, and eat the prey while still flying!  Dragonflies can move each of their wings independently and can fly in any direction, including sideways and backwards.  They can also hover in one spot for a minute or more!  Some dragonflies can fly fast, up to 18 mph!  They can also fly long distances!  One species of dragonfly holds the record for the world's longest insect migration, a distance of 11,000 miles!  Dragonfly eyes have 30,000 facets and a near 360 degree vision!  They also see in color, usually up to 4x more colors than humans see!

With over 1,000 species, Skimmers are the largest dragonfly family (Libellulidae) in the world.  The Twelve-spotted Skimmer is one of the most common species in our neighborhood.  Female Twelve-spotted Skimmers don't have white markings on their wings.  Black Saddlebag Skimmers are new to our neighborhood!  My neighbor, Tammy, found this one (above right) and brought it to me!  We have never seen them before!  They are usually found at stagnant ponds and ditches, but they were flying above the river this summer. They have transparent wings with distinctive black blotches that look like  saddlebags.  Both of these dragonflies can be found flying over our garden, which is really close to the river. 

Anna's Hummingbird - Calypte anna

There are still lots of hummers in our garden and at our feeders.  I think they are Anna's Hummingbirds and Rufous Hummingbirds!  They might be staying here, or just stopping by on their migration south.  We're happy to have them as our guests!  

Columbian Black-tailed Deer - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

Mammal Update

I've seen 4 bucks and 1 female deer several times this week!  Two of the bucks have large antlers.  The other two have smaller antlers.  All of them were out in the open field next to the cemetery this morning!  They were incredibly camouflaged in the dry grasses.  Most of them have shed their reddish summer coats and have gray winter coats.  However, one of the young males was still quite reddish in color.  The males were in a small group, while the female was some distance away by herself.  There is a lot of ripe fruit available in our neighborhood right now, mainly apples.  My neighbor frequently sees the 4 bucks eating from her apple trees in the morning.

California Ground Squirrels 

Spermophilus beecheyi 

Last week I asked what kind of squirrel was poking its head out of an underground burrow.  If you guessed "California Ground Squirrel" you're right!   I spotted the mother squirrel first, and then one of her offspring popped out of the burrow!  These  female squirrels can mate with several different males, and  have litters of 5-11 babies!  These squirrels are highly adaptable, and live at elevations from 0 - 7,215'!  They prefer to dig their underground burrows on the edges of open areas, such as meadows or fields.  Luckily we don't have these squirrels living in our garden, as they can cause a lot of damage making their burrows!

Western Screech Owl - Otus kennicottii

Western Screech Owl

My friend, Carl Butz, found this beautiful little Western Screech Owl on the side of the highway this week.  Unfortunately, it had been hit by a vehicle and died.  I have never seen one before!  They are small owls, measuring 8.5" in length, with a wingspan of 20".  They are nocturnal and hunt for a variety of prey including mammals, insects, birds, earthworms, and crayfish!  Sit-and-wait is their method of hunting.  These "night owls" forage for food from 12 minutes before sunset to 27 minutes before sunrise!  Abandoned woodpecker cavities, in deciduous, riparian areas, are their preferred habitat.  They are year-round residents.  This winter I hope to see one in the area where this one was found.

Western Screech Owl (feathers- feet) - Otus kennicottii

It was very sad that this beautiful little owl died. 

We felt so privileged to be able to look at it so closely.

Such incredible beauty!

   

Why are these leaves skeletonized?

What is this?

What are the bears eating?

Where are the foxes?

This is a Great Blue Heron and an American Dipper.

What do these two birds have in common?

 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

Fluid Beauty!

River  Otters - Lontra Canadensis

River Otters!

This past week was an incredible wildlife week in my neighborhood.  It started with seeing River Otters down on the section of the river I go to every day!!!  I was down swimming with some friends (brrr!) and I saw a River Otter pop its head out just up-river from us!  We watched it for about 15 minutes and then decided to get out of the river.  Right after we got out, I noticed that there were 2 River Otters sitting on a ledge opposite us along the river!!!  As soon as I saw them, they slid back into the river and swam downstream!!!  

