Success Stories!

Common Merganser (female) and 6 ducklings - Mergus merganser

There are lots of nestlings fledging right now!  I find it so amazing that they survived through the nestling stage!  There are so many factors that can adversely affect nestlings, such as extreme weather, lack of natural food (eg. too cold for insects to be active), parasitic mites, disease, and predators.  Lots of critters prey on bird eggs and baby birds, such as tree-climbing snakes, Pine Martens, Raccoons, squirrels, and other birds.  Nesting periods can be as short as 12 days or as long as 55 days!  

In the case of waterfowl, nestlings are born precocial and leave the nest usually within 24-48 hours after hatching!  Last week I spotted this female Common Merganser and her 6 ducklings on the river!  Yay!  They made it!  The average incubation time for Common Mergansers is 32 days!!!  That's a long time!  They are tree cavity nesters, and prefer to use old Pileated Woodpecker nests, or natural cavities in a tree trunk.  They will also nest on the ground.  As fledglings they need to watch out for predators, such as River Otters and American Mink.  It will probably be 60 to 75 days before they are able to fly. 

Common Merganser (female) and 6 ducklings - Mergus merganser

The ducklings weren't tiny and looked like they were probably several weeks old!  I watched them for a long time as they dove for insects, groomed themselves, and swam with their mother!  It was beautiful to watch! 

 

Canada Geese and 2 goslings - Branta canadensis

The two pairs of Canada Geese, and their 4 offspring are still doing just great!  The goslings won't be able to fly for approximately 56 days.  They will stay with their parents for their entire first year.  

Canada Geese goslings - Branta canadensis

Every time I seem them, the goslings have gotten a lot bigger!  It is so amazing to see!  I'm surprised that the foxes or otters haven't eaten them, but apparently the parents are quite good at warding off predators!  

Downy Woodpecker and nestling (both female) - Dryobates pubescens

I'm so happy to tell you that the Downy Woodpecker couple, that I wrote about in my May 9th blog, have successfully raised at least two offspring that fledged last week!  Yahoo!  I watched the parents excavate the nest from April 13-25.  On May 4th, a pair of European Starlings tried to move into a nest cavity right above the Downy's nest cavity.  After 3 days of constant harassment by the male Downy, the Starlings left!  Around May 9th, both parents started flying back and forth to the nesting cavity, bringing food to the nestlings.  23 days later, on June 2, I saw male and female nestlings poking their heads out of the nest, one at a time!  On the morning of June 5th the nestlings were really extending their heads out of the nest, and by that afternoon they had fledged!  I didn't see the nestlings actually leave the nest, but they are no longer in the nest cavity. The parents will apparently feed the fledglings for an additional 3 weeks! 

Downy Woodpecker and nestling (both male) - Dryobates pubescens

I'm really hoping to see the fledglings in the area soon! 

I am just so thrilled that this Downy Woodpecker family survived and is thriving!

4 Steller's Jay nestlings ready to fledge! - Cyanocitta stelleri

On May 28th, I photographed these Steller's Jay nestlings for the first time.  Back then they looked so weak and wobbly!  They fledged from the nest this week, two days after I took the above photo!  The parents will still feed them for approximately another month.  They may even stay together as a family group (but not in the nest) until this coming fall or winter!  They were so fun to watch!  I hope I see them in the area soon!  However, the fledgling stage is full of perils.  The following information on fledglings is from the website toughlittlebirds.com.

"Fledglings are at one of the most dangerous time in their lives, facing an average mortality rate of 42% over just a week or two.  Most of that mortality happens early, just after the little guys have left the nest.  New fledglings have almost no skills: they can't feed themselves, can't fly well (or, in many cases, at all) and can't do anything to defend themselves if something terrifying like a weasel, snake, crow, or even chipmunk decides to eat them.  

So why do they fledge at all?  Because staying in the nest would be even more dangerous.  A flightless baby bird's chief defense is being hidden, and a nest, while it is often hidden, has disadvantages.  After two weeks of the parents feeding their chicks, there is a lot of evidence around indicating where the nest is: the nest will smell like birds; the parents will be in the area noticeably frequently; and if an intelligent predator like a Steller's Jay gets the idea to watch parental movement, it will quickly learn where the nest is.  A baby bird out of the nest can do better, as long as it is capable of running and perching, since it can change hiding places and can hide separately from its siblings."

Sierra Stonecrop - Sedum obtusatum

What's Blooming?

Since we've been getting some rainy days over the past month everything is still lush and green.  There are LOTS of wildflowers in bloom along the highway and in the woods.  Here are the ones I've commonly seen over the past month, and more are still to come!  Enjoy!

