Early Birds!

Spring Migration is happening!  I heard and saw Sandhill Cranes flying by, as well as American White Pelicans!  Neither one of these birds live in this area.  They are headed east to their nesting grounds.  Some of the Pelicans and Cranes nest in Sierra Valley, but most of them head farther north.

   

American White Pelican - Pelecanus erythrorhynchos                 Sandhill Crane - Antigone canadensis       
         
The Pelicans fly by at a lower elevation than the Cranes, when they migrate through our area, and they're usually in groups of 12 or more.  Cranes fly by at very high elevations, in large groups of 100 or more!  I usually hear the Cranes before I see them.  They have a distinct rubbery sounding call (like balloons being rubbed together), 
that can be heard a long way!

American White Pelicans - Pelicanus erythrorhynchos

This week as I was walking along the North Yuba River, an American White Pelican flew by, following the course of the river!  It was too quick for me to get a picture, but I took these photos a few years ago on the North Yuba River, near Indian Valley!

This western population of Pelicans migrate through here in the Fall and Spring.  They spend their winters on the coast, in estuaries, marshes, and lagoons, as far south as Central and South America!  In the Spring they return to their nesting grounds, mainly in northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Canada!  Their nesting colonies can be quite large, with up to 5,000 pairs of Pelicans!

The color of their feet really surprised me!  Apparently, during breeding season the color of their feet, bills, irises, and the skin around their eyes becomes really saturated!  The males and females both grow horns on their bills, during the breeding season, which are shed once their eggs are laid.  You can see this horn, on the upper bill of the Pelican that has its beak open.

American White Pelicans are one of the largest birds in North America.  They are approximately 4 feet tall, weigh 16.4 lbs, and have a wingspan of 9 feet!   They eat up to 4 lbs. of fish daily, which they scoop up in their bills as they swim along.  They do not dive to catch fish.  They work in groups and corral the fish to shore, where shallow water makes them easier to catch.  

Sandhill Cranes - Antigone canadensis

This western population of Sandhill Cranes, spends the winter in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Valleys of California.  There their winter population can be in the tens of thousands!  In Spring they migrate to their nesting grounds in northern California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Canada and Alaska!  

Sandhill Cranes are another one of North America's large birds.  They are approximately 4 feet tall, weigh 10 lbs, and have a wingspan of up to 7 feet!  They are mainly herbivores, but will also consume small mammals, insects, snails, reptiles and amphibians.  They do not hunt in marshes or lagoons, but can be found on dry land near wetlands.   They will however lay their eggs, and nest on small "islands" in bogs and marshes. Their young are born precocial (covered in down and with their eyes open) and can leave the nest within one day!  However, they usually stay together as a family group for 9-10 months.

    

     Black Phoebe - Sayornis nigricans          Brewer's Blackbirds - Euphagus cyanocephalus           American Robin - Turdus migratorius

Ok, so LOTS of birds are showing up in my neighborhood!  Phoebes, Blackbirds, more Robins, Pigeons, and Kinglets, to name a few!  I'll talk more about them next week!  Also, it's time for newts, and lizards (finally!) to be active, so next week I'll focus on them also!

Sierra Newt - Taricha torosa

Under the Weather

Unfortunately I got the flu/cold that's been going around, so I didn't get out to explore much.  The willows, however, were in full bloom right on our property, so I spent a little time with them!  I had never noticed how beautiful they are!  The picture below is a MALE willow in full bloom!  The catkins have long stamens with anthers, that are loaded with pollen!

I also made a mistake when I posted that the pussy willows we all know, are only found on MALE plants!  That's NOT correct!  BOTH male and female willows produce silvery, hairy, pussy willows.  I learned this through observation!  I apologize for my error!

Male willow catkins in full bloom - Salix sp.

     Male (staminate) willow catkins  - Salix sp. - Female (pistilate) willow catkins       

Here's a photo that shows the difference between male and female willow catkins.  Remember that willows are dioecious, having separate male and female plants.  Unlike the male willow, the female willow has lots of pistils, that are comprised of a stigma, style, and ovary.  The female plant is the one that will produce seeds.

