Pussy Willows - Salix sp.
In January, the local male willows started making their flower buds or "pussy willows". These buds stayed fuzzy and gray for weeks, until the weather warmed up. Right now they are in full bloom throughout our area! Willows are dioecious, having separate male and female plants. Once they bloom, the male and female plants are easy to distinguish from each other.
Willow catkins with inset Crab Spider photo (female - male) - Salix sp.
Willow flowers are arranged in "catkins".
The Britannica online dictionary states,
"A catkin is an elongated cluster of single-sex flowers bearing scaly bracts and usually lacking petals. Catkins may be erect or pendulous and are often somewhat inconspicuous. Many trees bear catkins, including willows, birches, and oaks. Wind carries pollen from male to female catkins or from male catkins to female flowers arranged in a different inflorescence form (e.g., in spikes). Depending on the species, a catkin-producing plant may be monoecious (both male and female flowers are present on a single individual) or dioecious (female and male flowers are borne on separate individuals)."
Male Willow catkins - Salix sp.
Each male willow catkin has 270 flowers with 2 stamens each! Each stamen is loaded with yellow pollen which is windborne to the female catkins. They are so beautiful!
Female Willow catkins - Salix sp.
Each female willow catkin has 142 flowers with 1 pistil each! They are greener and less feathery in appearance than the male catkins.
White Alder with inset photo of an Anna's Hummingbird -
Alnus rhombifolia - Calypte anna
The local White Alders also have blooming catkins right now. In contrast to willows, alders are monoecious, having both sexes on one plant. The beautiful tassel-like hanging catkins are male catkins that produce pollen.
White Alder female cones and male catkins - Alnus rhombifolia
The female part of the alder is a cone, not a catkin. Most people are familiar with the little, dry, brown cones on alder trees. This year's tiny, new, female cones, that will grow into full-sized cones, can be seen just above the male catkin!
Sierra Treefrog (on top) unknown frog (on bottom)
Pseudacris sierra - unknown sp.
A Surprising Roadside Ditch!
In my daily wandering I usually walk by a roadside ditch on the edge of the highway. One afternoon I recently heard lots of frogs calling from the ditch so I went to investigate. To my surprise I found this pair of frogs in "amplexus"!!! What was surprising is that they definitely looked like two different species of frog! I posted this photo on iNaturalist.org and am waiting for an identification.
Wikipedia states, "Amplexus is a type of mating behavior exhibited by some externally fertilizing species in which the smaller male grasps a female with his front legs as part of the mating process, and at the same time or with some time delay (two or more days), he fertilizes the eggs, as they are released from the female's body."
I have since found out that in mating season, male frogs will grab on to any female that comes near regardless of species! Although not common, seeing unrelated species in amplexus is not rare. However a "mixed-breed" frog will not result from this attempt at mating.
Frog eggs in the ditch water
Since these two frogs were mating, I figured that there must be some frog eggs in the ditch pond that I hadn't noticed. After careful scrutiny of the ditch pond, I found some frog eggs clinging to some submerged plant parts! The jelly surrounding frog and toad eggs swells up immediately after the eggs are shed.
In Pacific Tree Frogs breeding takes place from January to May. The female lays an egg mass containing 10-70 eggs. It takes about 3-4 weeks for the eggs to hatch. The colder the water is, the longer it takes for the eggs to hatch. This is the embryonic stage of a frog. Once they hatch, they will remain tadpoles for approximately 3 months before they are fully formed adults!!
Cranefly larva - possible Tube worm
Tipula sp. - unknown sp.
I also found some Crane Fly larva when I inspected the ditch pond! I saw these for the first time last winter. Apparently, female Crane Flies lay eggs in shallow water in the fall. The eggs hatch into these larva, which will pupate and become adult Crane Flies sometime in the Spring!
I also found the unusual critter pictured above right! It was very tiny, and at the surface of the water it had a fan of "appendages" around an opening. I think it might be a tube worm, or the bum end of a Crane Fly larva! I posted the photo on iNaturalist.org to hopefully get an identification. I wonder what else I might find in this small ditch ecosystem! It's fascinating!
Damp Earth Art
Once again we had unseasonably warm days into the 60's this week along with intermittent wind! It was very disconcerting. The lack of rain is increasingly worrisome. There's a 40% chance of rain this coming Monday night! My fingers are crossed that this may open the "storm door" and more storms will come. Please join me in my continuing hope for precipitation! 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 in Sierra Valley?
What insects are feeding on the blooming plants?
What else is blooming?
Check back next week for the answers to these questions and more.
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Your questions and comments are greatly appreciated. Please feel free to email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!
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