Winter Weather!

Grizzly Peak 2/5/19

It's been a snowy, wet week! We woke up to a foot of powder snow last Tuesday morning!  It shrunk and compacted down to 5 inches in a few days. Yesterday it slushed heavily all day, with the temperature hovering around 36°. It was not a good day for taking pictures! This morning there was 5" of new snow on the ground, and the sun was trying to come out! Our total precipitation for the week was 5.08", which brings our "water year" total to approximately 35.55". The river is up and the flow rate peaked on Tuesday at approximately 1550 cfs.  We're really glad that we're finally getting some winter weather!  More snow is predicted for this coming week. Up at Yuba Pass there's probably 10' of snow on the ground! WOW!

Spotted Towhee, Mule Deer, and Chickaree Tracks

There weren't any tracks in the snow at first.  The deep powdery snow must have been hard for the local wildlife to navigate!  By the next day, after the snow had compacted a little, there were quite a few tracks!  There was a mystery track (above middle photo) that I'd never seen before.  It looked like whatever it was had dragged its tail.  I thought it might be a Mountain Lion, but the distance between the footprints didn't seem to be big enough for a lion.  The actual footprints weren't clear in the powdery snow.  I just went out for another walk, and found a similar track.  It was a deer track!  I could see the hoof prints clearly!  The drag marks are from their hooves not their tail! 
   

Our bird feeding station on Tuesday morning!

Project Feeder Watch Update!

 As you can see, our bird feeding station got buried in snow!  After I cleared it off and put out some seed, it was quickly covered with hungry birds!  

Dark-eyed Junco - Oregon subspecies

Junco hyemalis

About 50 to 70 Dark-eyed Juncos visit our bird feeder daily.  They also glean sunflower seeds out of the dried sunflower heads in our garden.  There are six subspecies of Dark-eyed Juncos in North America.  The ones we have locally are the "Oregon" subspecies.  Males have black hoods.  Females have gray hoods.  They are common and widespread across the U.S. in winter.  Seeds are their preferred food, such as sunflower, millet, and nyjer seeds.  They will also eat cracked corn and oats!  They will spend the winter here, and migrate up to higher elevations to breed in the spring.  They are commonly seen in large flocks, except during the breeding season.

Varied Thrush (female) - Ixoreus naevius

We have a green house (with a heater!) down by our bird feeders and that's where I watch and count birds for Project Feeder Watch.  This week I was totally surprised to see a pair of Varied Thrushes visiting our feeders!  I've only seen them in our neighborhood once before, probably 15 years ago!  I was thrilled to see these lovely, strikingly-colored  birds again!  Varied Thrushes don't live here, they only occasionally visit in the winter.  They breed north of here, in Washington, Oregon, British Columbia, and Alaska, as well as in western Montana and Idaho.  In winter they eat acorns, seeds, nuts and berries. 

Varied Thrush (male-left and female-right) - Ixoreus naevius

(The photos are a bit distorted because I photographed through window glass.)

 I looked up what food I should put out for them at  the Cornell website https://feederwatch.org/learn/common-feeder-birds/.  They recommended hulled sunflower seeds and suet, but I didn't have either one.  Luckily they seem to be eating the seeds I put out!  Next time I go to town (1 hour away) I'll get the right stuff!  I sure hope they stick around!

Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargenteus

Much to my surprise I spotted a new fox down by the bird feeders this week!  Apparently it was staying under our greenhouse for a few nights!  Two mornings in a row, it ran out from under the greenhouse as I approached!  What a beauty it is!  Look at that incredibly fluffy tail with the dark black stripe on top!!!  Now I know that foxes will take advantage of human structures for shelter!  Hope I see it again soon!

North Yuba River 2/5/19

On the River!

The river looks so cold it's hard to believe that any critters could be living on it, but there are!  I'll take the temperature of the water sometime this week!  Brrr!

American Dipper - Common Goldeneyes

Cinclus mexicanus - Bucephala clangula

There are two American Dippers along one stretch of the river in my neighborhood!  Snow and cold water don't seem to affect them at all!  One morning this week, I watched the dipper above left repeatedly dive underwater to find prey!  They have a thick coat of down feathers under their outer feathers, that apparently keeps them warm!  Unbelievable!

I photographed the Common Goldeneyes above right just this week.  It looks like they are a female and a first-year male.  They are  found across the U.S. in winter, and across Canada and Alaska during the breeding season.  In California, Common Goldeneyes are the only ducks that regularly spend the winter on rivers and lakes above the foothills of the western Sierra.  I saw a group of Common Goldeneyes last fall up in the Lakes Basin.  Perhaps the ones above are from that same group!  

Common Goldeneyes - Bucephala clangula

I photographed the Common Goldeneyes above, about 2 years ago.   

These 4 males are in their breeding colors. One female is partially visible in the back.

Hooded Merganser - Lyphodytes cucullatus

I didn't travel down to any foothill or valley wetlands this week, but I did stop by a pond in Nevada City near the Madelyn Helling Library.  To my delight there was a female Hooded Merganser swimming around!  Wow!!!  I had photographed one of them on the North Yuba River back in December, but it was so far away that it was hard to see.  Seeing it up close, I was astounded at the crazy looking bunch of feathers it has on its head!  They reminded me of a big, expensive, watercolor brush!  How exciting to see one so close!  I looked around for a male but didn't see one.  I'll keep checking this pond and maybe I'll get lucky and see a male Hooded Merganser or possibly a Wood Duck!  My friend Walt says he sees some there every year!

This turtle is a Red-eared Slider! 

 What kind of frogs are these?

Where are the deer?

Where is the Heron?

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

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