Nisenan basket and Redbud branch             Nisenan mortar holes at Ramshorn  

The local Native Americans, the Nisenan, lived in this area for thousands of years.   They hunted, fished, and gathered many plants and seeds.  Acorns were one of their main winter staples, which they pounded into flour using pestles and bedrock mortars. Their homes were constructed of poles tied together at the top, and covered with tree bark and/or animal skins.  The women made baskets using WILLOW, redbud, and hazel branches.  The branches were split length-wise, into three strips.  These strips were soaked in a stream or river for several months, before they were used in basket making.  Traces of the Nisenan were found by archaeologists in the 1870's.  Unfortunately, by that time, many of the Nisenan had already been eliminated by disease and violence, brought by the Gold Rush settlers. Some of the Nisenan still exist today and have been actively bringing their culture back to life.  You can find lots of information on their history and culture, past and present, at www.nevadacityrancheria.org.

 A Mountain Nisenan in front of dwelling with baskets (drawn from a photograph) 

This drawing and the one above of a basket-woven plate and redbud branch,
I drew 20 years ago for the Tahoe National Forest!

Ok, so NEXT week, I'll talk about
"What birds have arrived recently?"
 as well as
"Where are the lizards?"

Please post any comments you may have by clicking on 
the "No Comments" text at the bottom of this page!  Thanks!

Clever Corvids!

Lots of Steller's Jays, and a pair of Ravens, spent the entire winter here in our neighborhood.  They both belong to the Corvidae, or Crow family of birds.  It turns out that corvids are the smartest birds in the world!  Many studies have shown that they are capable of modifying their inherited behavior patterns, by using their own brain power!!  They are found on all the continents of the world, except for Antarctica, and all the countries, except New Zealand!  

Common Raven - Corvus corax

Of all the corvids, Ravens may be the smartest!  They are capable of learning innovative solutions to newly encountered problems!  They are also the biggest of all perching birds!  (Crows are a lot smaller than Ravens, and usually live locally in the foothills and the Central Valley of California.)  Ravens can be found in almost any location across the globe!  However, Ravens are non-migratory, and remain all year in their chosen location.  

Ravens mate for life, and begin nesting when winter has come close to its end.  The female Raven builds the large 5' x 2' nest, on a cliff edge, or in a large tree.  She usually lays 3-7 eggs, which hatch in approximately 20-25 days.  After 5-7 weeks the young are ready to leave the nest.  Ravens have been know to live up to 23 years in the wild!

Ravens are omnivorous, and eat carrion, small mammals, baby birds, bird eggs, insects, acorns, grains, fish, and even garbage!  They are also known to store extra food in secret hiding places!  They will often feed together in large groups, but live singly or in mated pairs.

Of all the corvids, Ravens are the most playful!  They have been seen playing games, like dropping a stick in the air and catching it before it lands!  Ravens also like to swing upside down, do rolls and somersaults in the air, and slide down snow banks!  Scientists think this play may be just for fun, or perhaps a way of showing off and attracting a mate.  

Steller's Jay - Cyanocitta stelleri

The Steller's Jay, another corvid, ranges from Alaska south through the United States, into Mexico, and Nicaragua.  They are however, non-migratory and remain in their chosen location year round.  Locally they prefer dense coniferous forests.

Like Ravens, Steller's Jays are monogamous and mate for life!  They are very secretive, when building their 10"-17" nests of natural materials and mud, and do not "converse" when they are near the nest!  The female lays 2-6 eggs, which hatch in about 16 days!  The fledglings leave the nest about a month after they hatch.

They are omnivores, like Ravens, and eat carrion, small mammals, bird eggs, baby birds, insects, reptiles, acorns, berries, seeds, and garbage.  They have habituated readily to humans, and are regular scavengers in residential areas, campgrounds and picnic areas.
They are excellent vocal mimics, like Ravens, and easily imitate the sounds and calls made by other birds, dogs, cats, squirrels, as well as environmental and man made noises!

