North Yuba River 10/3/18
We got about 1" of rain this week! Yahoo! It had been about 120 days since any rain had fallen in our area!!! Most of the rain fell on Wednesday, but a little more fell on Friday evening! What a relief! Now the ever-present danger of wildfire has been suppressed! The air was infused with the scent of pines, firs, sap, oak leaves, and wet earth. Nature's camphor! It smelled wonderful! Hopefully more rain will come again soon.
Unknown species of frogs
This week, along the edge of the river, there were many newly-matured little frogs.
My neighbor counted 21 tiny frogs in this one slow-moving section of the river!
Sierra Garter Snake - Thamnophis couchii
The number of frogs decreased rapidly over the next few days, probably because of the presence of several aquatic snakes in the same area. We saw several young Mountain Garter Snakes and Sierra Garter Snakes in the river, near the frogs! Both of these types of snakes prey on frogs and tadpoles!
Northern Pacific Rattlesnake - Crotalus oreganus oreganus
I was really surprised to find this dead Northern Pacific Rattlesnake on the highway this week! It had been run-over by a car. Apparently, most snakes can remain active if temperatures don't drop below 60 degrees. Our daytime temperatures were in the 60's and 70's this week, but our nights were in the 40's. Perhaps this one was out late, and got too cold before it got off the road. In the Fall, as temperatures drop, most snakes find an underground burrow in which to spend the winter. Some snakes, such as Garter Snakes and Rattlesnakes, congregate in large groups in a hibernacleum, or underground burrow!!! As temperatures drop, snakes enter into a state of "brumation", a cold-blooded version of hibernation, characterized by a period of sluggishness or torpor.
Sharp-shinned Hawk - Accipiter striatus
Down in the Garden!
This Sharp-shinned Hawk has been hanging around our garden for the past week or so!!! It likes to perch in the dead top of an Alder tree and watch all the birds that are busy eating the sunflower seeds! Small songbirds are the main prey of this hawk species, and there are lots of songbirds in our garden right now! I photographed a Sharp-shinned Hawk this past spring (see March 24 blog), drying its feathers off in the sun on the top of a bare tree. It just might be the same one, but I can't be sure!
It was so little (11" in length) that I initially thought it might be a type of falcon. I wasn't sure, so I posted the photo above on iNaturalist.org. Withing 24 hours, 3 different birders identified it as a Sharp-shinned Hawk! iNaturalist.org is an incredible resource. It is also really easy to create a free account for yourself. Start an account, post your own photos, and become a "citizen scientist"! People all over the world are contributing photos and data to iNaturalist.org. Check it out!
Golden-crowned Sparrow (male) - California Towhee (adult)
Zonotrichia atricapilla - Pipilo crissalis
All these seed eating birds travel through our neighborhood during their Fall migration. Most of them will spend the winter on the coast of California or as far south as Baja California. I so look forward to their return every Fall! New to me this year is the California Towhee! I never have seen one of them before! Although they are common to the lower elevations of California, they aren't seen that often in our area! It was a bit larger than the sparrows, an overall gray-brown in color, with a lovely apricot blush on its face and undertail!
White-crowned Sparrow (adults) - White-crowned Sparrow (1st winter)
Zonotrichia leucophrys
The color difference in the markings of an adult White-crowned Sparrow, and a 1st-winter White-crowned Sparrow is amazing! When I first watched them I thought they were two different species! There are still LOTS of sunflower seed heads in our garden! I wonder what other species of seed-eaters will show up!
Mule Deer - Odocoileus hemionus ssp?
Mammal Update
There is still a lot of bear scat in our neighborhood, but I still haven't seen one in person yet! I did however see this Mule Deer grazing along the side of the road! It looks like she is in her winter coat. In the summer, their coats are reddish brown in color. You don't often see a female by herself. Usually females travel in small groups. Perhaps the others were nearby, and I just didn't see them. This is still the breeding season, so hopefully I'll see some bucks soon!
Western Gray Squirrel - Chickaree
Sciurus griseus - Tamiasciurus douglasii
The "tail" photo I posted last week was a Chickaree's tail. Chickarees are also called Pine Squirrels or Douglas Squirrels. Both the Chickarees and the Western Gray Squirrels are busy storing food for the winter. Unlike Chipmunks they remain active all winter, living mainly off stored food. They will also actively search for food such as seeds, nuts, acorns, berries, fungi, and tree buds. It's been fun watching them run around our neighborhood carrying large walnuts in their mouths!
Dry meadow off the Mt. Elwell trail - 10/4/18
Lakes Basin Update!
I've been hiking a bunch up in the Lakes Basin area these past two weeks! I went to Jamison Lake, White Rock Lake, Helgrammite Lake, Round Lake, Lunch Creek, and Maiden Lake! Although it is not a spectacular year for fall color, the recent rain will help the color linger longer. The meadows are golden and rimmed with scarlet Dwarf Bilberry. The Bracken Ferns have turned a tawny, bronzy yellow. The low-growing Dogbane is a brilliant sunflower-yellow against the ground. The Mountain Ash has uncharacteristically dropped its red berries already, but its leaves are a golden yellow-orange! Most of the marshy lakes are rimmed with golden grasses and rushes, and edged by brilliant red Dwarf Bilberry. The few stands of Quaking Aspens are beginning to turn yellow and sound heavenly! Beautiful dry umbels, of flowers gone to seed, line the trailsides and roadways. If you haven't gone up there lately you should! The colors will probably last another week or so, unless we get more rain. It's gorgeous!
Bracken Fern - Quaking Aspen - Bitter Dogbane
Pteridium aquilinum - Populus tremuloides - Apocynum androsaemifolium
Hidden Lake - 10/4/18
Dwarf Bilberry - Dry seedheads - Mountain Ash
Vaccinium caespitosum - various species - Sorbus californica
Maiden Lake 10/4/18
What kind of birds are these?
Where are the foxes?
American Dippers and Great Blue Herons are both year-round residents,
and live along and in the river.
These moths, and other insects, will be discussed next week!
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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