I got up a little before 6:00 am and headed out to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve for a walk. I wanted to get there by 6:30 so I could beat the heat for today. Actually, the weather was rather pleasant all day, but anything over 70° is uncomfortable for me when I’m outside.
When I got there, The-Other-Mary, Mary Messenger, another volunteer trail-walker at Effie Yeaw, was there wanting to join me, and my friend/naturalist/volunteer Roxanne Moger also showed up. So, we had a nice time looking at all the little stuff that was around us.
CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.
Roxanne and I were more focused on bugs and galls this time around than the larger animals, so we were moving really slowly, investigating the leaves of plants and using the macro-settings on our cameras. I actually like the quality of the macro-photos better on my cell phone than on my camera (it can get in tighter and more clearly), so I was using that a lot. The best finds of the day were made by Roxanne who discovered a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly in a tree and a California Alligator Lizard hiding in some clover. The alligator lizards are super-common in Southern California, but we don’t see them much here, so finding one is always fun.
We located a Black Phoebe nest, found out where an Oak titmouse was hiding out in a tree (that was guarded at the moment we saw it by a Western Fence Lizard), and also saw a Starling leave her nesting cavity with a white glob in her beak. She threw the glob down in a field and kept on flying. I’m assuming she was doing housekeeping and tossed the babies’ fecal sacs.
We saw a few deer, including a pair of bucks in their velvet. One of the bucks decided to do a head-scratching maneuver that, at the same time, flashed his junk at us. Hah! How rude! I also came across a doe who was having a sneezing fit. I don’t know if she snuffled up something while she was browsing or what, but she was loud!
The elderberry bushes are just starting to flower-out, as are the Buckeye chestnut trees. The few plum trees in the preserve already have plums on them, and some were starting to turn purple.
On the walk, we came across both Oak Apple wasp galls and Live Oak wasp galls. And, as for the insects, I saw Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars and butterflies, Painted Lady caterpillars and butterflies, some Tussock Moth caterpillars, Craneflies, some bumble bees, hover flies, damselflies (including a male and female Pacific Forktail), Soldier Beetles, ladybugs, aphids and some Spittle Bug spit and other critters. There are so many teeny-tinies around.
By this time of the spring, some of the butterflies are already looking pretty ragged. I saw several of them with tears in their wings and frayed edges. I think some of the damage is done by the grasses that grow up around the flowers and plants the butterflies utilize. The razor-edges of the grass can cut human skin, so I can only imagine how quickly they can damage the fragile wings of the butterflies.
I walked for about 4 hours and then headed home.
Species List:
1. Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus,
2. American Bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus,
3. Aphids, superfamily Aphidoidea,
4. Asian Lady Beetle, Harmonia axyridis,
5. Bedstraw, Cleavers, Galium aparine,
6. Billbug, Weevil, Sphenophorus sp.,
7. Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans,
8. Black Walnut Erineum Mite galls, Eriophyes erinea,
9. Black Walnut, Juglans nigra,
10. Blue Elderberry, Sambucus cerulea,
11. Blue Oak, Quercus douglasii,
12. Blue Penstemon, Penstemon azureus,
13. Bush Monkey Flower, Mimulus aurantiacus,
14. Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus,
15. California Buckeye Tree, Aesculus californica,
16. California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi
17. California Manroot, Bigroot, Marah fabaceus,
18. California Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta,
19. California Pipevine, Dutchman’s Pipe, Aristolochia californica,
20. California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica,
21. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica,
22. Camel Cricket, Gammarotettix bilobatus,
23. Catface Spider, Araneus gemmoides,
24. Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus,
25. Common Catchfly, Silene gallica,
26. Common Fringepod, Thysanocarpus curvipes,
27. Common Popcorn Flower, Plagiobothrys stipitatus,
28. Common Yarrow, Achillea millefolium,
29. Convergent Lady Beetle nymph, Hippodamia convergens,
30. Cranefly, family Tipulidae,
31. Deer Grass, Muhlenbergia rigens,
32. Desert Cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii,
33. Dog Vomit Slime Mold, Fuligo septica,
34. Dogtail Grass, Cynosurus echinatus,
35. European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris,
36. Fiery Skipper, Hylephila phyleus,
37. Foxtail Barley, Hordeum murinum,
38. Gold Dust Lichen, Chrysothrix candelaris,
39. Green Shield Lichen, Flavoparmelia caperata,
40. House Wren, Troglodytes aedon,
41. Indian Paintbrush, Castilleja affinis,
42. Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni,
43. Italian Thistle, Carduus pycnocephalus,
44. Ithuriel’s Spears, Triteleia laxa,
45. Leafhopper, Chlorotettix sp.,
46. Miniature Lupine, Lupinus bicolor,
47. Moth caterpillar, possibly Amphipyra brunneoatra
48. Oak Apple Wasp Gall, Andricus quercuscalifornicus
49. Oak Titmouse, Baeolophus inornatus,
50. Oakmoss Lichen, Evernia prunastri,
51. Olive Tree, Olea europaea,
52. Pacific Forktail damselfly, Ischnura cervula,
53. Painted Lady butterfly, Vanessa cardui,
54. Periwinkle, Vinca major,
55. Pink Grass, Windmill Pink, Petrorhagia dubia,
56. Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta,
57. Plum, Prunus cerasifera,
58. Poison Oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum,
59. Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus,
60. Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia,
61. Rock Shield Lichen, Xanthoparmelia conspersa,
62. Rose Clover, Trifolium hirtum,
63. Rusty Tussock Moth caterpillar, Orgyia antiqua,
64. Sedge, Tall Cyperus, Cyperus eragrostis,
65. Showy Milkweed, Asclepias speciose,
66. Soldier Beetle, Brown Leatherwing Beetle, Pacificanthia consors,
67. Spittlebug, Meadow Spittlebug, Philaenus spumarius,
68. Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus,
69. Spring Vetch, Vicia sativa,
70. Strawberry Clover, Trifolium fragiferum,
71. Sunburst Lichen, Xanthoria elegans,
72. Valley Oak, Quercus lobata,
73. Valley Tassels, Castilleja attenuate,
74. Western Bluebird, Sialia mexicana,
75. Western Fence Lizard, Sceloporus occidentalis,
76. Western Redbud, Cercis occidentalis,
77. Western Tiger Swallowtail butterfly, Papilio rutulus,
78. White Horehound, Marrubium vulgare,
79. Winter Vetch, Vicia villosa,
80. Yerba Santa, Eriodictyon californicum,
