Forest Fungi!

Questionable Stropharia - Stropharia ambigua

  This week the mushroom population quadrupled!  I'm seeing them everywhere I go!  Identifying mushrooms isn't as easy as it seems!   I've been using two different field guides; All That the Rain Promises and More... by David Arora, and The Laws Field Guide to the Sierra Nevada by John Muir Laws.  The book by Laws features approximately 60 of the most common mushrooms in my area.  It has lovely drawings but not much specific information.  The book by Arora covers more than 200 of the most common mushrooms found in western North America.  It features photographs and detailed information on each species.  It also has great information on mushrooms in general.  By using both books, I've been able to possibly "identify" some of the mushrooms in my neighborhood (see photos below).  It's been fun trying, but I still need to learn a LOT!!!  

Rosy Russula (?) - Russula rosacea (?)

Flat-topped Agaricus (?) - Agaricus praeclaresquamosus (?)

Shrimp Mushroom (?) - Russula xerampelina (?)

I am not a hunter/gatherer!  I don't eat the mushrooms I find.  If you want to eat wild mushrooms, you need to be quite thorough in your research and identification before you consume any of them!  

The Arora field guide has several different identification methods to use in the field.  They suggest scraping the surface and observing color changes; cutting the gills to see if liquid seeps out; seeing if the stem snaps cleanly; observing if gills, pores, or teeth are present; and seeing if a veil, ring, and/or volva are present. Additionally, they recommend that you make a spore print at home to be absolutely positive of the species!  In general they recommend that you do NOT eat mushrooms if you're not sure of their identity.  Plenty of mushrooms ARE edible, but some deadly ones look a lot like some of the edible ones!  

If mushrooms seem like something you'd like to focus on, find a local group of fungi enthusiasts!  Hands-on experience is always way better than reading a book!  If you live locally, check out the Fungi Foray next weekend, Dec.9-10.   http://yubawatershedinstitute.org/events

Russula (?) - Russula sp.(?)

                  unknown sp.                                          Conk - Ganoderma sp.   

    

 Pine Spikes (?) - Coral Fung

   Chroogomphus sp.(?) - Ramaria sp.   

                                 

   gill mushroom - pore mushroom 

unknown sp.

During my search for mushrooms, I came across several mushrooms that had been partially eaten!  I did some research and found out that squirrels, mice, deer, slugs and snails all eat mushrooms!!!   I'm not sure which animal ate what mushroom, but it does look like tiny mice (?) bites were taken out of the bottom left mushroom and small slug (?) scrapings were taken out of the mushroom cap on the bottom right! 

I also found out that squirrels can eat poisonous mushrooms and not be affected!  Their stomachs are lined with toxic-compatible glycoproteins (mucous molecules) that bind with the toxic glycoproteins from a mushroom!  This keeps the toxins from being absorbed by their intestinal system and are eventually excreted in their poop!  Wow!

"Fungivory" is the process of organisms consuming fungi.  Organisms that only eat fungi are called "Fungivores"!  The only mammal in North America that is a fungivore (lives solely on fungi) is the Northern Flying Squirrel!  I've never seen a Flying Squirrel, as they are nocturnal, but they do live in our area!   That would be so cool to see one!  I really need to spend a night out in my neighborhood!  Hopefully I will this winter!

unknown mushroom species

Western Gray Squirrel - Sciurus griseus

FeederWatch Update!

Even though I only feed the birds in the morning now, other critters continue to show up at the feeder!  This Gray Squirrel showed up one morning and stuck around for about half an hour, merrily eating sunflower seeds!  I'm not sure how I'll keep all the critters away!  I do make sure to clean off the feeder and table top every morning before I put new seed out.  I'm also raking the ground near the feeder once a week, to prevent accumulation of waste. 

My totals for this week's FeederWatch count are:

15 Steller's Jays

29 Dark-eyed Juncos

1 Spotted Towhee

1 Golden-crowned Sparrow

1 Song Sparrow

(1 Gray Squirrel!)

Columbian black-tailed Deer - California Mule Deer

Odocoileus hemionus columbianus - Odocoileus hemionus californicus

Mammal Update!

