The Marysville Rice Fields!

Sandhill Cranes (juvenile & adult) - Antigone canadensis

My husband and I traveled down to the Marysville Rice Fields this week to go bird watching. We hadn't been there in three years! The rice fields, in California's Central Valley, support many wildlife species!!! The following information from https://calrice.org explains this complex relationship.

"California rice is uniquely connected to the environment and the long-term survival of 230 wildlife species that depend on planted rice fields in the Sacramento Valley.

Every species from Swainson’s Hawks, Bald Eagles, Sandhill Cranes, River Otters, Western Pond Turtles, millions of migratory waterbirds traveling the Pacific Flyway, and the state and federally threatened Giant Gartersnake all utilize the important habitat and food resources planted rice fields create.

With 95% of California’s historic wetlands now gone, rice fields now serve as critical surrogate wetland habitat for wildlife. Acquiring, restoring and replacing the wetland habitat and food resources for wildlife rice now provides, would cost close to $3 Billion.

Every year 7-10 million ducks and geese innately travel to Northern California’s Sacramento Valley, spending the winter months in rice fields, relying on leftover rice grain as a primary food source enabling them to refuel before the next long journey.

Rice fields provide more than 60% of the diet for the millions of ducks, geese and other wintering waterfowl.

Winter flooded rice fields also create critical habitat space for waterfowl to rest and develops aquatic organisms known as “Zooplankton” which is a nutrient-dense food source for fish.

Continued yearly work between rice farmers and scientists indicates rice fields may hold the key to boosting the state’s dwindling salmon population, with rice fields creating nutrient-rich food for baby salmon.

Planted rice fields are inherently multi-beneficial, with many others connected to the growing process. 40% of water used to grow rice gets recycled, flowing to neighboring farms to help irrigate other crops, traveling to wildlife refuges for reuse or continuing downstream returning to the environment.

For two decades now, the Sacramento Valley has been designated as a Western Hemisphere Shorebird Reserve Network site of International Importance, with rice fields being recognized for their importance to shorebird populations along the Pacific Flyway."

Sandhill Cranes - Antigone canadensis

Luckily we came across a small group of Sandhill Cranes right near the road! These birds migrate down in the Pacific Flyway from British Columbia, Alaska, Washington, Oregon, and northeastern California, to overwinter in California's Central Valley. They are 4' length, with a 7'7" wingspan! They roost at night in shallow wetlands but feed by day in agricultural fields. The are mainly herbivores, and eat corn, roots, seeds, cultivated grains, and berries, as well as small mammals, insects, snails, reptiles, and amphibians. Their feeding and roosting areas are typically less than 2 miles apart.

Sandhill Cranes (juvenile & adult) - Antigone canadensis

While we were watching the small group of Cranes, they took off and joined a distant bigger group of Sandhill Cranes. The total we saw was 18 Cranes!  What a thrill it was to see these incredible winter visitors!

 Three White-faced Ibis - Plegadis chihi

These gorgeous birds have come down from their breeding grounds either in Idaho, Montana, N. & S. Dakota, Iowa or Utah, to spend the winter in California's Central Valley. During their breeding season (April to mid-May) a white rim of feathers is displayed around the bare skin of their face, hence their name! The birds pictured above weren't in their mating colors yet, but in the right light the iridescence of their feathers was a palette of colors!

White-faced Ibis - Plegadis chihi

They use their long decurved bills to probe for aquatic insects, crustaceans, earthworms, and midge larvae. We saw large groups of them in the shallow, muddy fields. When they fly they look almost prehistoric to me, with their curved necks and bills.

Tundra Swans - Cygnus columbianus

There were hundreds of Tundra Swans on the rice fields, adults as well as juveniles (the smaller gray ones)!  They have recently arrived from their breeding grounds in the arctic, a 2,500 mile one-way flight!!! They will spend their winters in the Central Valley. They do not dive, but submerge their heads to forage for the leaves, stems, seeds, and tubers of aquatic plants, such as rice. These large swans have 7' wingspans, are about 4.5' tall, and can weigh up to 16lbs! I find them to be beautifully elegant!

