Fledglings and Nestlings!

Northern Rough-winged Swallow fledgling 

Stelgidopteryx serripennis

On my way home a few weeks ago, I stopped by one of the ponds that I've been watching this year.  Right away, a fledgling Northern Rough-winged Swallow landed on a nearby branch and checked me out!  It was SO cute!  Another fledgling landed farther down the branch, and then an adult landed!  The adults arrived about six weeks before I saw this fledgling.  These Swallows usually nest in abandoned rodent, swallow, or Kingfisher burrows, in precipitous banks of sand or clay near water.  They will nest singly or in small colonies of approximately 2-25 pairs.  The female alone will build the nest and incubate the 2-6 eggs, for 12-16 days.  Both parents will feed the nestlings.  The nestlings fledge in approximately 20 days.  The fledglings fly as soon as they leave the nest, and rarely return to their nest site.  Both parents will feed the fledglings for several days.  They feed almost exclusively on flying insects.  They will begin their migration to their winter habitat in Central America in mid August.  What a treat it was to see these tiny little swallows so closely!

Belted Kingfisher (male) - Northern Rough-winged Swallow (adult) - Red-winged Blackbird (male)

Megaceryle alcyon - Stelgidopteryx serripennis - Agelaius phoenicus

The Belted Kingfisher greeted me with its raucous rattle as usual!  I even got a glimpse of it with a tiny fish in its mouth!  There were several adult Northern Rough-winged Swallows flying over the pond.  So there must be a small colony of them living here.  Red-winged Backbirds had arrived at the pond, and were loudly calling their "liquid notes" and flashing their bright-red shoulder feathers!

Wood Duck (female)  - Wood Duck (ducklings)

Aix sponsa

I hung around the pond for a while, and to my delight a female Wood Duck swam into view, followed by two ducklings!  WOW!!  These ducks are uncommon, and I had never seen their ducklings before!  I photographed a pair of Wood Ducks on this pond on April 13 this year.  In my April 18th blog, I hoped to see their ducklings in the future!  I hadn't seen the adult Wood Ducks at all since then, so I had assumed they had left.  Amazingly, my wish came true!!!  I watched them for about half and hour, and then I had to leave.  I'm going back soon to spend more time watching these beautiful, little wonders!

Mallard (female) and ducklings  

Anas platyrhynchos

On the same day, I also saw a female Mallard and 4 of her ducklings in the pond!  They moved so quickly and were so camouflaged among the pond weeds that it wasn't easy to see them.  The ducklings would spread out across the pond, and then would suddenly scurry back to their mom.  Perhaps she was giving them calls that I couldn't hear.  They are omnivores and eat a variety of seeds, fruits, and aquatic and terrestrial invertebrates. It was delightful to watch these highly camouflaged little ducklings busily feeding!

 

Mallard ducklings - Mallard (female) 

Anas platyrhynchos

I 'm going to go back to the pond in a few days , and see if the male ducks are still there.  

I'll keep you posted!

Canada Geese - Branta canadensis

Ever since I had photographed the Canada Geese at their nest on May 8th, I've been on the lookout for their goslings.  On May 15th I lucked out and saw two pairs of adult Canada Geese, with two goslings each!  Wow!  I've seen them several times since then and the goslings are getting bigger fast!  They all traveled together in a group while the goslings were small.  Just this week I saw one family swimming in the river by themselves.  So perhaps the goslings are more able to fend for themselves.  The offspring will remain with their parents for their first year.  It just amazes me that they can survive in the wild!

Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor

Early Nesters!

I discovered a Tree Swallow nest in a local telephone pole on May 8th!  I'd seen the Swallows perching on the phone lines before then, but hadn't noticed the nest!  They do not make their own nesting cavities. They use old cavities excavated by woodpeckers.  The female makes a nest with mainly grasses, lines it with the feathers of other birds, and then lays 4-7 eggs.  In California, both the male and female have been known to share the incubation period of 11-20 days.  The nestlings fledge in 15-25 days. Fledglings may have poor feeding and flying skills, and receive post-fledgling feedings by parents for several days. However, fledglings are also seen flying and feeding independently of parents soon after they leave the nest.  Unfortunately, I was too busy to watch this nest closely and didn't see the nestlings or fledglings.  The adults are no longer visiting the nest cavity, so I'm hoping they and their offspring are all out feasting on bugs!

