Neighborhood News!

Non-biting Midges - Chironomidae Family

Unfortunately, my husband and I had the flu for the past 10 days or so and we haven't been outside much. We also had 6.50" of rain in the past two weeks, that kept me from exploring. However, warm and dry weather followed the rainy days, and I managed to go for a couple of walks recently, and saw some very cool stuff!

The Open Slope

Every year at this time, the Non-biting Midges put on a show at the tops of some of the pine trees on the open sunny slope (pictured above) in my neighborhood. The slope is bordered by the North Yuba River, from which the midges have recently hatched. The swarm moves up and down and sideways, sometimes congregating in a dense mass, sometimes spreading out. It is quite beautiful to watch, especially if it's backlit by the sun!

Adult Midges 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). They then fly off and form swarms of thousands in which they mate! Adults do not feed and spend their short, 3-5 day lives mating!

Non-biting Midges - Chironomidae Family

I love this close-up photo of non-biting midges! Although it looks like these midges have four pairs of wings, they really only have one pair that functions and looks like wings. Because midges move so quickly and erratically, I couldn't slow down their movement enough to capture a photograph of their one pair of wings! 

Midges have another pair of wings, but they are tiny and  knob-like organs called halteres that help with stability. The yellow arrow is pointing to one of these halteres! This image is off of Creekman.com, which is the work of KEN W. DAVIS WILDLIFE MEDIA.

Northern Pygmy-Owl - Glaucidium gnoma 

While I was watching the Non-biting Midges, a small bird flew by and landed on the top of one of the pine trees! I quickly zoomed in with my camera and was super surprised to discover that it was a Northern Pygmy Owl! It only stayed on the tree top for a few seconds, then flew down to the dry grasses on the slope and disappeared among them! Wow!!! It must have spotted a rodent! Soon after that it flew away with something in its talons and disappeared in the trees! This all happened in less than half a minute! I was super thrilled to have seen it! I haven't seen a Northern Pygmy-Owl for a year or more! 

Northern Pygmy-Owl (adult) with Dark-eyed Junco

Glaucidium gnoma - Junco hyemalis

Unlike most owls, Northern Pygmy-Owls are diurnal (active during the day). They prey on small birds and mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and insects. They perch and drop down on their prey, and often take prey up to 3x their size!  I took the above photo several winters ago. A Northern Pygmy-Owl had taken advantage of the birds at our bird feeder, and had caught a Dark-eyed Junco that was feeding there! Although they have a different body shape than songbirds, they are about the same length as many songbirds!

Great Horned Owl and Northern Pygmy-Owl size comparison

(not a real photo)

I made the fake photo above, to show you the approximate size difference between a Northern Pygmy Owl and a Great Horned Owl, the only two owls I've ever observed in my neighborhood. Pygmy Owls are quite small for an owl, measuring 6.3-7.1" in length (including tail), with a wingspan of 12", and a weight of 2.5 oz. Great Horned Owls are much larger, measuring 22" in length, with a wingspan of 44", and a weight of 3.1lbs!

Red-tailed Hawk (adult) - Buteo jamaicensis

I checked the same slope for four more days but never saw the Northern Pygmy-Owl again. However, a Red-tailed Hawk was there on two of the days! Red-tailed Hawks are classified as "buteos" which are medium to large, stout bodied hawks, with broad wings and fan shaped tails. Many species have a variety of color phases. Their diet consists primarily of small mammals.

 Red-tailed Hawks are large birds with a wingspan of 49", a length of 19", and a weight of 2.4lbs. They hunt in meadows and fields for small mammals, snakes, lizards, and other birds. They use the perch-and-wait method of hunting. Once prey is sighted they will drop from their perch, flap-and-glide downward, thrust their legs forward when about 3m from prey, and grab prey with their feet.

American Kestrel (male) - Falco sparverius

Starting about five years ago, and continuing for several consecutive years, an American Kestrel perched in the pine trees on this open slope. However, it has been notably absent during the past three years. They are so beautifully feathered!

American Kestrels prefer to hunt in wide open, grassy fields. They 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! In the winter there aren't many insects or lizards around, so it was probably hunting for rodents on the slope. 

Ladybird Beetles - Hippodamia convergence

Another insect that is visible in the winter are Ladybird Beetles. Thousands of them arrived in our neighborhood more than a month ago. Usually they are in the crevices of tree trunks, on the ground underneath shrubs, among pine needles on the forest floor, or on the stems of leafless plants. They congregate in the Fall to mate, and them become inactive when the temperatures cool. They will stay here all winter! The name "Ladybug" is a misnomer, as these insects are not "true bugs".

Common Goldeneyes (males) - Bucephala clangula

In the North Yuba River, which flows past the Open Slope, the Common Goldeneyes have just arrived! I have seen four gorgeous males, but no females yet! They are so strikingly handsome!  They are diving ducks, and I love watching them "swim" underwater!

Sometimes they show up in the end of December, sometimes in January, or sometimes as late as early February! They usually stay around until April or even May before they head north for their breeding grounds in the boreal forests of Canada and Alaska. They prefer the forests as they are tree cavity nesters, like Buffleheads, Wood Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, and Common Mergansers!  In California, Common Goldeneyes are the only ducks that regularly spend the winter on rivers and lakes above the foothills of the western Sierra.

Common Merganser (male) - Mergus merganser

Two weeks ago, just before the rainy weather I was totally surprised to see one male Common Merganser and three females on the river! They aren't usually here at this time of year! The warm weather probably lured them up from lower elevations.

Common Merganser (male, females) - Mergus merganser

I haven't seen them since the rainy weather happened! Hopefully, they went back down to their regular winter habitat in California's Central Valley.

Club Coral Fungus - Clavariadelphus occidentalis

On another note, the fungi population is still thriving!  I've come across some real unusual looking fungi in the forest in the past two weeks!

Saddle-shaped False Morel - Gyromitra infula

Again, I must state that you shouldn't eat a mushroom unless an expert mycologist tells you that it is edible. Field guides can lead you astray. 

What's blooming?

Are there any other insects out and about?

What's it look like in the Lakes Basin?

Check back in two weeks, on January 31st, for the answers to these questions and more!

Your comments and questions are greatly appreciated. Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com