Greater White-fronted Geese with hazy Sutter Buttes

 Anser albifrons

Greater White-fronted Geese also migrate down from the arctic to spend the winter in the Central Valley. They feed on marsh grasses, sedges, berries, and seeds from agricultural crops. They are primarily diurnal feeders, and roost on wetlands at night.

Greater White-fronted Geese - Anser albifrons

We saw small as well as large groups of these geese in the rice fields.  Interestingly, we didn't see any Snow Geese that are the prevalent goose in many of the Central Valley wetlands.!!! Maybe they don't eat rice grains???

Northern Pintail (female in front - male behind) - Anas acuta

Although officially Pintails don't "pair-up" until late winter, the female and male pictured above (in their mating colors) definitely look like a pair! They only mate for one season, and the males often mate with several females.

Most of the ducks we see on the rice fields are "dabbling" ducks, not diving ducks. They feed on the bottom of the very shallow water, by tipping their head down in the water and holding their tails in the air. The water is probably only a few inches to a foot deep.

Northern Pintail (female - male) - Anas acuta

One flooded field was mainly covered with Northern Pintails this year! Pintails may stay year-round in the Central Valley of California, or they may migrate to breed in the prairie-pothole region of Canada and Alaska. They primarily feed on marsh plants, aquatic invertebrates, and grains in shallow water and dry fields. They forage in wetlands by day, and flooded rice fields by night.

American Coots - Fulica americana

We came across a HUGE group of American Coots in one of the rice fields. I didn't count them all but there were probably over 500 of them all together!  Apparently this is common behavior in the non-breeding season! It was quite the sight to see! Check out the video below!!!

American Coots - Fulica americana

The Cornell Lab states, "On wintering grounds, [coots] may gather in large, densely packed rafts of >1,000 individuals in open water and when sleeping in emergent macrophyte (aquatic plants that emerge above the water) cover. Coordinated swimming movements of birds within these densely packed aggregations suggest they may function in obtaining food."

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Corthylio calendula

Neighborhood News!

While visiting our brother-in-law I happened to see a male Ruby-crowned Kinglet outside his window that was showing it's red crown!  It apparently thought that its reflection was an intruding male! It repeatedly hopped up and dropped down with its red crest showing, though not fully erected! What a privilege to watch this little determined male trying to chase off a competitor! It was a once-in-a-lifetime sighting!

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Corthylio calendula

Check out this video! (Sorry about the background voices!)

Non-biting midges - Chironomidae Family

To my delight, once again the non-biting midges were happening above the pine trees on the Open Slope! This year I made a video of them, so you can get a sense of how many there were, and how they move with the wind!

Midges are often mistaken for mosquitoes due to their similar size and body shape. They lay their eggs in shallow waters. The eggs sink to the bottom. In a few days the larvae hatch out of the eggs and burrow into mud, or construct a small tube in which they live, feed and develop. The aquatic larvae feed on detritus in the water and are a great source of food for fish and aquatic insects. After 2-7 weeks, the larvae turn into pupae. The pupae then swim to the surface and the adults emerge from their pupal exuviae (cast off skin). Adults do not feed and spend their short, 3-5 day lives mating in huge groups!

Non-biting midges - Chironomidae Family

Check out this video! (I apologize for the lens flare.)

Shaggy Mane - Questionable Stropharia

Coprinus comatus - Stropharia ambigua

At last I found some mushrooms popping up in the forest!  I've been looking and looking and finally found a good patch of the very common Questionable Stropharia mushrooms and one more Shaggy Mane! That's it! This year there is a definite lack of mushrooms! Perhaps the cold temps, in the 20's, has kept them from growing.

Questionable Stropharia - Stropharia ambigua

Winter's Solstice is next Saturday, December 21st! The increase in the number of daylight hours is always welcome during these short days of winter, and a definite cause for celebration! 

What's happening in the foothills?

What will the weather bring? 

Check back in two weeks for the answers to these questions and more!

After 8 years of posting my blog, I've decided that I'm only going to post my blog every TWO weeks from now on. This month will be an exception, as my annual yearly summary will be posted on December 22nd. See you then!

Also, check out my latest post on my newly re-opened Damp Earth Blog at dampearthart.blogspot.com

Your questions and comments are always appreciated. Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com. Thanks!