It's raining right now, and on last Tuesday it rained a total of .66"! Yahoo! On Tuesday, like today, it was raining lightly so I went out wandering to see what I could see. I decided to head over to a seasonal creek that had been bone dry last week. To my joy, the water in the creek was running and the bedrock pools were filled with rainwater! I kept hiking upstream from one pool to another, delighting in the small waterfalls that flowed between them!
Western Polypody & Dendroalsia Moss
Polypodium hesperium - Dendroalsia albietina
The moss and ferns that grew along the bank of the creek
were lush and full from the rain. The moss formed thick, soft, damp cushions on the rocks. The ferns dripped and danced in the rain! Such beauty!
Water Strider - Gerris sp.
Since the pools had been covered with dried algae for the past two months, there weren't any frogs in them. Surprisingly, however, there were Water Striders! These insects spend the winter as adults, under leaf litter and rocks on the forest floor. Now that the water is present and temperatures have warmed up, they're back preying on insects and spiders on the surface of the ponds. Water Striders have several thousand hydrofuge (water resistant) hairs per square mm, on their body and legs. These hairs allow them to "walk on water"!
Colaptes auratus - Catharus guttatus
I kept hearing a Northern Flicker calling and calling, and finally saw a female perched nearby. These beautiful birds are in the Woodpecker family. They don't peck on tree trunks in search of insects like other Woodpeckers, although they will hammer out nesting holes in trunks. No. Flickers mainly eat carpenter ants and other insects in downed rotten logs, and on the ground. Some years, depending on the severity of winter, they live year-round in our neighborhood.
I also saw a lovely Hermit Thrush in the creek bed canyon! It's the first one I've seen locally this year. Maybe it just flew up from the foothills, on its migration north to Canada or Alaska. I love their speckled breasts!
Brewer's Rock Cress - Seep-spring Monkeyflower (?)
Boechera breweri - Erythranthea sp.
On the way up the creek bed, I came across a few early wildflowers in bloom growing on the mossy banks! Both of the flowers pictured above were quite tiny, about 1/2" in length!
Shelton's Violet/Fan Violet - Milk Maids/Toothwort
Viola sheltonii - Cardamine californica
After a while I hiked back down to the mouth of the creek bed, to see what else might be in bloom. In the shady forest, Violets and Milkmaids were the only wildflowers I came across. I wonder what part of their genetic makeup causes them to bloom ahead of most other wildflowers.
Male and female Willow Catkins - Salix sp.
Male Alder catkins - Alnus sp.
...as well as the alders, with their long, pendulant, male catkins.
Greenleaf Manzanita - Plum (species unknown)
Arctostaphylos patula - Prunus sp.
The Manzanita bushes have recently blossomed, whereas the plums have been in bloom for a week or more. The plum pictured above right produces many delicious, oval, reddish-purple fruits that I really enjoy eating at the end of summer. I suspect that it's not a native plum, since it's growing between two houses, and there aren't any more to be found locally.
Sierra Gooseberry - Oregon Grape
Ribes roezlii - Berberis aquifolium
The Sierra Gooseberry is wind pollinated, so it blooms early, usually when there aren't many insects around! I don't know if that's the case for the Oregon Grape pictured above. I need to spend time watching both of these plants to see if insects frequent them.
After several hours of wandering, the rain got a little heavier, so I headed home, with my camera under my jacket, replenished by the lovely, longed-for rain! Ahhh!
Wood Duck Pond - 3/14/22
Wood Duck Pond!
I finally made it to Wood Duck Pond this week! Yay! It's down in the foothills, and not in my usual path of travel. It was just as lovely and full of life as ever!
Wood Duck & Ring-necked Duck (both males)
Aix Sponsa - Athya collaris
Right away I spotted some Wood Ducks, a pair of Ring-necked Ducks, and one Pied-billed Grebe! How exciting! The males are so colorful, and the females are so camouflaged!
