Lesser Goldfinch (female or juvenile) - Carduelis psaltria
At this time of year many birds are switching from a diet of insects to a diet of seeds and fruit. The colder weather has made the insects mostly inactive and hard to find, whereas many plants have recently gone to seed or produced fruit.
A few years back I figured out approximately how many seeds a Lesser Goldfinch might eat in a day. My research was based on the information that birds eat 1/2 to 1/4 of their weight daily, and that a Lesser Goldfinch weighs about .33 oz. I pried the sunflower seeds from the dried flower heads (It's not as easy as you would think!) and found out that 37.5 seeds add up to .01 oz. in weight. However, the seeds I weighed were still in their hulls. The actual weight of JUST the seeds is probably at least half that weight. So I assumed that it would take 75 seeds to add up to .01 oz of weight. So, if a Lesser Goldfinch ate 1/4 of its weight (.0825 oz) in a day, it would need to eat approximately 619 seeds. If a Lesser Goldfinch ate 1/2 of its weight (.165 oz) in a day it would need to eat approximately 1,238 seeds!!! WOW! That is a lot of seed hulling! It also explains why they appear to eat continuously during the daylight hours! This is just an estimate, but it was fun to figure out!
Golden-crowned Sparrow (adult - first year) - Zonotrichia atricapilla
Down in the garden there are more seed-eating birds than ever before! I think they might be refugees from burned areas! We have LOTS of volunteer sunflowers that attract birds in the Fall. I've also decided to start feeding the birds, to help the process of fattening up a little easier for them. There are pros and cons to feeding birds. Basically if you keep your feeding area clean, and provide good, nutritional seed, it is generally accepted that bird feeding is okay at this time of year. If you don't keep your bird feeders/feeding area clean, disease can be spread among those birds visiting your feeding station. I wrote extensively on this subject on my December 15, 2019 blog. Check it out. It may help you decide to feed or not to feed.
Golden-Crowned Sparrows migrate through our neighborhood every Fall. They breed up in western Canada and Alaska, and winter in the coast and central valley of California, or even as far south as northern Baja. They are avid seed-eaters, mainly feeding on the ground.
White-crowned Sparrow (adult - first year) - Zonotrichia leucophrys
White-crowned Sparrows and Golden-crowned Sparrows are often seen feeding together. White-crowns pass through here in the Fall, on the way to their wintering grounds across the southern U.S, and as far south as central Mexico and Baja. They are primarily seed eaters at this time of year. It's been fun to see so many of them down in our garden lately!
Steller's Jay - Mountain Quail
Cyanocitta stelleri - Oreortyx pictus
The Steller's Jays live in our neighborhood all year long. Right now they are busy eating seeds out of the sunflower seed heads! They can be quite acrobatic in their efforts!
Urban Anthrophora (?) - Hover Fly (?) & Ceratina (?)
Anthophora urbana (?) - genus (?) - Ceratina cockerelli (?)
Pollinators!
There are still lots of pollinators in our garden! Several different kinds of bees, wasps, beetles, flies, and butterflies are common. As you can tell I am sorely lacking in my knowledge of insects! I've posted photos of these pollinators on bugguide.net, and they will identify them for me in a few days! I'll let you know what they decide, next week.
Mystery Bee
genus/species unknown
There was only one of these hairy, blonde bees flying around our garden. I've never seen one of these before! Bugguide.net will provide an answer!
Great Spangled Fritillary (male - female)
Speyeria cybele
Many butterflies are still feeding on the flowers in our garden! So lovely to watch!
Butterfly Facts
"Butterflies have "complete" life cycles, with four different stages: egg, caterpillar (larva), chrysalis (pupa), and adult. The entire life cycle, from the deposition of the egg to the emergence of the adult, usually takes about a month for most butterflies. Each species of butterfly has a different adult life span. Some adult butterflies only live for a few days, while others live for a few weeks or even several months (if they experience dormant periods of diapause or hibernation). The average lifespan for most adults is one to two weeks.
Butterflies have compound eyes and simple eyes. They see very differently from us; they can see ultraviolet rays (which are invisible to us).
A butterfly's antennae, palps, legs and many other parts of the body are studded with sense receptors that are used to smell. The sense of smell is used for finding food (usually flower nectar), and for finding mates (the female smelling the male's pheromones).
A butterfly's feet have sense organs that can taste the sugar in nectar, letting the butterfly know if something is good to eat or not. Some females also taste host plants (using organs on their legs) in order to find appropriate places to lay their eggs. These receptors (called chemoreceptors) are nerve cells on the body's surface which react to certain chemicals. We have similar receptors in our nose and on our tongue."
Crescent (?) - Woodland Skipper - Orange Sulphur
Phycoides sp. (?) - Ochloides sylvanoides - Colias eurytheme
Hairy Matilija Poppy - Romneya trichocalyx
Plants have a variety of strategies for surviving winter!
As the daylight hours shorten and temperatures drop, most plants become dormant. During dormancy, a plants' metabolism, photosynthesis, and respiration rate slow down, and growth stops. Some plants even produce a type of anti-freeze in their cells, to prevent damage from frost and freezing temperatures!
Some plants will create the buds for next year's bloom in the late summer and fall.
These buds will remain dormant throughout the winter, but are ready to burst open once enough cold days have occurred and the temperature and daylight hours have increased.
Another way to ensure species survival over winter, is through seeds. Since they cannot walk, seeds depend on wind, water, animals, and explosion to be dispersed. Aquatic plants depend on water movement to disperse their seeds. Animals can eat seeds, or fruits with seeds, and disperse them in their poop! Seeds can also hook onto an animal's fur or feathers and be transported. The dispersal by explosion happens when some dry seed pods burst open and propel their seeds!
Gray's Lovage - Cow Parsnip
Ligusticum grayi - Heracleum maximum
Anderson's Thistle - Milkweed sp.
Cirsium andersonii - Asclepias sp.
Ranger Buttons - Spenociadium capitellatum
More Damp Earth Art!
Please visit my new blog dampearthart.blogspot.com. I will be posting new art weekly. Once again I am sending out a "Call for Art" in celebration of rain. My intention is to focus on the need for rain, and through collective positive energy invoke rain to fall. It is just a wish, a thought, and a hope. If you would like to submit some art, or writing, or a photo please check out my blog at dampearthart.blogspot.com
You can view what was submitted last year at dampearth.blogspot.com.
Check it out and pray for rain!
Are the bears still around?
What are they eating?
Are the Sandhill Cranes migrating through yet?
Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more!
Unfortunately you can no longer sign up to get my blog emailed to you.
Something changed at Blogspot.com. Oh well... However, my blog looks better if you just go to northyubanaturalist.blogspot.com, rather than get the emailed version. I suggest that you just bookmark my blog and visit it every Sunday afternoon!
Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated!
Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com
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