Vari-leafed Phacelia - Stream Orchid - Fringe Cups

Phacelia heterophylla - Epipactis gigantea - Tellima grandiflora

Roundtooth Ookow - Bridge's Rose - Crimson Columbine

Dichelostemma multiflorum - Rosa bridgesii - Aquilega formosa

Spotted Coral Root - California Poppy - Hartweg's Iris

Corallorhiza maculata - Eschscholzia californica - Iris hartwegii

Mock Orange - Varied leaved collomia - Little Prince's Pine

Philadelphus lewisii - Collomia heterophylla - Chimaphila menziesii

Harvest Brodiaea - Diamond Clarkia - Mustang Mint (?)

Brodiaea elegans - Clarkia rhomboidea - Monardella sp.

Pacific Gopher Snake - Pituophis catenifer catenifer

Snakes!

We've had hot and cool weather, ranging from the 50's to the 90's!  On the warm days I've seen a few snakes!  This Pacific Gopher Snake was pretty big and incredibly camouflaged!  Although it looked like a Rattlesnake, it doesn't have a rattle and didn't make a sound.  It did strike up a defensive pose!  I've since read that they will flatten their head and shake their tail in the dry leaves!  However, these snakes are not poisonous and kill their prey by constriction.  They can climb trees and burrow underground.  They feed on rodents, rabbits, birds and their eggs, and occasionally lizards.

Pacific Gopher Snake - Pituophis catenifer catenifer

I was quite happy that it wasn't a Rattlesnake!

Valley Garter Snake - Thamnophis sirtalis ssp. fitchi

This Valley Garter Snake is the inland subspecies of the Red-sided Garter Snake, that's found in the coastal areas of California.  We saw this snake up in the Lakes Basin around 6,500' in elevation!  These snakes are not poisonous, but can bite!  They tend to live near wet areas where they eat fish, toads, frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, birds, small mammals, earthworms, slugs and leeches.  I'd never seen one of these before, with it's distinctive red markings!

Western Yellow-bellied Racer - Coluber constrictor mormon

I spotted this Western Yellow-bellied Racer in our garden last week!  This time it held still just long enough for me to take a photo.  Usually they disappear in seconds!  They are not poisonous, and kill their prey by pining it down with loops of their body and engulfing it!  They eat frogs, lizards, small mammals, and insects.

Columbian Black-tailed Deer - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

Mammal Sightings

I saw these two Columbian Black-tailed Deer along the highway this week.  The antlers of these bucks have started to grow and are covered in "velvet", a highly vascular skin which supplies oxygen and nutrients to the growing  bone.  The antlers will be full-size by this coming Fall.  The females should be having their fawns soon!  I haven't seen any does in a while.  I would love to see one with a pair of fawns!

American Mink - Neovision vision

 

To my surprise and delight, I saw this American Mink on a river bank one morning last week! Wow!!! The last time I saw a Mink was last year on July 14th, when I saw a family of four swimming in the river (" River Life!" blog - July 21, 2019)! This one was clearly hunting among the rocks and boulders of a river bank. It was moving so fast, I knew that I wouldn't be able to get a good photo, so I just took a few wide-angle shots and watched it rush along. I only watched it for about two minutes, but it was SO exciting! It wasn't slender, but rather stocky and muscular in appearance. The fur was a rich, warm, dark-brown.

I have since been back to the same site several times, but haven't seen it again. I was hoping that maybe its den was nearby. Their young are born sometime between April and May, and the female alone cares for them. I'll keep checking back. These beautiful animals are in the Mustelidae family, which also includes weasels, otters and ferrets. They hunt on land and in water, and prey on ducks, fish, frogs, crayfish, amphibians, shrews, muskrats, rabbits, mice, birds, and insects! How lucky I was to watch this lovely creature!

Broad-footed Mole - Scapanus latimanus

I found this dead Broad-footed Mole about a month ago, during a rainy period.  It had been raining heavily for several days.  Sometimes, animals that live underground can get flooded out in periods of heavy rain.  I was sorry that it had died, but it was a great opportunity to examine it closely.  You shouldn't pick up dead wildlife, as they may carry a communicable disease.  Instead, I moved it around with twigs I found on the ground.  It had such amazing front feet!  They were wide and HUGE!  These moles are fossorial in structure, or "built for digging", with big shoulder muscles and front paws.  They dig tunnels underground to live in, and while looking for food. They eat insects, beetles, insect larvae, worms, and occasionally seeds and flower bulbs.  They have tiny eyes and ears, but have excellent hearing.  They also have specialize receptors on their snouts called "Eimer's Organs", that confer a higher degree of touch sensitivity than other mammals.  A good thing to have when you live in underground darkness!

Douglas Squirrel/Chickaree - Western Gray Squirrel

Tamiasciurus douglasii - Sciurus griseus

The Douglas Squirrels/Chickarees  and the Western Gray Squirrel are enjoying the bounty of this green growing season.  If they are females they are busy raising their young, which they keep out of sight until they are almost full grown.

What's happening in the Lakes Basin?

Where are the Bears?

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

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Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com