Ring-necked Duck pair - Athya collaris
When I was going over my photos of these Ring-necked Ducks, I kept thinking how pretty and how feminine the female looked! I've never thought this about any wild duck before, but she definitely looked like his prize possession!
Ring-necked Duck pair - Athya collaris
I saw some Ring-necked Ducks on this pond last year. They are uncommon in our area, and won't nest here. They are just stopping by on their migration north. The following information about these ducks is from the Cornell website, birdsoftheworld.org.
"Migratory throughout its range, this duck nests at generally low densities in subarctic deltas, taiga, boreal forest, aspen parkland, and to a lesser extent, prairie regions. Migrates nocturnally in small flocks of 10–75 birds. Celestial, landscape, and geomagnetic cues are used in varying degrees for navigation by waterfowl as a group. No information specific to the Ring-necked Duck.
Pair bonds that form during spring migration (Mar–Apr) remain intact until early incubation (Jun–early Jul). Primarily monogamous. They feed on moist-soil and aquatic plant seeds and tubers, as well as aquatic invertebrates. Feeds exclusively in water, usually within flooded emergent vegetation, along open-water edges of emergent vegetation, and in open-water areas vegetated with flooded moist-soil or floating or submerged aquatic plants."
.JPG)
Wood Duck pair - Aix sponsa
Wood ducks nest in the foothills of the western Sierra, usually below 3,000' - 4,000' in elevation. They are tree-cavity nesters, but do not use abandoned woodpecker cavities. They use natural cavities that have formed in a mature tree, often where a branch has broken off due to heart rot. The Wood Duck is the only North American duck that regularly produces two broods in one 5-6 month breeding season! The female lays 10-13 eggs in her feather-lined nest, anytime between March and June. The incubation period is 30 days. The ducklings are born precocial, and leave the nest usually within 24 hours after hatching. They jump to the ground and their mother leads them to water, where they immediately start feeding! After approximately 30 days, the female abandons the young ducklings, to start another brood! This pond is in the right elevation/location for these ducks to nest.
Pied-billed Grebe (adult) - Podilymbus podiceps
Pied-billed Grebe are uncommon. "Pied" means having two or more colors. They eat crustaceans, fish, frogs, and aquatic insects. They forage for food underwater, as well as on the surface of ponds and bays. Curiously they also eat a lot of their feathers! Apparently this helps in the formation of pellets that they cast to rid their intestine of undigested material. The Cornell Lab states: "Regular ejection of stomach contents minimizes buildup of gastric parasite population in upper alimentary tract." To escape predation they dive or sink slowly out of view, or hide underwater with only their eyes and nostrils just above the surface! Together the male and female build their floating platform of a nest out of dead and rotting aquatic plants. Additionally, they share the brooding of eggs and raising of the young. They are fierce defenders of their nesting territory, often attacking other waterfowl from underwater! What interesting, different habits this bird has! I'm always so amazed at how everything has evolved so specifically!
I took the photo on the right while the grebe was "sinking"! It was so cool to have read about them doing this, and then to see it happen! It sunk pretty slowly, like a submarine! Wow!!! I spent a good hour watching these beautiful birds! What a treat!
Northern Flicker in the Rain!
Colaptes auratus
Damp Earth Art
We got an inch of rain this week! Not a lot but better than nothing. More rain is tentatively predicted for next weekend and the week after! Anything helps! Please join me in my continuing hope for precipitation! Perhaps our collective efforts may help it happen. Rumor has it that there was an outdoor "Rain Dance" performed in our area this week, just before the storm came! My thanks go out to those who were involved, I'm sure it helped! Yay! I'm going to keep posting rain inspired writings, art, etc. on my blog at dampearthart.blogspot.com. Any submissions would be greatly appreciated.
Wishing for peace in Ukraine and an immediate end to this senseless war!
What's happening on the River?
What's going on in the Lakes Basin?
What's happening at Table Mountain?
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