Later that day, I went back with my camera to look for them. I lucked out! When we got down to the river, my husband saw them swimming up river, headed for the bridge! I hot-footed it up the road to the bridge and in a minute or so, they came swimming upriver!!! WOW!!! I took photos as they approached the bridge, while they went under the bridge, and as they swam further up the river! They were incredibly beautiful to watch.  They swam so fluidly joyous together in the clear green water!  Such grace and ease and beauty! I was mesmerized! 
  

River  Otters - Lontra Canadensis

River Otters usually travel in pairs or small family units, but not in mated pairs.  Males and females only come together briefly during mating season.  Usually it is a female with one or more of her offspring that are seen swimming together.  I have only seen River Otters once before!  They are not commonly seen in our river, because there are not a lot of them.  They need a lot of food daily, and consequently need a large area in which to hunt.  If food is scarce a female otter may travel 19 miles in one day, and a male may travel 37-56 miles!  Usually they only travel 1.5-3 miles in a day.  90% of their diet is fish, but not just trout.  They will also eat sucker fish if they are available.  Most of the local, native sucker fish have been depleted by the otters.  The local Coastal Rainbow Trout are planted every year by the California Department of Fish & Wildlife, and have not been depleted by River Otters.  In addition to fish, River Otters will eat garter snakes, turtles, crayfish, molting ducks, frogs, and newts. 

River Otters are "at home" underwater.  Their ears and nose are closed when they are submerged.  They can swim at 6-8 mph, and can hold their breath for 8 minutes!  They can dive to a depth of 68 feet!  They have a layer of fat and a thick undercoat to keep themselves warm in cold water.  They will hunt day and night.  At night their whiskers help them detect prey!   They are large, strong animals weighing 11-31lbs.  They range in length from 35"-51", with their tails an additional 12"-20"!   How lucky I was to watch these uncommon, amazing animals in their underwater home!

Black Bear - Ursus americanus

Black Bears can Swim!

One morning this week I spotted a bear swimming across the river! Wow!!! I have never seen a bear swim before! It was fast! As soon as it swam across the channel, it swiftly crossed the boulder field and disappeared in the bushes! It happened so fast, I barely got a photo! Wow!!

Black Bear - Ursus americanus

Black Bears are good swimmers. If there is water in their neighborhood, they will exploit it for food. A few weeks ago, one of my neighbors watched a Black Bear swim down the river in pursuit of some Mergansers. Due to the fact that the Mergansers had recently molted all their flight feathers, they weren't able to fly away! The bear eventually caught up with them and nabbed one! Amazing!!!

Mallards (female - male) - Anas platyrhynchos

Mallards

The two ducks I asked you about last week were Mallards in eclipse plumage. It was a cold morning on the river, so they had their bills tucked into their feathers to stay warm. The photo above clearly shows the difference between male and female Mallards in eclipse plumage. Notice how the female's bill is orange with a dark saddle, and the male's bill is yellow-green without a dark saddle.

Mallards (males) - Anas platyrhynchos

The photo above shows male Mallards in their breeding plumage. Eclipse plumage occurs after breeding and before migration. Male ducks acquire a female-like plumage, while female ducks do not noticeably change in appearance. Both male and female ducks molt all their flight feathers during this stage. It takes a month or more for the flight feathers to grow back.

Western Aquatic/Sierra Garter Snake - Western Terrestrial/Mountain Garter Snake

Thamnophis couchii - Thamnophis elegans elegans 

Garter Snakes!

I've seen several small garter snakes in the river this week. I've seen the aquatic ones in the river all summer, but I have never seen the terrestrial ones in the river before. Apparently they can both swim, although the terrestrial ones prefer to live on land.  Both of these types of snakes will feed on the fish, tadpoles, frogs, frog eggs, leeches, salamanders, and toads that live in the river!