Clark's Nutcracker - Nucifraga columbiana

The Clark's Nutcracker is NOT found in my neighborhood, but they are corvids native to the high elevations of Sierra County.  I had to mention them, because of their amazing ability to store pine seeds for the winter.  One pair of nesting Clark's Nutcrackers was observed storing 33,000 pine seeds for winter, in 7,500 different locations!!!   They only store a handful of seeds in each location, and have an unerring ability to find these cached seeds in the winter, underneath the snow!  Now that's SMART!

In the past, it was believed that because birds have a small cerebral cortex in their brains, they were not very smart.  It has been since discovered that they have an additional organ in their forebrain, the hyperstriatum (which mammals lack), which is their organ of intelligence!  Ravens also have large brains, with a brain to body size ratio comparable to dolphins!  So if someone calls you a "Bird Brain", take it as a compliment!

The North Yuba River is probably green because of the blue-green algae suspended in the water, and growing on the rocks.  Water is inherently blue.  Impurities dissolved or suspended in water can give water a different color.  The angle at which, and the amount of reflected light can also affect the color you see.  Perhaps that is why in winter, when the angle of the sun is lower in the sky, the river looks its greenest!

Ok, so next week, I'll talk about
"What birds have arrived recently?"
 as well as
"Where are the lizards?"

Please post any comments you may have by clicking on
the "No Comments" text at the bottom of this page!  Thanks!

Canyon Creek Hike

This week I went for a hike on the Canyon Creek Trail that parallels part of the North Yuba River.  The sun was out and the temperatures were in the low 50's so I had high hopes for seeing some wildlife!

Common Garter Snake - Thamnophis sirtalis

I was REALLY surprised to find this young Garter Snake underneath a rock I picked up!!!  It was coiled up, but quickly uncoiled and scooted behind another rock before I got its picture!  It was about 6 inches long and pretty skinny, definitely a young snake!  It wasn't a newborn, as Fall is the time of year that Garter Snakes usually hatch.  I don't know how to tell how old it was.  I did find out that young Garter Snakes mainly eat earthworms during their first year!

Garter Snakes often congregate together for the winter, sometimes in large numbers!  Often their hibernacleum (the place where a critter hibernates) is located underground, on a south facing rocky slope.  Brumation is the term for hibernation of reptiles.  It is not a true hibernation, but rather a cold-blooded version of slowing down, and entering into a state of sluggishness.  Reptiles don't eat during winter, but they do wake up periodically and drink water, during warm spells!!

Garter Snakes will mate in March and give live birth in August.  The females are ovoviviparous, and carry their developing eggs internally.  The usual number of eggs is 20 to 50!!!   As soon as they're born, the young Garter Snakes are on their own.  They are excellent swimmers and climbers, and usually live for 2-3 years in the wild. As adults, Garter Snakes will eat small rodents, birds, lizards, frogs, tadpoles, slugs, salamanders, and fish!  

   Ladybug or Ladybird Beetles  - Hippodamia convergens    Woolly Bear Caterpillar - Pyrrharctia isabella

In a super sunny spot on the trail I came across LOTS of ladybugs, that were busy mating.  Like all cold-blooded critters, they are ectotherms, and need the sun to warm themselves up.  They generate very little heat metabolically.  After they mate, the females will lay their eggs on the underside of a leaf.  In 3-5 days the larvae emerge from the eggs.  After 2-3 weeks of eating aphids, the larvae pupate, and turn into an adult ladybug in about a week.

The Woolly Bear Caterpillar will overwinter under the bark of a tree, or forest duff.  Like other cold-blooded animals, it produces an anti-freeze or cryoprotectant in its tissues.  Once it emerges in the Spring, it will mate, eat a wide variety of plants, pupate, and turn into an Isabella Tiger Moth.  The moth will lay eggs, from which new caterpillars will emerge.