  

Tree Swallow - Tachycineta bicolor

 I never knew that Tree Swallows would nest in a telephone pole!  

They are such a beautiful rich, deep, satin-blue color! Such beauty!

Hairy Woodpecker - Dryobates villosus

Still nesting!

I just found a Hairy Woodpecker nest in the same telephone pole as the Tree Swallows!  The male was excavating the hole just last week!  Perhaps their first clutch failed, so they're re-nesting at this late date! The female will lay 4-7 eggs, and both parents share the incubation period of 11-12 days.  The nestlings will fledge in 28-30 days.  Both parents feed the nestlings and fledglings.  Fledglings remain dependent on their parents for 2-4 weeks.

Hairy Woodpecker (female - male) - Dryobates villosus

Like the Downy Woodpeckers, the male is distinguished from the female 

by the red feathers on the back of its head.  I plan to keep my eye on this nest, and keep you updated!

Steller's Jay eggs 

(Yes! They're turquoise-blue with brown speckles!)

Nestlings!

A pair of Steller's Jays have nested on my neighbor's porch!  Just this week the eggs have hatched and there are four sleepy, tiny nestlings in the nest now!  From a distance, I watched the nestlings for a few minutes with my zoom lens.  They looked so wobbly and tired!  I didn't stay long, as I didn't want to disturb them or their parents.  They were beautiful!  I'll sneak back again in another week, and see how much they've grown.

Steller's Jay nestlings

If you find a nest of baby birds, it's best to keep your distance and limit your time observing them.  By repeatedly watching the same bird nest, you can alert predators to its location, and disrupt the nestlings and their parents. 

What's blooming?

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

Where are the Bears?

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

During these days of Covid-19 and civil unrest, 

I hope you are all healthy and doing well. 

Get out in nature while you have the time!

 It can be so healing!

Unfortunately you can no longer sign up to get my blog emailed to you. 

Something changed at Blogspot.com. Oh well...

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com

Sierra Valley in the Spring!

American Bittern (male) - Botarus lentiginosus

 10 days ago we went over to Sierra Valley and had an amazing wildlife viewing day! We watched a group of five American Pronghorns at fairly close range, for more than half an hour! We also lucked out and observed an American Bittern in its mating plumage, for half an hour! I have never seen American Pronghorns before, and have only seen one American Bittern years ago!!! There were also a few Sandhill Cranes, lots of wildflowers, swallows, waterfowl, and songbirds! It was an incredible day filled with overwhelming beauty!

Sierra Valley is approximately 120,000 acres of "big sky" sagebrush rangeland, and wetlands, located at 4,850' at the base of the northeastern Sierras.  It is the largest alpine valley in the Sierra Nevada range, and one of my most absolute favorite places to explore!

American Bittern (male) - Botarus lentiginosus

We intially spotted this American Bittern walking down the road!!!  It was as big as a goose, with white feather plumes on its shoulders!  Luckily for us, it didn't fly off!  It just hopped over the barbed wire fence, and wandered through the wetland grasses for half an hour!  This was the second time in my life that I've seen an American Bittern!  

American Bitterns are uncommon and usually quite secretive and hard to see with their feather camouflage.  However, right now it is mating season and that's probably why this Bittern was so visible.  It turns out that only the males display white shoulder plumes during the breeding season.  So this one is a male!  We also heard and watched it produce a loud, resounding, gulping call.  Apparently, only the males make this type of call during the mating season.  The following desription of this call is from the website birdsoftheworld.org. 

"Call most often heard during the breeding season is low, resonant, and composed of 3 syllables, rendered as pump-er-lunk and dunk-a-doo, preceded by a series of clicking and gulping sounds. This is accomplished through inflation of the esophagus, during which the bird contorts itself violently. Call ventriloquistic and repeated 1 to 10 times in succession; appears to serve dual function as territorial signal and mate advertisement."  

