Snow & Rain!

Looking toward Saddleback - 2/12/19

This was one heck of a wintry week! We had heavy snow, heavy rain, and lots of sleet! The weather changed daily, and sometimes hourly! We ended up with about 1' of wet snow on the ground where we live, but there is over 11' of snow around the 6,500' level!!! Our local Highway 49 closed several times over the week, and the power was out for a day. The river was really up, with a peak rate of 8,000 cfs occurring on Thursday! Initially the river was laden with sediment and mocha in color. It has since cleared and is back to its normal deep green color. Our total precipitation for the week was 9.51"!!! This brings our water year total to approximately 45.06"! 

News Flash!  This morning we woke up to 8" of newly fallen powder snow, which isn't even included in the recent total I just posted!  More rain/snow is predicted for the end of this coming week. Yahoo!  It's looking like we might not be in a drought situation this year!  Keep your fingers crossed! 

North Yuba River - 2/14/19 and 2/15/19

Red-tailed Hawk - Buteo jamaicensis

Early one evening I spotted this Red-tailed Hawk perched in our neighborhood!  It was right before sunset and during a break in the heavy snowfall that had been falling all day.  I watched him for a good 15 minutes, while he surveyed the area!  It's harder for raptors to find prey while the weather is stormy, as the mammals and birds they prey on tend to stay out of the elements.  There is also the risk that they could get too wet while hunting in heavy rain.  Most birds tend to become inactive in heavy weather, and wait out the storm.  Bigger birds like this Red-tail have a better surface-to-volume ratio than smaller birds, and don't have to eat as often. Survival in the wild is a finely tuned balance of elements that can be challenged by heavy, winter storms.  I always worry about wildlife, but I'm happy to say that I saw a Red-tail the next morning about 1/2 a mile away!  Perhaps it was the same one!

Red-shouldered Hawk - Buteo lineatus

On Valentine's Day it POURED!  Since the roads weren't snowy, we went to Grass Valley to do errands.  In the late afternoon it stopped raining for a little while, so we stopped by the pond where I had seen the Hooded Merganser.  I didn't see any ducks, but I saw this hawk land in the top of a distant tree.  I zoomed in with my camera and realized that it was spreading its wings and trying to dry off!  How cool!  I wasn't sure what kind of hawk it was, until I was able to see its head and breast.  I'm pretty sure it is a Red-shouldered Hawk!  The dark eye, the black & white banding on the wings and tail, and the red head and breast are all indicators that it is a Red-shouldered!  It stayed perched with its wings outstretched for about 10 minutes!  Wow!  How lucky to watch this beautiful hawk taking advantage of a short dry spell during a week of storms!

Dark-eyed Junco (Oregon subspecies) - Junco hyemalis

Project FeederWatch Update!

During this week of heavy weather the birds have been feeding non-stop at our bird feeding station.  We had our usual 50-70 Juncos, 15 Steller's Jays, 2 Song Sparrows, 5 Spotted Towhees, 1 California Towhee, 2 Varied Thrushes, and 6 Mourning Doves!  The perched Juncos looked like music notes on the fence wire! 

Mourning Dove and possible remains

Zenaida macroura

Just this morning, I spotted a small hawk on the ground right near the feeders!  It was dark and small, so it was probably a Sharp-shinned Hawk, but it took off before I got a good look at it!!!  I went to where it had been on the ground and there was a lot feathers and some blood!  It looked like possibly dove feathers, but I'm not sure.  Wow!  Survival in action!  One dies, the other survives!  Amazing!

Mountain Quail - Oreortyx pictus

New this week, I saw 6 Mountain Quail scurrying away from our bird feeders as I approached!  They are really beautiful birds!  Hopefully I'll get some more photos soon! 

Hairy Woodpecker (male) - Northern Flicker (male)

Hairy Woodpeckers live here year round.  There are two dead pine trees in our neighborhood that I've frequently seen and heard them pecking on.  They eat wood boring beetle larvae that are living right under the bark or in the heartwood of a tree trunk.

Northern Flickers live here year round as well.  They do not peck on tree trunks for food.  They usually forage on the ground for insects, mainly carpenter ants.  In winter Flickers search for dormant insects on the ground, but will also eat berries, fruit, and seeds!

Both of these birds are in the Woodpecker family of birds, Picidae.  In the winter woodpeckers excavate roosting cavities for resting and sleeping.  They are usually made in rotten tree trunks, about 6' off the ground.  They use the same roost throughout the winter, and usually return to it every night!!!  I haven't seen one of these roosts, but I haven't looked for them either!  I'll have to get out there and look for them soon!  A new assignment!!!

Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargenteus

Four Foxes!!!!

Monday was a beautiful blue-sky, sunny day and I saw 4 Gray Foxes that afternoon!    This one was so camouflaged in the briars and brambles I didn't notice it at first!

While watching the fox in the brambles, I saw another fox behind it!!!!  I think the 2 of them had been sunning themselves on the sunny edge of the brambles.  Other than a mother fox with her young, I haven't seen 2 or more foxes together!!!  Foxes mate for life, and this is mating season, so maybe these two foxes could be a "couple"!!!  Wow!  

They left less than a minute after I showed up, but what a treat it was to watch them!

Later that afternoon, two more foxes passed by!  I'd seen this one for the first time just last week!

I've seen this fox off and on throughout the winter.  This is the one that posed so nicely for me about a month ago!  What a day of fox sightings!  How wonderful!!!

Another Gorgeous Grizzly Peak Sunset 2/10/19

How many more inches of precipitation will we get this week?

Where are the deer?

What other birds will show up at our feeders?

What's it like up in the Lakes Basin?

Where is the heron?

The frogs I posted last week were both Pacific Chorus Frogs (treefrogs).

I'll write more about them and the Red-eared Slider in the Spring!

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

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