Lingering Color

Dry grasses - North Yuba River - 12/08/18

Although most of the Fall leaves are gone, there's still a trace of autumn color in our neighborhood. Along the river corridor, the golden-yellow willows and dry grasses still dominate the landscape. On the forest floor, thousands of fallen leaves create tapestries of layered colors, in an infinite variety of patterns. The low angle of the sun at this time of year, enhances this dramatic beauty! 

The weather was cold and dry this week. No measurable rain fell, but heavy frosts, high cloud cover, and ever-changing mists indicated that winter is officially here! The river is low again, with the flow rate at around 150 cfs. Light rain is predicted for today, tomorrow and the end of this coming week. Hopefully, frequent heavy wet storms will be coming in the near future. At least for now, the danger of forest fires has decreased significantly. However, we are not out of the drought yet!

North Yuba River - 12/02/18

Willow leaves

From our Backyard!

Spectacular Sunsets!

This week the sunsets were absolutely gorgeous!  On several evenings the clouds briefly lit up in brilliant golden-pinks!  It was mesmerizing!  

  

Fir Cap - 12/07/18

Grizzly Peak - 12/02/18

A Dusting of Snow!

On last Sunday morning, the ridge tops were dusted in snow in our neighborhood!  It was our first snow of the year!  The surrounding ridges are approximately 1,000 ft. higher than the river corridor, so we didn't get any snow at our elevation.  The snow was all gone by mid-morning.  Hopefully we'll get more soon!   

Apple leaf

We did get a heavy frost, that decorated the fallen leaves on the forest floor.  The frost crystal patterns varied from leaf to leaf!  Frost crystals, or surface hoar, forms when temperatures are cold and water vapor is available.  These frost crystals continue to "grow" when daytime temperatures are warmer than freezing.  As the night air cools, water vapor crystallizes on the surface.  If conditions are just right, these ice crystals can build up and get quite large!  Some of the frost I saw looked like tiny sugar crystals.

Ladybird Beetles - Hippodamia convergens

Insects in Winter

Most insects are dormant in the winter.  They replace the water in their cells with anti-freeze like substances (glycerol etc.), to keep them from being damaged by frost.  Some insects overwinter as adults, while others overwinter as eggs, larvae, or pupae.  Our local ladybugs converge in large groups to mate in the Fall.  As temperatures cool they cram themselves, by the thousands, into the cracks and crevices of tree bark for protection.  During the winter, if the weather is warm, they emerge and crawl around on the tree trunk.  They don't eat in the winter, as there aren't any insects (mainly aphids) available!  Not many critters eat ladybugs, as they don't taste good, so they don't need to hide and can overwinter out in the open!  

Ceanothus Silk Moth cocoons and adult - Hyalophora euryalus

When I was photographing the local bedrock mortars, a month ago, I found an empty Ceanothus Silk Moth cocoon on the ground! I have found several of these cocoons over the years. They are large, about 1" in length, silvery-gray in color, and quite noticeable. These cocoons were once used by the local Native Americans to make ceremonial rattles! They would attach several cocoons to one or both ends of a stick, that was sometimes decorated with feathers!  Wow!!!

  The gorgeous adult moths are large, 3.5"-5" in length.  As an adult, its primary purpose is to reproduce, and does not feed.  After mating and laying eggs the adults soon die.  The larvae hatch from the eggs, as caterpillars, and feed for months on a wide range of plants including buckbrush (Ceanothus), manzanita (Arctostaphylos), gooseberry (Ribes), madrone (Arbutus menziesii), willows (Salix), alder (Alnus), and mountain mahogany (Cercocarpus betuloides).  After feeding all summer, the larva spins a silken cocoon that hangs from a branch or twig.  Within its cocoon, the larva transforms into a pupa. During the fall and winter months the pupa gradually undergoes metamorphosis and by late winter or early spring, an adult moth emerges from its pupal case!  I don't think I've ever seen the caterpillar stage of this moth.  I'll have to look for them next summer. 

Anna's Hummingbird - Chickaree or Douglas Squirrel

Calypte anna - Tamiasciurus douglasii

My bird counts down at our feeders have become pretty much the same these past few weeks.  I've seen Steller's Jays, Spotted Towhees, Golden-crowned Sparrows, Fox Sparrows, White-crowned Sparrows, Oregon Juncos, Anna's Hummingbirds, and Mourning Doves.  This week I watched a hummer and squirrel check each other out! After a minute or so of careful scrutiny, they both took off!  How fun!

Mourning Dove - Zenaida macroura

Mourning Doves aren't new to our feeders, I just haven't written about them before!  They live here most of the year, but will probably migrate down to lower elevations when the snow comes to stay.  They mainly eat seeds all year.  Open feeding areas near water are their favored habitat.  As stated in The Sibley field guide to birds of Western N.A., "Doves, like pigeons, can suction water into their esophagus, so they can drink without raising their heads.  Other birds must dip their bill into the water and then raise it up to let water run down their throat. Related to this ability is the fact that pigeons and doves have an unusual need for water, drinking up to 15% of their body weight each day."  Right now they burst up off the ground in unison and fly away, whenever I approach the feeders.  I love their soft cooing calls!

  

Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargenteus

Here's a few photos of the fox that posed for me last year.  Scroll down to last week's blog to see the difference between this one and the one I recently saw near our garden.  They are quite different in appearance!

What kind of Accipiters are these?

What are these slimy looking things, and why are the drips amber in color?

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

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