Bitterns are almost always solitary, except when they mate (for 15 seconds!).  After mating, the female alone will build a platform nest out of reeds and sedges, over water, in dense wetland vegetation.  The female will lay 2-7 eggs in the grass-lined nest, and incubate them for 24-28 days.  The nestlings fledge from the nest in 7-14 days.  The female will for care for them an additional 2-4 weeks, until they are able to be independent.
  

American Bittern - Botarus lentiginosus

2 days ago we went back to Sierra Valley and unbelievably saw another, or possibly two, American Bitterns!!!  It was a cold, cloudy, rainy day and there weren't many songbirds visible.  As we were driving along a dirt road bordered by a wetland, I spotted an American Bittern in the tall grasses!  This one was really difficult to see, and flew off in about 10 minutes.  It didn't have shoulder plumes, so maybe it was a female.  At that point I realized that my truck key wouldn't turn in the ignition anymore!  Dang!  A long story evolved from then on, involving helpful strangers, AAA emergency roadside service, and a huge tow truck!  About and hour later, just as they were hooking up my truck, another (or perhaps the same) American Bittern landed in full view!  I got a few quick shots and then had to leave with the tow truck!  Because of the Covid 19 pandemic, we weren't allowed to ride in the cab with the tow truck driver.  Instead we rode in the cab of our truck up on the flatbed of the tow truck!  Now that was an experience to remember!  It all worked out fine and was quite an adventure, but I think I might just have to go back to Sierra Valley one more time!  Who knows what else we might see?

American Avocet - Willet - White-faced Ibis

Recurvirostra americana - Catoptrophorus semipalmatus - Pelagis chihi

Over 230 species of birds have been seen in Sierra Valley, some migrate through, others are residents.  Here are some of the ones we saw 10 days ago!  Such beauty!

Yellow-headed Blackbird - Pied-billed Grebe - Red-winged Blackbird

Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus - Podilymbus podiceps - Agelaius phoeniceus

The uncommon Pied-billed Grebe can submerge by diving or by sinking slowly out of view.  It will aggressively defend its nesting territory, and even attack other waterfowl from underwater!

Vesper Sparrow - Horned Lark - Barn Swallow

Pooecetes gramineus - Eremophila alpestris - Hirundo rustica

Sandhill Crane - Antigone canadensis

Sierra Valley is the southernmost location that Sandhill Cranes nest.  I don't know the exact number, but there are probably under 30 cranes that raise their young in Sierra Valley, most nest farther north in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Canada or Alaska.  We saw about 3 or 4 distant pairs 10 days ago, and one closer pair 2 days ago.  They were incredible to watch!

Hooker's Balsam root - Balsamhoriza hookeri

Sierra Valley was in bloom and glorious!  Here are some of the flowers we saw that are unique to this area.  Several of them were new to us!  The Hooker's Balsam root pictured above smells JUST like chocolate!  The fragrance isn't mentioned in any book.  We were pleasantly surprised and astonished when we smelled them!

 California hesperochiron - Nuttall's larkspur - Tansy leaf evening primrose

Hesperochiron californicus - Delphinium nuttallianum - Taraxia tanacetifolia

Barestem biscuitroot - Lomatium nudicaule

When we came across this plant, I immediately thought it was a type of Buckwheat.  However, I couldn't find it in any of my books.  When I got back home I looked through the Buckwheat pictures on calflora.org but couldn't find it there either.  Luckily, I have a friend who is a fabulous botanist, so I emailed her the photos.  She quickly realized it wasn't in the  Buckwheat Family because of the pinnate leaves.  The umbels of flowers indicated they were in the Carrot Family!  I'm so lucky and thankful to have her botanical knowledge so readily available!  She's such a treasure!

Needle Navarretia - Unknown - Woolly Marbles

Navarretia intertexta - unknown - Psilocarphus brevissimus

These flowers were all very tiny and low to the ground. I love the name "Woolly Marbles"! (That would be a great name for my "senior" brain!) I'm waiting on an identification of the plants in the center photograph, from iNaturalist.org. I couldn't find it in any of my books.