Folklore has it that if the Woolly Bear's brown stripe is thick, the winter will be mild.  

If the brown strip is thin, the winter will be severe.  Scientists, however, have 

determined that the size of the brown stripe varies with the age of the 

caterpillar and the moisture levels in the area where it developed.  

What do you think about the size of the brown stripe? 

Pacific Tree Frog - Pseudacris regilla

As luck would have it, I found two Pacific Tree Frogs right on the trail!  They come in 3 different color phases, green, brown, and gray.  I didn't see the gray phase.  They change their color to blend into the background.  The less contrast between their color, and their immediate environment, the less chance they will be spotted by predators.  The complete color change takes approximately two weeks.  

These tiny frogs are only 2" big, but they have loud voices!  The male frogs (Female frogs don't croak!) are some of the loudest croakers of the frog world!  Right now is the time that males are croaking to attract a mate.  Male frogs have a dark patch on their throat, which is their inflatable vocal sack.  They usually croak at night, in ponds, where the females will lay their gelatinous eggs after mating. The tadpoles will hatch from the eggs in 1-3 weeks.  The newly hatched tadpoles spend 7 to 12 weeks in their pond, 
maturing into an adult frog.

They spend the winter buried under forest duff.  Just like insects, fish, and plants they replace fluids in their body with a type of anti-freeze to keep their cells from freezing, in winter.  Once they emerge in Spring, they eat spiders, beetles, flies, ants and other insects.  When they sense that an insect is near, they commonly twitch a toe to attract it, then snatch it up with their tongue!

Why is the North Yuba River Green?
Are the female willow flowers blooming yet?
Have any other birds arrived for the coming Spring?
What are all the lizards doing?

Check back next week for the answers!

Signs of Spring

  Our total rainfall to date is 101", approximately 40" above our normal yearly total!  The rainy season isn't over yet!  However, temperatures were a lot colder this week, and we got about an inch of new snow.  Despite the colder temperatures, signs of the approaching Spring are happening! 

American Robin - Turdus migratorius

This robin is all puffed up in his natural down jacket!  The trapped air between his feathers keeps him warm on snowy days!  Robins are one of the first birds to return to our neighborhood, from their winter habitat.  There were big flocks, of 20 to 40 birds, busily feeding on worms and grubs on the ground.  Apparently some flocks number in the hundreds, and even in the thousands!  I've never seen that many here, as there isn't enough food to sustain that many birds.

    Robber Fly - Laphria sacrator spp.                         Bumblebee - Bombus sp.                        

I revisited that blooming Manzanita and got these pictures of the insects that were feeding on the blossoms.  It turns out that there were Bumblebees there, along with a new kind of fly that I'd never noticed before, a Robber Fly!  

Robber Flies are true flies, and only have ONE pair of wings.  Most other insects, including bees, have two pairs of wings.  They are called "robbers" because of their notoriously aggressive predatory habits.  They will wait and ambush all kinds of insects, including Bumblebees!  Notice the difference in the position of the eyes on the head, as compared to the eyes of the Bumblebee.  Robber Flies are one of the first insects, besides Bumblebees, to show up in the Spring.  Probably all those yellow and black hairs keep them warm in these cool temperatures!  

The Bumblebees that you see out at this time of year are the females.  They are out foraging for nectar and pollen to start their colonies!  The colonies are made in tussocky grasses, small abandoned rodent burrows, or at the base of shrubs.  Once the queen picks a site, she forms a wax "honey pot" and fills it with regurgitated nectar (honey).  She then collects pollen, forms it into a ball, lays her eggs on it, and then covers the whole ball with wax!  She then "broods" her eggs, like a bird, for 4 days, until the eggs hatch into larvae!  Once hatched, the larvae feed on the pollen ball for 4-5 weeks, form a cocoon, pupate, and turn into adults!  A Bumblebee colony usually numbers about 50 in population.  At the end of the season, the queen lays unfertilized eggs, that turn into males, and lays a few special fertilized eggs that turn into new queens.  The males hang out for a few days in the colony, and then leave never to return.  These are the Bumblebees that you see spending the night in flowers!  The new queens leave the colony, mate with one or more male Bumblebees, then hibernate over the winter!

