Pileated Woodpecker (male) - Dryocopus pileatus
We went up to the Lakes Basin for my husband's annual birthday picnic this week. Just as we started to hike up the Grassy Lake trail, we heard a woodpecker knocking on a tree trunk. I ran back to see what kind of woodpecker it was, and was thrilled to see a Pileated Woodpecker hammering on a dead Lodgepole Pine! We've only seen these woodpeckers a few times in the Lakes Basin. This time I was able to take several photos as it chiseled away at the tree trunk! WOW!!!
Pileated Woodpecker (male) - Dryocopus pileatus
These woodpeckers, measuring 16"-19" in length, are the largest woodpeckers in most of North America! They live in coniferous forests from 2,000'-7,5000', but are uncommon in our area. They are non-migratory birds, and live year-round in their chosen habitat. The name pileated comes from the latin word "pileatus" meaning "capped", and refers to their red crest. The one I saw was a male. Females have a red cap, but not as extensive, and do not have a red stripe on the side of their head. Males and females usually pair for life, and will defend their territory year-round. At night they will roost singly, or with other species of "roosters", in tree cavities!
Pileated Woodpeckers peck tree trunks and stumps to find their prey of carpenter ants and wood-boring beetle larvae. They will also eat grasshoppers, termites, cockroaches, flies, fruit, and nuts. Their tongues are long, sometimes 4" in length, sticky, bristled, and recessed back over the top of their skull when not in use!!! These long tongues are used to retrieve insect prey from inside the trunk of a tree. When searching for prey they usually peck 20 times per second, with a total of 8,000 to 12,000 pecks per day!!! Their skull is structurally reinforced to spread the impact force of constant pecking, and is composed of strong but compressible sponge-like bone. To prevent the movement of the brain during pecking, their brains are surrounded with minimal cerebral fluid.
Woodpecker feet are "zygodactyl" with 2 toes in front and 2 toes in back. (Most birds are "anisodactyl" and have 3 toes in front and 1 toe in the back) This zygodactyl arrangement, combined with their stiff tail feathers, helps brace woodpeckers against tree trunks while they are pecking. They also have thick, sharp, talons to grip the wood. To protect their eyes from flying wood chips, their eyes have a thick nictitating (blinking) membrane. Their nostrils are usually slits, to keep out debris, protected by specialized feathers. What incredibly adapted birds! How lucky I was to watch this beautiful bird!!!
Sandhill Cranes - Antigone canadensis
We were also lucky to hear and see these Sandhill Cranes flying overhead! We always hear them before we see them. The field guides describe their call as, "a loud, resonant, wooden-sounding bugle with rattling or rolling quality" or "a trumpeting, rattling gar-oo-oo, audible for more than a mile." I think their loud call sounds rubbery, like water balloons being rubbed together! Regardless of the description, their calls are LOUD and unmistakable! If you hear them at this time of year, look up and watch them flying west!
The shorter days and cooler nights prompt many species of birds to migrate to their winter quarters. These large cranes (almost 4' tall) are flying down from their nesting territories in southeastern Oregon, northeastern California, northwestern Nevada, and Sierra Valley. They will spend the winter in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys of California, where they congregate in the tens of thousands! I have yet to go and see them in their winter home. Hopefully, I will go to the delta this winter.
Springtime - Sandhill Cranes in Sierra Valley
(adults - possible mated pair) - Antigone canadensis
Aspens - Populus tremuloides
We also enjoyed the small, beautiful, groves of Aspen trees in the Lakes Basin that day! Some trees are still green, but many are turning a gorgeous golden-yellow. They will probably last for about another week, so get up there if you haven't lately! Such beauty!
We saw a lot of young short aspens sprouting in one section of a meadow. It turns out that these saplings didn't grow from seeds, but rather they sprouted from the root tips of adult aspens. Each tree grows from a common root system, expanded by root-sprouting seedlings. A grove of aspens is also a group of "clones". The trees in a group of "clones" are genetically identical. One clonal aspen colony in Utah is the oldest living organism in the world, at perhaps 80,000 years old!!! Wow!