Osprey - Pandion haliaetus

Osprey Update!

This week there were 2 Ospreys on our river!!! I haven't been able to get a photo of them together, but I have seen them flying overhead! I also saw an Osprey on two consecutive mornings, about 7 miles downriver! It might be one of the same two birds, as Ospreys will travel quite a distance to find fish. How exciting to have our Osprey population doubled! I love seeing them!

Black-headed Grosbeaks (female - male) - Pheucticus melanocephalus

Migrating Birds!

The Grosbeaks are no longer feeding at our bird feeders!  They arrived last Spring, and have been feeding here for the past 4 months.  They started to decrease in numbers about 3 weeks ago, along with the decrease in daylight hours and accompanying cooler temperatures.  The Black-headed Grosbeaks migrate to Central Mexico for the winter, a distance of more than 3,000 miles! 

  

Evening Grosbeaks (female - male) - Coccothraustes vespertinus

The Evening Grosbeaks will migrate to lower elevations in California for the winter.    

What kind of critter is this?

I still haven't found out why squirrels don't seem to get covered in tree sap, but I will!

The lovely fall colored bush from last week is Poison Oak!  

It's lovely right now, but don't touch it!  It will give you a nasty, itchy rash!

  

What do these two birds have in common?  

What kind of birds are they?

Where are the deer and the foxes?

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

Eclipse Plumage

Common Mergansers female & juvenile  - Mergus merganser

Inset: 2 females & 2 males in breeding plumage

After breeding, most ducks molt into "eclipse plumage" in which males acquire a female-like plumage. That's why in the summer, it seems as if all the male ducks have left! 

This plumage change also coincides with the molt of all flight feathers in the male ducks.  The male ducks are quite vulnerable without their flight feathers, so the female-like plumage provides better camouflage than their breeding plumage.  It takes about a month for the flight feathers to grow back!  The males will molt again this fall, back into their breeding plumage.  The females molt their flight feathers later than the males, usually after their young have fledged.  The females molting process does not noticeably change their appearance.  All juveniles look like females. 

Common Mergansers (males or females) - Mergus merganser

Earlier this year I photographed a female Merganser with 9 downy ducklings.  I kept seeing her and her brood throughout the summer, but unfortunately the number of ducklings kept diminishing.  Lots of critters eat ducklings, including herons, river otters, and even foxes.   A few weeks ago I saw her with 2 almost full-sized juveniles.  Then this week I saw what I thought was two female Mergansers and 1 juvenile!  It was probably her and a male, in eclipse plumage, with their 1 remaining juvenile!  

Osprey - Pandion haliaetus

Osprey!

I saw the Osprey several more times this week!  I also heard it several mornings without seeing it!  There appears to only be one Osprey on our stretch of the river, probably because they aren't a lot of fish.  Lots of critters eat fish besides Ospreys.  River Otters, Kingfishers, Herons, Mergansers, Aquatic Garter Snakes, and even Dragonfly larva eat fish!  The competition is tough!  Right now the river is really low.  Does that make it easier or more difficult for wildlife to catch fish?  

 Osprey - Pandion haliaetus

I was down on my usual section of the North Yuba River one morning this week, when this Osprey landed in a tree on the opposite shore just like he did last week!!!  This week he stuck around, and I was able to get lots of photos!  So beautiful!

 Columbian Black-tailed Deer - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

Mammal Update

I looked it up and fawns lose their spots 90-120 days after their birth.  These fawns were probably born sometime in June or July.  So, in another month or so these fawns will start changing into their winter coats.

        Black Bear - Ursus americanus     Blackfruit Dogwood - Cornus sessilis - Bear Poop

The Black Bears are definitely around.  I see their poop everywhere, mostly composed of apples!  Every year at this time, I see bear poop (right) with large seeds in it.  I have never been able to figure out what kind of seeds they were, until this week.  In my wanderings I happened to come across a Blackfruit Dogwood that was "in berry".  I squished one of the berries and the seed inside was the same as the ones in the poop!  Aha!  Another mystery solved!