There's a new buck in the neighborhood!  He's a California Mule Deer, as you can see by his tail (above right)!  His antlers are really different than the ones I saw on another buck (photo below)!  The female on the left was traveling with another adult female and a younger female, that I've featured in my blog before.  She is a Columbian Black-tailed Deer, as you can see by her tail.  Mating season should be over soon.  The fawns won't be born until approximately mid-June.  During the winter these deer will travel and forage singly, or in small groups.

California Mule Deer - Odocoileus hemionus californicus

Gray Foxes' summer den

During the summer, this is where a mother fox and her two kits slept!  It's pretty close to our garden.  They haven't been staying there since the weather has become cold and wet.  I've been looking around, but haven't found their new den yet.  We might get a little snow tomorrow, and maybe their tracks will show me the way to the new den!   I still frequently see these foxes in our neighborhood.  I surprised this one yesterday in the middle of the day, as it was feeding on the leftover birdseed near our feeder!  I always feel so lucky to watch them!

Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargenteus

  Western Bluebirds - Black Phoebe

Sialia mexicana - Sayornis nigricans

Bird Update!

This week I was up at the cemetery and saw three Western Bluebirds (above left)  perching in a distant tree!  I zoomed in with my camera and got this photo just before they all took off!  They are such beautiful birds!  The one with a rust-colored chest is a male.  During this time of year they are feeding mainly on mistletoe berries!  Mistletoe berries abound in our neighborhood, so hopefully they'll stick around for a while!

The Black Phoebe (above right) has been hanging around our garden lately!  He will probably stay here through the winter, feeding on insects, grubs, and spiders.  It's amazing that they can find enough to eat at this time of year, without being seed eaters!

   Swainson's Thrush - Song Sparrow

Catharus ustulatus - Melospiza melodia

I saw this Swainson's Thrush (above left) in a low shrub this week.  I've never seen one before!  They are not that commonly seen in my area!  He's probably living on berries at this time of year. They do not breed or live here.  They pass through our area on their way to western Mexico, or Central America!  Their song is supposed to be really beautiful!  I hope to hear it one day! 

The Song Sparrow (above right) probably lives here year-round.  They are mainly fruit and seed eaters but supplement their diet with a variety of invertebrates including spiders, snails, and even earthworms!  Their gray and rust feathers camouflage them well in the winter woods!

What kind of spider made this dew-covered web in the grass?

Are the Chickarees making winter nests?

Is the Anna's Hummer still down in the garden?

What kind of fungus is this?

Check back next week for the answers 

to these questions and more!

Your comments and questions are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com

or

Click on the comments just below, to post a comment!

Thanks!

Feeder Watchers!

Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargenteus

Last week I started recording bird species and numbers for Project FeederWatch.  This week I decided to put out a Thanksgiving feast for the birds!  Following the suggestions made by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, I put out popped popcorn, cracked whole walnuts, soaked raisins, sunflower seed, and white millet seed.  I also added some chopped up apples.  Then I sat back and watched what happened!

Right away about a dozen Steller's Jays swooped in and investigated everything.  They cautiously picked up the popped popcorn, and pecked at the walnuts.  Before long, they were eating the popcorn, filling their crops with sunflower seeds, and flying away with the cracked walnuts!!!  Dark-headed Juncos were the next group of visitors and they concentrated on the white millet!  Right in the middle of it all a Gray Fox (above) calmly walked by and sat on a rock about 50' away from the feeder!  I'm not sure if it was checking out the food on the table, or the birds eating the food!!!  By the end of the day the only food left was the soaked raisins and the chopped apples!

  

Our bird feeding station!

The next morning, ALL of the food was gone and there was a set of fox prints (inset above), and some poop, on the table!  My intention was to only feed the birds!  So I did a little research on the feeding of wild animals.  It turns out that feeding wild animals can be harmful and in some cases (such as deer, bear, etc.) it is illegal!  

Here's what the Department of Fish & Game has to say about it: 

"You may not realize it – a simple bag of garbage, bowl of pet food, or plate of leftovers left outside your home or vacation site, can cause severe harm to wildlife.

Whether you live in a city or a rural part of California, wild animals are your neighbors. Most wild animals will not bother you. They naturally fear humans and keep their distance – so long as they remain fully wild. 

