Reptile Weather!

Tiger Whiptail: subspecies California Whiptail

Aspidocelis tigris munda

Reptile Weather!

The daytime temperatures have been in the 70's lately, and reptiles have become very active and visible.  However, I'm not a herpetologist and find it pretty difficult to identify lizards, as they vary so much in coloration within a genus. To make it even more confusing most of my field guides have different common names and/or scientific names than internet sources.  So I use californiaherps.com as my main source of information. Their information is up-to-date, and the range maps they have for each species are a great help. So please don't take my identification of these lizards as absolutely correct! If I have misidentified any reptiles on this blog, please let me know!  

We saw this beautiful California Whiptail down at the South Yuba River State Park last week! I've never seen one before! They are long, slender lizards, measuring 13" in total length. Usually the tail is much longer than the body, sometimes even 2x the body length! The average size is a 5" body and an 8" tail. They prefer to live in dry open areas with shrubs to hide in, such as chaparral, but also live in forests, woodlands, and riparian areas from sea level to 7,000'. They eat small invertebrates including spiders, scorpions, centipedes, termites, and small lizards. They often dig in the ground to find their prey! Unlike some whiptail species that are entirely female, there are male and female California Whiptails. They usually mate sometime in May and the females lay the eggs shortly thereafter. The eggs will hatch sometime between May and August!  This one kept running ahead of us on the trail, and eventually dove off into the bushes.

Common Garter Snake (juvenile, last Fall) - Thamnophis sirtalis fitchi

Three Garter Snakes checked me out one afternoon, as I was working in our garden!  They have probably just emerged from their underground hibernacleum (winter den).  Brumation is a cold-blooded form of hibernation, or condition of sluggishness/torpor.  They often overwinter in groups of 20 or more, and mate as soon as they emerge in the spring.  The young are born in August.  Garter Snakes are ovoviviparous, and carry their eggs (20-50!!!) internally!  The young emerge from their mother after hatching, and spend their first year preying mainly on earthworms!  Adult Garter Snakes feed on frogs, toads, fish, salamanders, slugs, leeches, lizards, other snakes, and birds.  Snakes don't have eyelids or ears, and communicate through movements!

Sharp-tailed Snake (top - bottom) - Contia tenuis

A few weeks ago I saw a Sharp-tailed Snake for the first time ever!  Unfortunately it was dead, but I was able to really look at it.  It was only about 8" long and slender as a pencil!  It was a warm gray/beige in color, with a faint dusty orange stripe along the length of each side.  The belly was strikingly colored with alternating black and white bands!  It turns out that these tiny snakes have long teeth for their size, which they use to nab slippery slugs!  Slugs are just about all they eat! They commonly live in the damp areas of a forest or meadow edge, often near a creek, underneath a log or rock.  They will lay eggs in June or July, which will hatch in mid-autumn.  The young snakes are only 3" long when they hatch!

Northwestern Fence Lizard (light phase) - Sceloperus occidentalis occidentalis

I also saw lots of lizards this week down in Canyon Creek. Mainly they were patterned in brown, rust, and beige zigzags. Others were an overall solid dusty black in color. It turns out that they might be the same kind of lizard, the Northwestern Fence Lizard! When fence lizards are cold they don't display patterns or colors, and appear mainly black! Males have distinctive blue patches on the sides of their belly and throat. These blue patches are faint or absent on females.

Northwestern Fence Lizard (dark phase) - Sceloperus occidentalis occidentalis

The following information is from californiaherps.com, a great website for information on reptiles and amphibians, and lots of good photos.

"These lizards are diurnal. Active when temperatures are warm, becomes inactive during periods of extreme heat or cold, when they shelter in crevices and burrows, or under rocks, boards, tree bark, etc. Found in a wide variety of open, sunny habitats, including woodlands, grasslands, scrub, chaparral, forests, along waterways, suburban dwellings, where there are suitable basking and perching sites, including fences, walls, woodpiles, piles of rocks and rocky outcrops, dead and downed trees, wood rat nests, road berms, and open trail edges. Common and easily encountered in the right habitat. This is probably the species of lizard most often seen in the state due to its abundance in and near populated areas and its conspicuous behavior.

Males establish and defend a territory containing elevated perches where they can observe mates and potential rival males. Males defend their territory and try to attract females with head-bobbing and a push-up display that exposes the blue throat and ventral colors. Territories are ultimately defended by physical combat with other males. Courtship and copulation typically occurs from March to June. Egg laying occurs 2 - 4 weeks after copulation. Females dig small pits in loose damp soil where they lay 1 - 3 clutches of 3 - 17 eggs usually from May to July. Eggs hatch in about 60 days, usually from July to September. Young and adult lizards eat insects, spiders, scorpions, centipedes, butterflies, wasps, and ants."

Sierra Alligator Lizard - Elgaria coerulea palmeri

I saw this Sierra Alligator Lizard in my neighborhood this week. It kept perfectly still once it saw me, and was so camouflaged it was difficult to see! The following information about this lizard is again from californiaherps.com.

"Sierra Alligator Lizards have large scales, a long alligator-like snout, light-colored eyes, and a longitudinal fold on the lower sides of the body. They can be fairly large in size. Active during daylight, they are frequently seen moving on the ground, and occasionally up in bushes. Alligator lizards do not typically bask in the sun out in the open or on top of a rock like many other lizard species."