Yellow-billed Magpie - Pica nuttalli

Yellow-billed Magpie Update

The Yellow-billed Magpie is still living in our neighborhood all by itself!  I continue to see it in the mornings near our bird feeders.  We have even seen it on the ground with the Steller's Jays eating birdseed!   Apparently the jays have accepted it into their neighborhood!  Originally they made a lot of noise whenever the magpie showed up.  Now they don't seem to be bothered by it at all!  I'm glad it's sticking around!  It is such an unusual, strikingly colored, large, fun bird to watch! 

Yellow-billed Magpie - Pica nuttalli

 European Mantis - Mantis religiosa

Down in the Garden

I found several different kinds of insects in my garden this week.  The Praying Mantis above was a big surprise!  I submitted an ID request, with photos, on the bugguide.net website, and they identified it as an invasive European Mantis.  There is a Praying Mantis that is native to California that looks quite similar, except that it doesn't have markings that look like an "eye" on its inner arm.  In all mantises the prominent front legs are bent and held together at an angle that suggest the position of prayer, hence their name.  I think a more appropriate name would be "aliens".  Their head and eyes look especially like a typical alien, with their tiny pinpoint pupils!  

They use camouflage to ambush their prey.  The one above was in a bunch of dry grasses, and was pretty difficult to distinguish!  Their arms are their main weapons, and can move with lightning speed.  They use the spikes on their arms to skewer and hold prey.  They eat only live prey, including crickets, grasshoppers, small lizards, and other mantises!  Females will occasionally eat the head of the male they are mating with!  Apparently they need the extra protein to create their egg mass!  How weird! 

  Sand Wasp - Steniolia scolopacea    Goldenrod Crab Spider (female) - Misumena vatia

The Sand Wasp above left feeds on nectar, but will also prey on insects, mainly flies, to feed its larva.  It digs a short, simple, underground burrow with a single enlarged chamber at the end.  Unlike most other wasps, their stings generally kill (and not just paralyze) the prey.  Instead of stocking the cell first, sand wasps commonly lay the egg first and then supply fresh food to their larvae as they grow. Once the larvae have gotten large enough, they pupate and emerge the following year as adults.

The Goldenrod Crab Spider uses camouflage and ambush to catch its prey, instead of weaving a web.  It can slowly change color from white to yellow, orange, or green, to match its environment.  Once it catches its prey, it paralyzes it, and then injects it with digestive fluids, like most spiders.  The one above right has been hanging around in my marigolds for a week or more, and is getting fat off of the bees and butterflies it has been catching!

Katydid (adult) - Scudderia sp. - Katydid (nymph)

I've been seeing several Katydids in our garden lately.  They look like grasshoppers except that their antennae are as long as their bright green bodies. They are so camouflaged!  They look just like leaves, and that's what they eat!  They make their distinctive sound by rubbing the scraper on one forewing against the toothed edge of the other forewing as part of their mating ritual.  Katydids hear each other with ears on their front legs!  Right now is the time that Katydids are mating.

After they mate, the female will lay her eggs in a plant stem or in the ground.  The eggs will over-winter and hatch into nymphs in the spring.  Nymphs look like tiny, colorfully marked grasshoppers, but they have no wings.  They will go through several molts over a period of 60-90 days, until they have matured to adults.  I never knew Katydids and Grasshoppers had nymphs!  I thought the nymph I found in our garden was some kind of fancy adult grasshopper!

What kind of ducks are these?  What are they doing?

What lovely Fall-colored plant is this?

What other birds have begun their migration south?

No one has seen any crayfish in the river this year.  How come?

I haven't yet found out why squirrels don't get coated with sap, but I will!

Where are the foxes?

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