Western Blue Flag - Iris missouriensis

American Pronghorn - Antilocapra americana

While we were birdwatching, a group of 5 American Pronghorns appeared in the distance!  I slowly drove closer and closer to them, until they were about 200 yards away.  WOW!!!  We didn't get out of the car and they didn't take off!  They were SO different looking with their unusual horns, banded necks, and wide-spread eyes.  They were all so incredibly muscular!  After about 30 minutes they ran quite a distance away from us.  However, we did spot them in the distance several more times during that day!  After reading about them since then, I think that they were a small band of 5 females, as none of them had the markings of a male.  

The following information is from the Institute for Wildlife Studies at http://www.iws.org/species_pronghorn.html

"Pronghorn abundance in California once exceeded 500,000 animals, but habitat loss largely reduced this number over time. In 1942, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife began conducting winter surveys to count the number of pronghorn annually. From 1956–1970 the estimated population was between 1800-3000 animals and then increased through the early 1990’s. During a severe winter in 1992/1993 the population in the northeastern corner of the state decreased by almost half, and their abundance remains near that number today."
is estimated that up to 35 million pronghorns lived in North America before colonization by western Europeans. By 1924 this number had decreased to less than 20,000. Pronghorn populations have increased since that time and are now considered the second most numerous game species in North America. (O'Gara, 1978)

American Pronghorn - Antilocapra americana

"American Pronghorns are native to California and are an important species economically and culturally to citizens of the state. Their historic range included much of the Central Valley and southern and northeast areas of the state. Pronghorn prefer wide-open habitat including prairie and sagebrush plant communities, but over time this habitat has been depleted from agriculture, fire suppression, plant succession, invasive plants, and human development. Habitat loss has restricted the range of pronghorn to small, isolated populations in the Central Valley and northeastern corner of the state."

American Pronghorn - Antilocapra americana

These beautiful Pronghorns are the swiftest animals in North America, and have been recorded running as fast as 59 mph!  They can outrun any predator!  Their limbs  are cursorial (built for speed) but not for jumping.  Fences have had a detrimental effect on their population, as they cannot jump over them.  They need to live in areas that are wide open and basically treeless, like Sierra Valley.  They feed on a wide variety of plants, especially sagebrush in the winter.  Their horns are keratinized sheaths which cover extensions of the frontal bone.  The sheaths are shed annually.  Both male and female have these horns.  Breeding doesn't occur until mid-September to October.  Right now males are acquiring small harems of females, which they will defend from March through October.  The young are born the following spring.  What a thrill it was to watch these amazing, wild, native mammals!

Coyote  - Canis latrans

We also spotted a lone Coyote at a great distance out in Sierra Valley!  Wow!!! The heat waves coming off the valley floor distorted the photo, but it was great to see!  Coyotes are predators of Pronghorns, and pray on the old and weak as well as the fawns.  It all fits together, one dies another lives.  How lucky I am to be able to visit this incredible wildlife-filled valley!  It is just amazing!!!

 American White Pelican - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos

On their way...

The day before and the day after I went to Sierra Valley I saw these birds on the North Yuba River!  I think the Pelicans and the Ibis were possibly headed to Sierra Valley, and had to land due to the weather, which had been very rainy and cold.  

The day before I saw a flock of American White Pelicans flying east.  Later that same day, I spotted two that had landed on the river!  These two pelicans must have decided to wait out the storm for awhile.  Some American White Pelicans migrate inland to freshwater wetlands and lakes to spend the summer.  I've often seen them in Sierra Valley.

White-faced Ibis - Pelagis chihi

 The day after, I saw this Ibis on the river shore.  It was a sunny morning after four days of heavy, cold rain.  Perhaps it got exhausted from the rainstorms or became too wet to fly.  White-faced Ibis live in wetlands not rivers.  It was a huge surprise to see it this White-faced Ibis in its full mating colors in our neighborhood, especially since I had just seen some in Sierra Valley! 

White-faced Ibis and Common Merganser

 Pelagis chihi - Mergus merganser

Later that day I was curious to see if the Ibis was still on the river's edge, and it was!  Interestingly, a male Common Merganser had joined it!  Wow!  I went back the following sunny morning to check on them, and they were both gone.  The Ibis probably continued on its journey to Sierra Valley, and the Merganser probably just moved on down the river.  How interesting!

