Winter Wildlife!

Columbian Black-tailed Mule Deer - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

With the power being out for the last 12 days, I have had a lot of time to wander and observe wildlife in my neighborhood lately!  I've seen more deer than I have all year, as they are so visible against the white snow! Females and males travel separately in small groups of their own gender. In the winter they forage mainly on the growing tips of trees and shrubs, as well as acorns and grasses. In the fall, they consume lots of vegetation and store up fat for the winter, when food can be scarce.

Columbian Black-tailed Mule Deer - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

I came across this doe and fawn one morning, as they were grazing on the buds and shoots of trees.  Such beauty!  Mule Deer grow thick, shaggy, hollow-haired, grayish-brown coats in the winter, which helps them retain warmth.

Columbian Black-tailed Mule Deer - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

I also came across a group of four bucks in another part of our neighborhood!  They all had different sizes of antlers, which they will shed sometime between January and March. While I was watching them, one of them repeatedly rubbed his antlers against the tree branches.  In winter deer conserve energy by limiting their movement.  They are most active at dawn and dusk, but can be seen at any time.  They usually live 9-11 years in the wild.

Columbian Black-tailed Mule Deer - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

In the photos above you can see the difference in the antler size of the deer.  Antler size is not a reliable indicator of their age. There is really no precise way to accurately do deer aging, other than looking at their teeth. "Despite the many stories hunters tell each other, the size of the antlers and the number of points on the antlers is not a reliable age guide. Antler size is more a function of diet and heredity than it is of age. Three major factors that determine antler size are: age of the buck, genetics of the animal, and nutrition. Said another way, you will not get maximum antler size unless the animal has the genetics, is a healthy mature buck more than 5years old, and has consumed the nutrients needed to achieve the genetic potential."

Western Gray Squirrel - Sciurus griseus

There are probably about 6 or 7 Western Gray Squirrels in my immediate neighborhood.  They remain active all year.  They are called "scatter hoarders" because they store small caches of food in many different places, rather than one main location. These caches are not what the squirrels solely subsist on in winter. They also actively search for food in winter, foraging for pine nuts, acorns, tree buds, and mushrooms.

Their nests are called "dreys" and are made of twigs, leaves, sticks, moss, lichen and shredded bark. They prefer to make their nest in the top third of a tree, but will also nest in hollow tree branches or trunks. During the winter, and in the nesting season, their dreys are covered on top. In the summer they may also construct and open-air sleeping platform!

Western Gray Squirrel - Sciurus griseus

I took this photo before all the snow came!  These two Gray Squirrels were up in the leafless branches of some Big-leaf Maples, busily eating the seeds! I thought it was an unusual sight to see!

Chickaree/Douglas Squirrel - Tamiasciurus douglasii

There are 2 Chickarees that live right near our home! They too have been busy storing seeds and nuts! Unlike the Western Gray Squirrel, they will store lots of green cones for the winter in only one or two main areas. During winter they will dig down through the snow to these caches, or "middens", and feast on the seeds in the cones! They will also forage for food such as nuts, acorns, berries, tree buds, fungi, and insects!

In winter they mainly nest in hollow trees or abandoned woodpecker cavities. They may also build a ball or cup-shaped nest 15'-20' up a tree, from twigs, moss, lichen and shredded bark. In colder northern areas they may even dig a burrow underground, right under one of their food caches!

In summer their fur is reddish brown in color, in winter it is grayish brown. 

Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargenteus

I haven't seen any foxes lately, but their tracks in the snow are all over my neighborhood!  I took the photo above a few years ago.  Surviving in the winter can be tough for foxes. There isn't as much food available, so they have to spend a lot more time hunting. Although mostly nocturnal, they will also hunt during daylight if necessary. To stay warm, they develop a thick coat of fur in winter. They also like to sunbathe on sunny days! Curiously, they seldom sleep in a den during winter. They usually just curl up in a protected area, such as under dense, thick, brambles, or in a rocky crevice or rotten log! A grey fox’s home range usually extends from about two to seven miles, but they only cover a small portion of this every day. Since this home range is not large they know it very well, including the behaviors of their potential prey as well as their predators!  They will also eat seeds, acorns, nuts, berries, tree buds, fungi.

Sharp-shinned Hawk (juvenile) - Accipiter striatus

I spotted this beautiful little Sharp-shinned Hawk one snowy morning this week!  It was perched in the Alder tree near our garden, where I have photographed it several times in the past.  The Sharp-shinned Hawk is the smallest hawk in the US and Canada. They are forest predators, like the Northern Goshawk. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology states, "These raptors have distinctive proportions: long legs, short wings, and very long tails, which they use for navigating their deep-woods homes at top speed in pursuit of songbirds and mice." Small songbirds are the main prey of this hawk species, and there are lots of songbirds in our garden right now! They use surprise attack as their main method of capture. They will eat birds as small as an Anna's Hummingbird, or as large as a Mountain Quail! They will pluck off most of the feathers of their prey before they eat them!

Sharp-shinned Hawk (juvenile) - Accipiter striatus

While I was photographing this little hawk, it suddenly took off, flew over my head and was instantly in hot pursuit of a Steller's Jay!  I saw them as they sped down the road in the air.  I don't know if the hawk got the jay, but it was fascinating to see! 