But if wild animals have access to human food and garbage, they want more and more. They lose their natural fear of humans and can become aggressive. 

If bears and other wild animals damage property or threaten human safety, they might be killed. Allowing wild animals access to human food is dead wrong."

My plan is to only feed the birds in the morning and around noon.  That way there shouldn't be any food left over for other critters to eat at night!
Bird Feeder hygiene is also super important!  I'll talk more about that next week!

Mountain Quail - Oreortyx pictus

       Mountain Quail

The Mountain Quail are still busy foraging on the ground for seeds and insects.  I've seen several coveys of them lately!  It turns out that they are NOT in our neighborhood all year.  They will only spend the winter here.  In spring they will migrate, mainly on foot, to higher elevations to breed.  That's why I saw those baby quail (above right) up in the Lakes Basin last summer!  

Red-breasted Sapsucker or Red-naped Sapsucker?           Red-breasted Sapsucker    Sphyrapicus ruber or Sphyrapicus nuchalis(?)                      Sphyrapicus ruber

Sapsuckers

This week I was thrilled to see several Red-breasted Sapsuckers!  They are so brilliantly colored and beautiful!  They may stay here for the winter, or they could migrate to the foothills or even to Baja California!  Right now these birds are visiting the rows of small holes they have drilled in the trunks of apples trees in our neighborhood.  They will eat the sap that oozes out of the holes, as well as any insects that get stuck in the sap!  They will also eat the cambium layer of the tree, that is just under the bark!

I'm not sure if the Sapsucker on the left is a Red-breasted Sapsucker.  Red-naped Sapsuckers resemble Red-breasted Sapsuckers but typically live in the Rocky Mountains, northern Cascades, and Warner Mountains of north-eastern California.  They visit the Sierra irregularly, mainly in winter.  They are known to hybridize with Red-breasted Sapsuckers, so maybe this one is a hybrid!  I will post a photo and question on "Birdshare" (https://www.flickr.com/groups/birdshare/) and see if I can get an ID!   

Ruby-crowned Kinglet - Regulus calendula    Golden-crowned Kinglet - Regulus satrapa

Kinglets

I've been watching these tiny Kinglets flit about in the bare lilac bushes this week!   They move so fast, it was hard to get some photos!  Apparently they are looking for tiny insects to eat!  Being so tiny, only 4" long including their tail and 6 grams in weight, they can balance on the tips of branches and glean insects!  They have unusually fluffy, thick plumage, which keeps them warm in the winter.  They breed at higher elevations, up to 9,000', but will probably stay here for the winter!  

Some Golden-crowned Kinglets stay year-round in the higher elevations!  In fact their normal range is from 4,500'-9,000' in the Sierras.  Their golden crown is very distinctive, as well as the black and white stripes on their head.  We're lucky to see them in our neighborhood, at 2,674' in elevation!

Mule Deer - Odocoileus hemionus californicus

Deer

I saw this beautiful buck (above) behind the old school house in my neighborhood!  What a beauty!  I think it is a Mule Deer because of the thin stripe of black ending in a black tip, on its tail.  I think this is the same deer that I posted last week.  If you compare the antlers they look alike.  Now that I have a photo of its tail, I realize that I incorrectly identified it as a Columbian Black-tailed Deer last week.  I'll correct that right away!

I photographed this young female deer (below) on a rainy day this week!  I didn't get a photo of its tail, so I'm not sure what subspecies it is.  She looks pretty wet!  In light rain, most deer keep moving.  The dampened leaves cut down on the sound of their movement, and increases scent.  In heavy rain, deer have difficulty smelling, seeing, or hearing predators approach, and usually avoid moving during these periods.  However, there are always exceptions and you may see deer at anytime rain or snow!

Deer - Odocoileus hemionus sp.

pore mushrooms - species unknown           tiny mushrooms - species unknown

I really need to learn more about fungi!  I'm planning on going to the Fungi Foray on Dec. 9-10 (http://yubawatershedinstitute.org/events/event/foray2017/).  In the meantime I'll keep taking pictures and try to figure them out with my field guide.

underside of pore mushroom - species unknown

  I mentioned last week that most mushrooms have gills, some have pores, some have teeth, and some of have none of these structures!  Pores are actually tiny tubes that are lined with spores. Quite a variety of mushrooms have pores instead of gills!