North Yuba River view - 5/20/20

Weather Update!

Last week we got heavy rain for 4 days, with a total of 3.14" of precipitation!  This brings our water-year total to 38.30".  The river peaked at 1900 cfs, and has since dropped down to 1130 cfs.  The forecast is for hot and dry weather!  We're again so grateful for this repleneshing rainfall!  I sure hope we get these storms throughout the coming summer!

The Bears are back!  I haven't seen them but my neighbors have!

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

What's Blooming?

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

During these days of Covid-19 and uncertainty, I hope you are all healthy and coping with this unusual stress. Get out in nature while you have the time! It can be so healing!

Unfortunately you can no longer sign up to get my blog emailed to you. 

Something changed at Blogspot.com. Oh well...

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com

Rainy Weather!

North Yuba River - 5/12/20 

It's been rainy, misty, and cool this week. Right now it's pouring! Another 1.72" of rain fell in the past 7 days, which brings our water-year total to 35.66". The river is up due to the rain and melting snow, and is running at 1,140 cfs. It's a bit muddy from the added sediments, and not the clear glass-green of winter. Nature's camphor has been released from the damp earth, and the fragrance is heavenly! We are so grateful for this additional rain, which will help to keep forest fires at bay! This will also prolong the blooming of the local wildflowers, and replenish the ground water. It's lush and green and beautiful right now! The forecast for this week is for even more rain! Yahoo!

South Yuba River - 5/1/20

South Yuba River State Park

Two weeks ago I went hiking down in the South Yuba River State Park.  It was gorgeous!  The river was a beautiful, clear, glass green!  Wildflowers and birds were abundant and flourishing!   

Western Scrub-jay - Oak Titmouse - Cedar Waxwing

Aphelocoma californica - Baeolophus inornatus - Bombycilla cedrorum 

This foothill park is located in an oak woodland, about 2,000' lower in elevation than my neighborhood.  Most of the birds that live there are never seen in our neighborhood, but some are seen occasionally.  A few years ago a Western Scrub-jay spent a few weeks down by our garden, but didn't stick around.  They eat insects, fruits, nuts (including acorns), and seeds. I've never seen an Oak Titmouse in our neighborhood.  Apparently they live year-round in California's coast, central valley, and foothills.  They consume seeds, berries, fruits and insects.  Cedar Waxwings visit our area at different times during the year, when berries or fruits are in season. They are primarily fruitivores, but will also eat flowers and buds!  

Ramm's Madia & unknown beetles 

Jensia rammii - species unknown

I've posted photos of the wildflowers at the South Yuba River State Park in previous blogs (4/15/18 & 4/05/19).  What caught my eye this year were all the insects on the wildflowers.  Insects, birds, bats, and wind are the main movers of pollen.  I noticed a lot of beetles on the flowers so I did some research on them.  Here's some interesting facts about pollen beetles from the USDA Forest Service at https://ucanr.edu/sites/PollenNation/Meet_The_Pollinators.

"Beetles make up the largest group of pollinating animals because there are so many of them! They are responsible for pollinating 88% of the 240,000 flowering plants around the world!

They were some of the first insects to visit flowers and they remain essential pollinators today. Fossil records show that beetles were abundant during the Mesozoic (about 200 million years ago) and they were flower visitors of the earliest angiosperms.

Some beetles will eat their way through petals and other floral parts and can often become garden and agricultural pests. They even defecate within flowers, earning them the nickname “mess and soil” pollinators.

Research has shown that beetles are capable of seeing color, but they mainly rely on their sense of smell for feeding and finding a place to lay their eggs.

Ladybugs are natural enemies of many insects that we consider pests. A single ladybug can eat as many as 5,000 aphids in its lifetime!

Beetles are attracted to spicy, fruity or rancid flesh-like odors.

Most beetles need a wide opening to get into the flower because they are clumsy fliers.

Many beetle species eat pollen, so the plants they visit must produce a lot of pollen to make sure that there is enough left to pollinate the flower after the beetles are done eating!

