I got up a little before 6:00 am and headed over to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve for my regular Tuesday trail-walking gig. It was cool and rain threatened, but it didn’t actually start raining until I got back into the car to head home, so that was nice. I was joined on the walk by Mary Messenger (The Other Mary), and we took the trails in a counterclockwise fashion just to mix things up a little bit. I was hoping to see the young coyote again, but I didn’t. Later, Rachel (the volunteer coordinator) told us that she’d spotted it in the company of a larger coyote in the big field right before the turn off to the nature center. She suspected it was too-lean female, but I think it’s a juvenile. Hard to tell, though, unless we can get a really good look at it.
CLICK HERE for the album of photos.
I did get to see couple of slime molds, which was cool, and also got to watch House Wrens doing their daily chores: bringing twigs and feathers to line their nesting cavity; bringing breakfast to the kids; and taking out the trash (taking the babies’ fecal sacs out of the nest). We also got photos of a cooperative Desert Cottontail rabbit who was eating clover along the edge of the trail. So cute.
We walked for about 3 ½ hours and then head back home.
Species List:
- Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus,
- American Bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus,
- Anna’s Hummingbird, Calypte anna,
- Ash-Throated Flycatcher, Myiarchus cinerascens,
- Black Jelly Roll fungus, Exidia glandulosa,
- Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans,
- Black Walnut, Juglans nigra,
- Blessed Milk Thistle, Silybum marianum,
- Blue Elderberry, Sambucus cerulea,
- Bryum Moss, Bryum capillare,
- Bush Katydid, Scudderia furcata,
- California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi,
- California Pipevine Swallowtail, Battus philenor hirsuta,
- California Pipevine, Dutchman’s Pipe, Aristolochia californica,
- California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica,
- California Towhee, Melozone crissalis,
- California Wild Grape, Vitis californica,
- Canada Goose, Branta canadensis,
- Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus,
- Desert Cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii,
- Eastern Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger,
- Eastern Phoebe, Sayornis phoebe,
- English Walnut, Juglans regia,
- European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris,
- Gold Dust Lichen, Chrysothrix candelaris,
- Green Shield Lichen, Flavoparmelia caperata,
- Hammond’s Flycatcher, Empidonax hammondii
- Honey Fungus, Ringless Honey Fungus, Armarilla tabescens,
- House Wren, Troglodytes aedon,
- Jelly Spot Jelly Fungus, Dacrymyces chrysospermus,
- Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos,
- Miniature Lupine, Lupinus bicolor,
- Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura,
- Mower’s Mushroom, Haymaker Mushroom, Panaeolus foenisecii,
- Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Picoides nuttallii,
- Painted Lady Butterfly, Vanessa cardui,
- Poison Oak, Pacific Poison Oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum,
- Rock Shield Lichen, Xanthoparmelia conspersa,
- Showy Milkweed, Asclepias speciose,
- Split Gill Fungus, Schizophyllum sp.
- Tree Swallow, Tachycineta bicolor,
- White Finger Slime Mold, Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa,
- White Horehound, Marrubium vulgare,
- Witches Butter Jelly Fungus, Tremella mesenterica,
- Wolf’s Milk Slime Mold, Lycogala epidendrum,
- Wrinkled Crust Fungus, Phlebia radiata