American Kestrel (male) - Falco sparverius

Just this week I was thrilled to see a male American Kestrel perched in the top of one of the pines on the open slope! WOW!!! I'd seen one there just about a year ago, on January 15, 2021.  Last year it stuck around for about a week.  I'll bet this is the same Kestrel!  He is so beautiful!  American Kestrels are the smallest falcon in North America, measuring 9" in length, with a wingspan of 22", and a weight of 4.1oz. Their diet consists primarily of insects and small rodents such as: grasshoppers, beetles, dragonflies, scorpions, spiders, butterflies, moths, voles, mice, shrews, bats, snakes, lizards, frogs, and small songbirds! Right now there aren't many insects around, so it was probably hunting for rodents in the field.

Red-shouldered Hawk - Mountain Quail remains 

Buteo lineatus - Oreortyx pictus

A day after I'd seen the Sharp-shinned Hawk near our garden, I spotted this Red-shouldered Hawk on the ground under a table where I used to feed the local wild birds.  I thought that maybe it was soaked, starved and freezing because of the snowy weather, but I left it alone and went on my walk.  When I came back an hour later, it was still there!  So I thought I could "help" it and give it some food.  I went home and defrosted some raw chicken and brought it down to the hawk. Just as I was putting the chicken on the ground a short distance from the hawk, it took off with a dead quail in its talons!  The quail was too heavy for the hawk to carry, so it dropped it in the deep snow and flew off. Geeze!  I messed everything up!  Luckily I found the dead quail and put it on top of the table, hoping the hawk would return and eat it.  Several hours later, I went on another walk and the quail carcass had been cleaned out by the hawk!  Only a few bones, the feet, and the intestines were left!  WOW!!!  I was so relieved that the hawk came back and ate the quail!  I felt so bad that I had chased it off!  Once again I've learned that I should always leave wild things wild! 

Mountain Quail - Oreortyx pictus

I've been seeing several coveys of 6-9 Mountain Quail in our neighborhood this week.  These beautiful birds are way more visible on the white snow than they are in the summer! They are the largest North American quail, measuring 11" in height, with a wingspan of 16", and a weight of 8 oz. Every spring they walk as much as 20 miles up to their breeding/nesting grounds at higher elevations. In the fall they walk back to down to lower elevations to spend the winter. They eat a large variety of plants and seeds.  In the fall and winter they stay together in small coveys of family related groups, while foraging and roosting.

Mountain Quail (male) - Oreortyx pictus

They are different from other Quail in that they are sexually monomorphic (the male and female look alike).  I love their bobbing head feathers!

Common Raven - Corvus corax

We have  a pair of Common Ravens that have lived in our neighborhood for years and years.  I delight in how they are constantly calling to each other as they search and perch in our neighborhood.  Their typical food source is carrion from roadkill, but they are omnivores and will eat almost anything, including garbage and pet food!  It isn't known whether Ravens mate for life, but these two certainly seem to be dedicated to each other!  I love seeing them every day!

Pine Siskins - Pinus spinus

To my delight I have had many sightings of Pine Siskin flocks in our neighborhood this winter.  Last year their population declined dramatically due to an outbreak of Salmonella contracted from bird feeders. My blog on February 6, 2021 is all about this outbreak. So please, if you choose to feed birds in the winter PLEASE keep your feeders clean!  Detailed information on possible diseases caused by unsanitary bird feeders, and how to keep your bird feeders clean is in my December 15, 2019 blog. 

Pine Siskins - Pinus spinus

Pine Siskins are named for their preference for pine and other conifer seeds. They will hang from the tips of branches to glean seeds from the cones. They also feed on the ground for a wide variety of grass and shrub seeds, garden vegetable leaves and stems, and insects. Sap in tree trunk holes, that Sapsuckers have made, can also be part of their diet! They will also ingest minerals along the sides of roads! They range widely and erratically in response to seed crops. Their main food in winter is cone seeds and tree buds. Locally they've been eating the seeds from this year's alder cones.

Pine Siskins - Pinus spinus

Recently the snow plows have uncovered some bare dirt which is apparently rich with seeds.  I loved watching this small flock of Pine Siskins feast on this wealth of food!

When food is plentiful they will store lots of seeds in their crop, which gets them through cold winter nights. Unlike hummingbirds, that go into a state of torpor overnight, Pine Siskins ramp up their metabolic rate to stay warm at night! They also put on a layer of fat for winter! I love watching these little birds and hearing their busy chatter as they forage and perch in the trees! They travel in small to large flocks all year.

Clearing Skies after the Big Storm

Damp Earth Art

This week the weather calmed down, thank goodness! We had several warmer, sunny days, and only about .55" of rain and no snow. The roads were cleared and re-opened and our power was restored after 12 days!  Yahoo!  In the meantime, I'm continuing my constant hope for rain (or snow!). Please join me! Perhaps our collective efforts may help it happen. I'm going to keep posting rain inspired writings, art, etc. on my blog at dampearthart.blogspot.com. Any submissions would be greatly appreciated. 

What's happening at the local ponds?

What else is inhabiting the damp rocky slopes in our neighborhood,

besides the ferns, lichen, and moss?

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

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