Hairy Woodpecker - Picoides villosus - and gall with grub
Wild Rose Bush with rose hips and galls

One morning I was thrilled to see this Hairy Woodpecker pecking away at the galls on this rosebush!  I'd never seen that before!!  Usually I've seen Hairy Woodpeckers foraging on the trunks of trees for insects!  After he (Male Hairy Woodpeckers have red feathers on their heads and females don't) flew away, I inspected the galls and found this open one with a grub inside! 

Galls come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes. Galls are formed by insect/mite feeding or egg-laying activity. Either mechanical damage or salivary secretions (introduced by insects and/or mites) initiate increased production of normal plant growth hormones. These plant hormones cause localized plant growth that can result in increases in cell size and/or cell number. The outcome is an abnormal plant structure called a gall.  Inside the gall, larvae feed on the gall, pupate and emerge out as adults, over a period of several months!  These larvae are what the Hairy Woodpecker was eating! 

Pocket Gopher - Thomomys bottae - surface tunnel and dirt mounds

Now, finally, the answers to the underground burrow questions!  

There are several local animals that live almost exclusively underground, such as Pocket Gophers and Moles.  They are usually not severely affected by heavy rains 
for several reasons.

 They usually dig their living quarters deeper than 1 meter underground, where the rain doesn't usually penetrate.  They usually make the entrance to their den on a slope, where rain doesn't pool up.  They usually plug the entrances when it's very rainy to keep the water out.  In some cases they even dig a separate sump, for excess water to sit in and drain!!  

I heard some frogs croaking this week before it got cold!  
It made me wonder where are all the reptiles and amphibians?  How do they survive the winter?
Check back next week for the answers!

Early Bloomers!

Although mainly rainy, we did have some sunny days this past week, which caused a few local plants to blossom profusely!  Pollen was in the air and there were a few insects buzzing around!

Willow - Salix sp.

After many months of having colorful but bare branches, the local willows have burst into bloom!  Willows are dioecious, and have separate male and female plants!  Right now both male and female plants are in their "Pussy Willow" stage.  Their soft silvery hairs help keep the developing reproductive parts of the plant warm!  Unlike most "non-attractive" (not bright in color) flowers, willows are insect pollinated.  The female flowers will produce a large amount of strongly scented nectar, and the male flowers will produce a ton of pollen! We'll just have to wait and see what insects they attract!

Pussy Willows - Salix sp.

Alder - Aldus sp. 
the male catkins

Alders are monoecious, and have both male and female parts on the same tree.  The yellow catkins above, are the male flowers of the alder.  The dark brown cones below, are the female flowers of the alder!  Unlike the willows, alders are wind pollinated, and do not depend upon insects for their pollination!

Alders live in a symbiotic relationship with the bacteria Frankia alni.  This bacterium lives underground, in the root nodules of the Alder.  The bacterium absorbs nitrogen from the air and makes it available to the Alder!  In turn, the Alder provides sugars to the bacterium, which it produces through photosynthesis!  Thus this symbiotic relationship improves the fertility of the soil!

the female cones 

Tree Manzanita - Arctostaphylos sp.

I was also surprised to find some Manzanitas in bloom!  Manzanitas are common, local, woody, evergreen plants, ranging from 7"-20' in height!  They have "perfect" flowers, meaning each flower has a male and female part.  They are insect pollinated, and use nectar as an attractant.  Although I did see some large, black bodied bees feeding on the nectar, I failed to get a photograph.  Hopefully I will next time! 

Manzanita - Arctostaphylos sp.