Forest Alligator Lizard - Elgaria multicarinata multicarinata

"There's not much difference in appearance between the male and female Alligator Lizards. Eggs are usually laid between May and June, and hatch during late summer and early fall. Females lay two clutches of eggs per year, often in decaying wood or plant matter to keep them warm. Females will guard the eggs until they hatch. They eat small arthropods, slugs, lizards, small mammals, and occasionally young birds and eggs."

I saw this Forest Alligator Lizard down in the foothills. It was a lot more colorful than the one I saw in my neighborhood.

Savannah Sparrow - Passerculus sandwichensis

               

A Few more Foothill Observations

Two weeks ago, we went back to the North Table Mountain Ecological Reserve to check out the waterfalls, canyons, and birds.  To our delight the entire top of the mountain was STILL covered in billions of wildflowers!!  The fragrance of the flowers was heavenly!  This time we hiked to Raleigh Falls to see a particular flower that I had read about in the Wildflowers of Table Mountain field guide by Albin Bills and Samantha Mackey.  

An unnamed waterfall  and basalt-column cliffs

 Crossing the flowering fields, there is a loose network of small seasonal streams that flow to the edges of the mountain.  To quote the field guide I just mentioned, "The erosional action of these creeks has produced a number of intriguing canyons and hollows, whose wooded sides and bottoms provide a striking contrast to the grasslands of the plateau. At selected points, these streams plunge over steep cliffs, creating magnificent waterfalls."

White Plectritis - Kellogg's Clarkia - Canyon Delphinium

Plectritis macrocera - Clarkia arcuata - Delphinium nudicaule

Near Raleigh Falls we found the flower I had read about, the Canyon Delphinium - Delphinium naudicaule!!!  It is a RED Delphinium which I had never seen before! All the Delphiniums I've ever seen have been blue, purple, or white.  This red one was startlingly beautiful!  There wasn't a field of them, only about 20 of them were growing in a shaded, forested area!  I felt so lucky to be there at the right time to see them in bloom! Such beauty!  

The White Plectritis was also new to us and was growing in the waterfall canyon as well.  The white flowers were so tiny!  We came across a few gorgeous Kellogg's Clarkias in a sunny field, another new species for us!  Up close, with a hand lens, they were spectacular!

Horned Lark (male) - Lark Sparrow (adult) - Meadowlark (adult)

Eremophila alpestris - Chondestes grammacus - Sturnella neglecta

There were LOTS of people at the waterfall so we didn't linger.  We hiked to an off-trail, unnamed waterfall where there weren't any people, and ate our lunch in the shade where birds serenaded us!  A few Horned Larks were feeding on the ground, Lark Sparrows came by to check us out, and Meadowlarks were singing from the tree tops!  What a privilege it was to visit this beautiful nature reserve twice this Spring!

Last week my friend Nancy and I decided to hike one more time down in the South Yuba River State Park, to check out the wildflowers. There were lots of flowers still blooming, and birdsong filled the air!

Blue-eyed Grass - Chinese Houses - Sierra Fawn Lily

Sisyrinchium bellum - Colinsia heterophylla - Erythronium multiscapideum 

New to us was the Sierra Fawn Lily!  We've seen the much smaller Plainleaf Fawn Lily in the Lakes Basin many times. This new Sierra Fawn Lily was easily twice as big as the Lakes Basin species.  It also only had one flower per stalk, rather than several. 

Sierra Fawn Lily leaf - Erythronium multiscapideum

The leaves were mottled with dark green splotches. 

Perhaps that's why another name for this plant is Adder's Tongue!

Northwestern Fence Lizard - Western Kingbird

Sceloperus occidentalis occidentalis - Tyrannus verticalis

There were lots of birds singing and lizards were lounging in sunny places.  We watched Acorn Woodpeckers chase each other through the trees, and Wild Turkeys stroll through the woods!  This Western Kingbird posed beautifully for me with a Northwestern Fence Lizard! 

  

Acorn Woodpecker (male) - Wild Turkey (fem.) - Yellow-rumped Warbler (fem.)

Melanerpes formicivorus - Meleagris gallopavo - Dendroica coronata

Wild Turkeys don't live in my neighborhood, so I don't know much about them.  The following information is from the Cornell website allaboutbirds.org.

"Wild Turkeys get around mostly by walking, though they can also run and fly—when threatened, females tend to fly while males tend to run. At sundown turkeys fly into the lower limbs of trees and move upward from limb to limb to a high roost spot. They usually roost in flocks, but sometimes individually. Courting males gobble to attract females and warn competing males. They display for females by strutting with their tails fanned, wings lowered, while making nonvocal hums and chump sounds. Males breed with multiple mates and form all-male flocks outside of the breeding season, leaving the chick-rearing to the females, The chicks travel in a family group with their mother, often combining with other family groups to form large flocks of young turkeys accompanied by two or more adult females."

Misty Sunrise

Damp Weather Ahead!

They are predicting heavy rain and even some snow starting Saturday night, all day Sunday, and tapering off on Monday!  Yahoo!  Hopefully it will be a deluge!  I'll let you know what happens.  In the meantime pray for rain!  We need all we can get!

What 's blooming locally?

What birds have recently arrived?

What about those insects?

What are the amphibians doing?

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

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