Ornate Checkered Clerid - Trichodes sp.

Yellow-breasted Chat (male) - Icteria virens

New Arrival!

Once again the Yellow-breasted Chats have arrived in our neighborhood!  The males have the LOUDEST bird call I've ever heard, and so comical to listen to!  The following quote from Birds of the Sierra Nevada by Beedy & Pandolfino describes their calls perfectly!

"It is impossible to suppress a smile when listening to a Yellow-breasted Chat's bizarre series of churs, buzzes, whistles, and chatters coming from a patch of dense riparian habitat.  Chat's offer songs as variable (but not so repetitive) as mockingbirds.   Like mockers, they will incorporate sounds of other birds into their repertoire, but they are satisfied with delivering each phrase once and moving on to the next after a short pause for effect."

These lovely, medium-sized (L=7.5", WS=9.5") birds are very uncommon in our area, but year after year they return to the same riverside thicket of blackberries, willows, alders, cherry trees, maples, and firs.  The male and female are almost identical, but the male is the only one that calls.  The female builds the near ground-level nest, and incubates the 3-5 eggs.  Both parents will feed the nestlings/fledglings.  I think I've seen two males in the area this year!  In previous years I've only seen one male!  In July-August they will begin their migration back down to their wintering grounds in southern Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica, a distance of approximately 3,500 miles!!!

We are so lucky to see and hear these unique, brilliantly-colored Chats in our neighborhood!   

Yellow-breasted Chat (male) - Icteria virens

Sierra Buttes - 5/15/20

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

What's happening in Sierra Valley?

Where are the Bears?

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

During these days of Covid-19 and uncertainty, I hope you are all healthy and coping with this unusual stress. Get out in nature while you have the time! It can be so healing!

Unfortunately you can no longer sign up to get my blog emailed to you. 

Something changed at Blogspot.com. Oh well...

Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com

High Drama at a Nest Site!

European Starling - Downy Woodpecker (male)

Sturnus vulgaris - Dryobates pubescens

When I'm on the computer, I have a great view out my window of the surrounding forest. On April 13, I noticed a pair of Downy Woodpeckers excavating a nesting cavity in a dead snag across the creek! They hammered away for about 12 days, with both the male and female taking turns! On April 25 they stopped hammering and the female took up residence in the cavity. She must have laid her eggs soon afterwards. For the past 13 days, I have watched them share the duty of incubation during the day. The female is on the nest most of the day. During the night, the male is on the nest and the female roosts on a nearby branch! Everything was going beautifully until the morning of May 4, when a non-native European Starling showed up and moved into a different cavity right above the Downy Woodpeckers!!!

European Starling - Downy Woodpecker (male)

Sturnus vulgaris - Dryobates pubescens

For the next three days the male Downy Woodpecker constantly harassed the Starling!  It would fly at the Starling, hang out by the cavity it was in, and peck at it whenever possible.  It never stopped moving!  It was flying around the snag, "hopping" up the trunk, harassing the Starling, as well as checking on its own nest!  The Downy Woodpecker is smaller, by about a third, than the Starling.  However, that didn't stop the male Downy from aggressively hounding the Starling from dawn to dusk!  

European Starling - Downy Woodpecker (male)

Sturnus vulgaris - Dryobates pubescens

European Starlings were introduced by an English amateur ornithologist, Eugene Schieffelin, who unfortunately wanted to introduce to North America every bird mentioned in Shakespeare's plays!  Jeez!  In 1890, he released 60 Starlings into New York City’s Central Park, and another 40 in 1891.  The population of European Starlings in North America has grown from those original 100 birds, to an estimated 200 million birds!  

These non-native birds are intense competitors for nesting cavities, and have had a detrimental effect on native cavity nesting species including, woodpeckers, Tree Swallows, Buffleheads, Wood Ducks, and bluebirds! 

Downy Woodpecker (male - female)

Dryobates pubescens

I was so worried that the Starling would disrupt the nesting of the Downy Woodpeckers!  In the above photo on the left, you can see the male Downy at the entrance to his nest, as well as the cavity above him that the Starling moved into.  The female is pictured on the above right, at and in the Downy's nest.  She can be distinguished from the male by the absence of red feathers on the back of her head.  Luckily, the pair continued incubating their eggs during this whole event!  The eggs should hatch any day now, and I hope to watch this determined pair feed their nestlings!