Earthworm - Phylum Annelida

Earthworms have been showing up in the puddles from the rain!  I haven't seen lots of them, just a few here and there.  I always thought that earthworms drown in the rain, but recently found that to be a myth!  Earthworms need to be moist, because they breathe through their skin!  They come above ground when it rains, because they can travel farther distances, when it's wet, without drying out!  Earthworms don't have feet, but they have groups of tiny bristles on each body segment. These bristles
move in and out to grip the surface, as a worm stretches and contracts its
muscles to push forward or backward!

Next week I'll get to the other questions I posted last week!  We're in for another batch of rainy weather, so the questions still apply! Thanks!

Here's the questions:

I wonder how all the underground 

mammals fared during this past rainy week.  

Did their burrows get flooded?  

How far down do they dig their burrows?

The North Yuba River Critters

Due to heavy rain and warmer temperatures, the 
North Yuba River was bookin' this week!  
In seven days we got  13" of rain, plus LOTS of snowmelt, 
which made for a very swollen river!  At one point, the river was moving at a rate of 16.76 cubic ft. of water per second!!! 

               Rock Creek on Thursday & Rock Creek on Saturday 

How were all the river critters affected 
by this sudden change?

Today, I walked down to an area on the river, that typically gets flooded 
when the river is high.  It's been 2 days since the river crested so the water has receded somewhat.  Just as I hoped, there were Dobsonfly Nymphs 
(or Helgrammites) in some of the newly created landlocked ponds!    

Dobsonfly Nymph - subfamily Corydalinae

I found this one in a silted pond, and watched him climb out of the water!  
They need lots of oxygen, and my guess is that he was looking for the river!  
He has only 6 legs, all the other appendages are gills, through which oxygen is 
absorbed from the river water!  Normally these nymphs live on the rocks in the 
super oxygenated white water of a river.  They live underwater for up to 2 years, 
feeding on other aquatic insects, before they molt and fly away as an adult.   

Great Blue Heron - Ardea herodias  & Helgrammite & Weasel -Mustela erminea

I found these large bird tracks in the bottom of the same silty pond!  
They might be Great Blue Heron tracks!  Perhaps the heron was feeding on 
landlocked fish and aquatic insects!  In times of high water, fish will try to 
stay on the bottom of the river, behind rocks.  Sometimes this works, 
but sometimes they get swept away by the force of the water.  
Some of them may have ended up in this pond!

The unusual tracks, on the right, I found in a moist depression that had 
been a pond.  I think the long thin ones, with lots of tiny foot prints, might 
be helgrammite tracks!  Perhaps they were heading for the river after their 
pond diminished!  There are also some bigger footprints in the mud.  
They might be weasel tracks!  Maybe the weasel ate the nymphs!

River Otter - Lustra canadensis

The absolutely most exciting tracks I found were these River Otter tracks!!!  
I've never seen one in person, so these tracks were super cool to find!  
They traversed along the edge of a pond and then onto a field of boulders, where I lost the track.  When the river is a raging torrent, River Otters have trouble catching fish in the swift, murky water, so they come on shore.  

Their main food is fish, but will also eat crayfish, molting ducks, frogs, newts, aquatic insects, and garter snakes.  They are not proficient predators on land, but they occasionally eat voles, hares, and beaver kits. They do not normally chase after fish, but use surprise attack to catch them!  

Underwater they can, hold their breath for 4 minutes, dive down to 60+ feet, swim at 6-8 mph, and travel up to 440 yds. in distance!  They usually travel from 
1.5 to 3 miles in a normal day,but have been known to travel as much as 26 miles!
They can handle the cold river water, because they have a layer of 
insulating fat and a thick undercoat of dense fur.

Usually male River Otters lead the life of a bachelor, except when they are 
looking for a mate.  The females raise the kits on their own, usually in an underground burrow, that has an underwater entrance.  Males will den in a 
hollow log, under a rock or driftwood pile, or in abandoned animal burrows.

River Otters can be 33-52 in. long, and weigh up to 6 lbs.

I wonder how all the underground 
mammals fared during this past rainy week.  
Did their burrows get flooded?  
How far down do they dig their burrows?
Do earthworms drown in the rain?
Check back next week for the answers.