      Shaggy Mane on Nov. 15 - (Coprinus comatus) - the same Shaggy Mane on Nov. 22

The mushroom I thought might be a Shaggy Mane turned out to be one!  It was  so interesting to watch it change!  The circular ring on the stem is called a "ring"!  The dark gray granular stuff, on the bottom of the cap, is the sand that was splashed up by the heavy rain.  I went back to check it again on Nov. 26, but it had pretty much disintegrated by then!  It was amazing how quickly it turned to slime!

Imbricated Sword Fern - Polystichum imbicans

Other spore-bearing Plants!

Unlike mosses, ferns have a vascular system and roots or "rhizomes".  Like mosses, they do not have flowers and reproduce through spores.  Some ferns can stay green and thrive in the winter.  Others dry up in the fall.  The ones that thrive have anti-freeze in their cells!  

A friend of mine gave me a small magnifier to use on our hikes!  She has one too, and we use them to examine plants closely!  It's amazing what flowers look like close-up! The spores of the ferns were so tiny!  I'd highly recommend getting a magnifier!  Nature on a super close-up level is filled with incredible patterns, sparkles, hairs, shapes, and colors!  You have to see it to believe it!

  Western Polypody Fern-Polypodium hesperium  Five-finger Fern-Adiantum aleuticum

The Western Polypody Fern stays green all winter, whereas the Five-finger Fern dries up!  I wonder what baby ferns look like when they sprout from their spores!

Woolly Bear Caterpillar (left) - Pyrrharctia isabella 

Convergent Ladybird Beetles (right) - Hippodamia convergens

Insect update!

If you remember from last spring, I posted that the length of the brownish-orange mid-stripe on the Woolly Bear Caterpillar (above left) has nothing to do with predicting the severity of  the coming winter.  It turns out that the length varies with the age of the caterpillar and the moisture level where it developed! 

The Convergent Ladybird Beetles (above right) have been back for a month or more.  Their behavior doesn't change much at this time of year.  Pretty much they stay close together in the cracks of tree bark during cold weather, and spread out when it warms up!  Like ferns and mosses they produce an anti-freeze in their cells during winter!

Clark's Nutcrackers-Nucifraga columbiana   Townsend's Solitaire-Myadestes townsendi

The Lakes Basin!

This week I went on two hikes up in the Lakes Basin!  The fall colors have gone, but the rain and snow have given the landscape a new beauty!   We saw a few birds still hanging around!  The ones pictured above will likely spend the winter on the east side, as it won't be as snowy as the west side of the Sierra.  Nutcrackers (above left) prefer pine seeds, and are known to have stashed up to 33,000 seeds in 7,500 different locations!  They have unerring memory, and will dig down through snow to the seeds!  The Townsend's Solitaires (above right) prefer to feed on Juniper berries, which are more prevalent on the east side of the Sierra. I was thrilled to see these birds!  I've rarely seen the Clark's Nutcrackers and the Townsend's Solitaire is a first!  More snow is on its way this coming Sunday and Monday!  My next hike in the Lakes Basin might be on cross-country skis!

Sierra Buttes in the Lakes Basin

What other plants produce spores? 

Are the Chickarees making winter nests?

Is the Anna's Hummer still down in the garden?

Where are the foxes living now?

Check back next week for the answers 

to these questions and more!

Your comments and questions are greatly appreciated!

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com

or

Click on the comments just below, to post a comment!

Thanks!

In gratitude on Thanksgiving!

...for all the incredible beauty that surrounds us 

and brings so much joy! 

Moss, Lichen & Fungi!

Dendroalsia Moss - Dendroalsia albietina

The recent rains have caused the moss, lichen, and fungi to flourish!  The moss has turned from dry and tough to soft and cushiony. The brittle dry lichen has become springy and pliable. The fungi have at least doubled their population, and are popping up everywhere!

Moss is a non-flowering plant, that has no roots, no vascular system, and reproduces mainly through spores not seeds. There are approximately 12,000 species of moss in the world! It needs wet or moist conditions to grow. In the hot and dry summer, moss becomes dormant. Dendroalsia Moss (pictured) is the most commonly found species in our neighborhood. It grows on rocks, tree trunks and branches, deadwood, cement, and even fences!