After two and half days of constant harassing by the male Downy, the Starling took off and only returned to the nest cavity infrequently.  Every time it came back, the male Downy harassed it immediately!!!  For the last two days, there has been NO SIGN of the Starling and the Downy Woodpeckers are busy at their own nest site!  This morning I watched the male Downy actually stick his head way into the cavity where the Starling had been, and apparently found it empty!  Yahoo!!!  Hooray for the determined little male Downy who was successful in his displacement of the non-native intruder!  How lucky I was to watch this avian drama unfold right outside my window!

Brewer's Blackbird (female) with Nesting Material

Euphagus cyanocephalus

More Nesters!

Birds are nesting everywhere!  Right near our home, several Brewer's Blackbirds are making nests.  It appears that the females do all the nest building, while the males hang out and guard the area.

Brewer's Blackbird Nest

The female lays 3-7 eggs and incubates them for 11-17 days. She alone does the incubation.  Once the nestlings hatch, both parents feed the babies.  They young will fledge after 12-16 days, and both parents will continue to feed them for another 3 weeks.  

American Dipper - Cinclus mexicanus

American Dippers are the only aquatic songbird in North America!

They dive underwater and swim with their wings to find aquatic insects and larvae to eat!  They, like all birds, have an extra lens (nictitating membrane) over their eye that works like goggles underwater.  This lens is hinged at the inner side of the eye and sweeps horizontally across the cornea.  They also have special muscles that close their nostrils underwater!  These remarkable birds live year-round on our river.

American Dipper - Cinclus mexicanus

My neighbor and fellow naturalist Cy Rollins, told me that there was a dipper nest on one of the local bridge pillars!  I drove down to check it out and was thrilled to find an "igloo of moss" with two baby birds inside!  Wow!!!

American Dipper - Cinclus mexicanus

Both the male and the female build the nest, but the female does most of the construction. The nest consists of an inner nest made from woven grasses, leaves, and bark, and an outer shell of moss!  She will lay 4-5 eggs and incubate them for 14-17 days.  After hatching, the nestlings remain in the nest for 25+ days while both parents feed them.  After fledging, the parents will continue feeding them for approximately another week. 

American Dipper - Cinclus mexicanus

I was so lucky to be able to watch this active Dipper nest!  Usually, their nests are not so easily seen!   I can see why they built their nest here, in the middle of the rushing river and safe from any predators.

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis

On one of my favorite spots on the North Yuba River, I've been seeing a single Canada Goose hanging around.  Two days ago I realized that a female Canada Goose was just across the river on a nest, and that's why the male was by himself!

Canada Goose - Branta canadensis

The female will select the nest site, create the nest, and do all the incubation of the eggs.  I could just see the downy white feathers under the female goose, that she had plucked from her breast to line the nest!  She lays 2-8 eggs, and incubates them for 25-28 days.  The male guards the nest and the female, while she incubates the eggs.  When the goslings hatch they are downy and their eyes are open.  Within two days they will leave the nest, and can walk, swim, feed, and dive!  They will stay with their parents for the following year.

Steller's Jay with Nesting Material - Cyanocitta stelleri

  

A pair of Steller's Jays have been busy finding the perfect nest site around our home.  They started one nest on a branch under the roof eaves, but abandoned it for a different site in a dense Cedar Tree off our back porch.  Both the male and the female built the nest together.  The female will lay 2-6 eggs and incubate them for 16-18 days. Once the nestlings hatch, both parents will feed the babies for approximately another 16 days until they fledge.  Both parents will continue to feed the fledglings for about another month.  The family members may stay together throughout the coming winter! 

Steller's Jay Nest - Cyanocitta stelleri

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

What insects are out and about?

Where are the Bears?

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

During these days of Covid-19 and uncertainty, I hope you are all healthy and coping with this unusual stress. Get out in nature while you have the time! It can be so healing!

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Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com