A grove of aspen trees may produce millions of seeds, but not many are viable. Pollination is inhibited by the fact that aspens are either male or female, and large stands are usually all clones of the same sex. Even if pollinated, the small seeds can only survive for a short time as they lack a stored food source or a protective coating.
Bare Winter Aspens - Grassy Lake
Populus tremuloides
Long Lake Sparkles - 10/11/18
On another day last week, my friend B.J. and I hiked cross country to Long Lake. It was an incredibly windy, clear-view day, with beautiful clouds passing by! The wind bejeweled the lake with sparkles! We were mesmerized by the movement and light! I took lots of photos, but the two below were the most interesting!
In this photo I focused on the pine needles,
with the sparkles out of focus in the background.
In this photo I focused on the sparkles,
with the pine needles out of focus in the foreground.
When I looked at the image on my camera, I was surprised to see sparkly concentric circles where the pine needles had been! It looked like the painted circles around the stars in Van Gogh's "Starry Night" painting. Wow! I have no idea why this happened, but it also happened on my friend's camera!!! If you can explain why this happened please let me know! My email address is at the bottom of this blog.
Northern Flicker (female - male)
Colaptes auratus
Neighborhood Update
Down in my neighborhood several Northern Flickers have recently shown up! Measuring 12.5" in length, they are the second largest woodpecker in North America. Like the Pileated Woodpecker, they are sexually dimorphic in appearance. The red stripe on the male's head is absent in the female. Unlike other woodpeckers, they usually forage on the ground for ants, beetles, moths, snails, flies, larvae, seed and berries! They probably won't spend the winter here, and will migrate to lower elevations as winter approaches.
Both the Northern Flicker and the Pileated Woodpecker communicate by "drumming" on trees in loud regular patterns. These drummings may possibly attract a mate, declare a territory, or send out an alarm or warning! Locally, the Northern Flickers like to drum on my neighbor's chimney cap!
Northern Flicker foraging on the ground (female) - Colaptes auratus
California Tent Moth - Malacosoma californicum
These translucent tents are made from the silk of California Tent Moth caterpillars. The tents are created for the protection of the caterpillars, while they eat the leaves of their host tree. In some areas of North America these caterpillars have created a lot of damage to trees, especially aspens. Luckily in our area their population is not at an infestation level. We see them every year, but not in huge concentrations.
Woolly Bear Caterpillar - Pyrrharctia isabella Praying Mantis - Mantis religiosa
The Woolly Bear caterpillar is the offspring of the Isabella Tiger Moth, which I have never seen! I've seen several of the caterpillars down in our garden lately. They will overwinter as caterpillars, emerge in the Spring, pupate, mate, and then lay eggs! Although folklore states that there is a correlation between the width of the black stripes and the type of winter that approaches, there is no correlation. The amount of black varies with the age of the caterpillar and the moisture levels where it developed!
I also found another Praying Mantis in our garden this week! Bugguide.org identified it for me as a non-native european mantis, Mantis religiosa, like the beige one I found a month or so ago. Since this mantis was green, it made me wonder if Praying Mantis can change color to fit their surroundings. Here's an article from the bulletinofinsectology.org that explains it thoroughly.
"Colour change and habitat preferences in Mantis religiosa"
by Roberto Battiston & Paolo Fontana
"In summary...hot sun, low humidity and intense light of summer promote the production of brown ground vegetation and brown mantids, more moderate temperatures promote higher humidity and low light intensity promotes green vegetation and mantids. But probably two other factors explain this colour distribution: predators detect and eat mantids that do not match the changing environmental colour and the mantids possibly actively prefer microhabitats that match their own coloration. The colour of the substrate in the field should be considered as a co-factor of the success of this strategy of M. religiosa but not its main direct cause."
Are the ladybugs back?
Where are the foxes?
Are the Mergansers still here?
Is the Magpie still here?
Whose track is this?
Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!
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Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated!
Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com
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