Dendroalsia Moss (close-up) - Dendroalsia albietina

fruiticose lichen

Witch's Hair Lichen (left) - Alectoria sarmentosa 

Wolf Lichen (bright apple green on right) - Letharia vulpina

Lichens!

Lichen, like moss, is a non-flowering plant, that has no roots nor vascular system,  reproduces mainly through spores not seeds, and is dormant during the hot and dry summer.  Unlike moss, lichen is a combination of a fungus and an algae or cyanobacterium, living together in a symbiotic relationship! The fungus forms the external shape of the lichen, and it lives off the sugars produced by the photosynthesis of the "housed" algae!  Wow!  There are about 17,000 species of lichen worldwide!

There are three main forms that lichens are grouped in, fruiticose, crustose, and foliose.  The fruticose form (above) usually grows on shrubs and trees.  It is multi-branched, and can be found growing either upright or hanging down.

 crustose lichen - species unknown

Crustose lichens (above) grow on rocks and are more or less flat.  They can come in a wide variety of colors including, apple green, rust, orange, yellow, black, white and gray.  They are extremely slow-growing and long-lived!  It's estimated that some of the crustose lichens found in the Arctic are approximately 8,600 years old!

 foliose lichen - species unknown

Foliose lichen (above) usually grows on tree bark or rocks, and is distinguished by its "leafy" appearance.  I think they kind of look like tiny blue-green kale plants!  
Fruiticose and foliose lichens are slow growing like crustose lichen, but may only be a few hundred or a thousand years old!

Shaggy Mane (?) - Coprinus comatus     Polypore (?) - species unknown

Fungi Update!

I found the Shaggy Mane mushroom (above left) just this week down near the bridge!  The brown granular stuff on the bottom of the cap, is sand that was splashed up by the recent heavy rain!  I'm not sure it's a Shaggy Mane, but the shape is right!  I'll keep watching it and see how it matures!

The Polypore (above right) and the Lion's Mane (below) I found growing on different oak trees several years ago!  Hopefully I'll find them again this year!  Instead of gills, the underside of the Polypore has lots of pores that are housing the spores!  The Lion's Mane has "teeth" instead of gills!  The teeth are the slender white pointed appendages that form the fungus!  I've only seen one of these in my lifetime!

 Lion's Mane - Hericium erinaceus

Rock Creek high water

Rain Update!

This week it really poured for several days, making the creek and river 

rise even more!  The total rainfall for the week was 9.39", and more is on its way!

  

Anna's Hummingbird  (male) - Calypte anna

Hummer News!

 I couldn't believe it, but the Hummingbird down in our garden came back!  He was gone during the heaviest rains, but showed up late one afternoon during a break in the storm!  I am amazed that he made it!  It had been REALLY pouring for days!  Wow!  

It's tough for tiny birds, like the Hummingbird, to stay warm.  They have a higher surface-to-volume ratio and lose heat quicker than bigger birds.  Small birds generally seek shelter from the weather more readily than larger birds.  When perching in sheltered areas, they can enter a semi-dormant state or torpor, similar to when they're sleeping, and slow down their metabolism to conserve energy.  It's been sunny for the past two days, and he hasn't shown up yet!  Hopefully he's moved down to the foothills for the rest of winter!

Steller's Jay (foreground) - Cyanocitta stelleri

Spotted Towhee (background) -  Pipilo maculatus

Project FeederWatch!

I've chosen to join Project FeederWatch this winter.  To quote the Cornell Lab of Ornithology that runs the program, "The main goal of Project FeederWatch is to combine the interests of backyard bird watchers with the needs of ornithologists who study bird populations. By making simple, standardized counts of the birds in their yards and reporting them to the FeederWatch database, Feeder Watchers are contributing directly to the scientific understanding of bird populations."

FeederWatch just began last Saturday, November 11 and will end in April, 2018.  They sent me a very informative pamphlet on how and when to take your counts, as well as information on birds, bird food, and bird feeders, etc.  My job is to count the amount of birds, and their species, at my feeder for two days in a row.  I can count them twice a day, or less, and once a week or less.  The number I report to FeederWatch, is the highest number of birds seen at one time, per species.  

