I got up around 6:15 this morning and headed out to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve again. It was overcast and drizzly on and off all day and was about 51° when I got to the preserve.

I was joined there by two of my naturalist students, Johannes T. and Kelli O.  Whenever I take students out, I’m more focused on trying find things for them to see, and explaining what they’re looking at, than I am on trying to get photos. So, I don’t have as many photos to share this time as I usually do. Johannes and Kelli seemed to be interested in everything and had lots of personal stories to share about their own outings and hiking adventures.

CLICK HERE for the album of photos.

We saw several small herds of deer; many of them hunkered down in the grass waiting for the rain to pass.  We also came across a California Ground Squirrel munching on a large peeled acorn, and another one standing on a log giving off an alarm call. That one looked soaked and I wondered if maybe his burrow got flooded.  And we came across a small dead mole on the trail – and they get drowned out often by the river.

We also saw an Eastern Fox Squirrel ripping the tules out of one of the tule huts on the grounds. Hah!  Wutta brat!

At one point along the trail we saw a California Towhee… and then a Spotted Towhee landed on the same part of the trail, so we got to see them side by side, and see how different their field markings are.

Around that same area, we saw a male Mourning Dove flying by with some long grasses in its beak and followed it to where it handed off the grasses to its mate, sitting on her nest on an odd flattened part of a bent branch.  So cool.  The nest is visible from the trail, so I’ll have to keep an eye on it; see if they get any babies.  Mourning Doves can have up to six broods a year!

At the pond near the nature center, there was the paid of Mallards sleeping on log.  That’s a bonded pair, and I’ve seen them every week for the past several weeks; they like resting there.

We walked for about 3 ½ hours and then went on our separate ways.

Species List:

1. Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus,
2. Asian Ladybeetle, Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle, Harmonia axyridis,
3. Bay Laurel, Laurus nobilis,
4. Black Walnut, Juglans nigra,
5. Blue Dicks, Dichelostemma capitatum,
6. Blue Oak, Quercus douglasii,
7. Broad-Footed Mole, Scapanus latimanus,,
8. Brown Jelly Fungus, Jelly Leaf, Tremella foliacea
9. Buck Brush, Ceanothus cuneatus,
10. Bush Lupine, Lupinus albifrons,
11. California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi,
12. California King Snake, Lampropeltis getula californiae,
13. California Manroot, Marah fabaceus,
14. California Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta,
15. California Pipevine, Aristolochia californica,
16. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica,
17. California Towhee, Melozone crissalis,
18. Chanterelle mushrooms, Cantherellus sp.,
19. Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus,
20. Common Jelly Spot fungus, Dacrymyces stillatus,
21. Coyote Brush, Baccharis pilularis,
22. Deer Shield Mushroom, Pluteus cervinus,
23. Desert Cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii,
24. Dog Vomit Slime Mold, Fuligo septica,
25. Dryad’s Saddle Polypore, Polyporus squamosus,
26. Eastern Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger,
27. False Turkey Tail fungus, Stereum hirsutum,
28. Fringe Pod, Thysanocarpus curvipes ssp. elegans,
29. Gold Dust Lichen, Chrysothrix candelaris,
30. Great Horned Owl, Bubo virginianus,
31. Green Shield Lichen,Flavoparmelia caperata,
32. House Wren, Troglodytes aedon,
33. Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni,
34. Lace Lichen, Ramalina menziesii,
35. Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos,
36. Mazegill Fungus, Daedalea quercina,
37. Miniature Lupine, Lupinus bicolor,
38. Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura,
39. Pacific Gopher Snake, Pituophis catenifer,
40. Periwinkle, Vinca major,
41. Pleated Ink Cap Mushroom, Parasola plicatilis ,
42. Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia,
43. Rock Shield Lichen, Xanthoparmelia tinctina,
44. Russula Mushrooms, Russula sp.,
45. Saw-Whet Owl, Aegolius acadicus,
46. Snowy Egret, Egretta thula,
47. Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus,
48. Sunburst Lichen, Xanthoria elegans,
49. Turkey Tail fungus, Trametes versicolor,
50. Valley Oak, Quercus lobata,
51. Wavy-Leaf Soap Root, Soap Plant, Chlorogalum pomeridianum,
52. Western Gray Squirrel, Sciurus griseus,
53. Western Redbud, Cercis occidentalis,
54. Western Toad, Anaxyrus boreas,
55. Yarrow, Common Yarrow, Achillea millefolium,