So I decided to watch our feeder on Tuesday and Wednesday this week, in the morning and afternoon.  The first birds to visit our feeder were 9 Band-tailed Pigeons!  I was so surprised!  I haven't seen them in months!  They all flew off as soon as I came around the corner, so no photos to show you!  Rats!  

    Spotted Towhee -  Pipilo maculatus               Dark-eyed Junco - Junco hyemalis 

(both males)

Things settled down to a rather predictable group of visitors after the pigeons left!  Steller's Jays are there first thing every morning, along with Dark-eyed Juncos, and a few Spotted Towhees!  They all came rain or shine and ate every single seed!  I found out that if I added more seeds toward the end of the day, any leftovers would be gone in the morning.  Some critters ate them overnight! 

Chickaree or Douglas Squirrel - Tamiasciurus douglasii

One super rainy day a Chickaree showed up at the feeder!  He stayed out in the pouring rain for a couple of hours, eating and eating!  It was so fun watching him!  I was glad he found something to eat!

So my totals for this week's Feeder Watch are:

9 Band-tailed Pigeons

10 Dark-eyed Juncos

2 Spotted Towhees

6 Steller's Jays

If your interested in joining Project FeederWatch use this link,

www.feederwatch@cornell.edu!  It's fun and you're helping birds!  Yahoo!

Mule Deer - Odocoileus hemionus californicus

More Mammals!

My neighbors showed me this deer feeding right in their backyard!  What a beautiful buck!  I've seen him since then, down by our garden and across the street!  He was eating grass, butterfly bush leaves, and the buds on plants today!  I saw this female (below) down in the same area where I saw her before.  She was pretty wet from all the heavy rainfall!  Her young daughter was close behind her, but I missed getting a photo!  They both looked really healthy!

Columbian Black-tailed Deer - Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

Gray Fox - Urocyon cinereoargenteus

I haven't seen that female fox down by our garden lately.  She probably moved into  an underground burrow, a hollow log or tree, or a den under a large rock.  I hope I see her again soon!  This young one was in our backyard several times during the day this week, eating up leftover sunflower seeds!  I don't know if it's male or female, but it is super cute!  It's probably one of that female fox's offspring!

Broad-footed Mole - Scapanus latimanus

I found this little dead mole on the Canyon Creek Trail yesterday, Friday.  It was the first sunny day after a week of rain!  I don't know why he died.  Maybe he got flooded out in his underground home.  His broad front feet looked like they'd be great for digging!  I was amazed at how thick and dense his fur was!  You can't see it, but his nose was quite long, and so were his whiskers!  I've read that moles, because they're small, have to eat 70-100% of their body weight every day!  They do this by eating underground insects, worms and occasionally seeds and plant bulbs.  I was sad that he died, but felt lucky to be able to really look at him!  If you come across a dead animal, it's a good idea to not touch it with your bare hands.  You can just use a few sticks instead.

Striped Skunk - Mephitis mephitis                         Raccoon - Procyon lotor    

The change in the weather has brought lots of hungry animals to our backyard, especially at night.  They're eating the sunflower seeds that are leftover from this past spring and summer, when we were feeding lots of Grosbeaks.  I took these flash photos of them, to discourage them from coming around.  I don't think it worked. They're still showing up!  The glowing white of their eyes is caused by the tapetum, or mirror-like layer behind their retinas, lighting up from the flash.  Apparently, you can tell what kind of mammal is out there by the color their eyes reflect back.  Camera flashes don't work, but a flashlight does.  Apparently Mountain Lion eyes reflect back yellow-green!  Deer eyes reflect back yellow!  Skunk eyes reflect back amber.  Black-tailed Jack Rabbits reflect back red!  Fox eyes reflect back white!  I'll have to try it with my flashlight!

What about those Woolly Bear caterpillars?

What's been happening up in the Lakes Basin?
Did this last storm bring lots of snow?


How much longer are the leaves going to last?

How are the ladybugs doing?

What new fungi are going to pop up?

Where are those foxes living now?

Check back next week for the answers 

to these questions and more!

Your comments and questions are greatly appreciated!  

Please email me at northyubanaturalist@gmail.com! 

or

Click on the comments just below, to post a comment!

  Thanks!