By 6:00 I was on my way over to the American River Bend Park for a walk. It was about 65º when I got there, and 75º when I left about 3 hours later. That’s really too “hot” for walking, but I needed to get outside and move around.
CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.
When I first got into the park, I saw a Jackrabbits and a Coyote, but it was still too dark for my camera to see them. That was disappointing. And I didn’t a lot of anything new along the way, but the exercise was good for me, so it wasn’t a wasted trip.
I walked a route I didn’t usually walk… and now I remember why. It runs right alongside part of the bike trail and bikers go whizzing by, talking loudly to one another. Quite a distraction.
The most interesting thing on my walk this morning was a female Green Darner dragonfly (Anax junius) sunning herself in the early morning hours. The females have a green thorax and brown abdomen; the males have a green thorax and a blue abdomen. Despite her size – These dragonflies are big! — she was almost invisible against the tree, and I only saw her because she was lightly thrumming her wings, trying to warm up her flight muscles.
I was able to grab her off her tree for a few seconds to get some close-ups… for which she bit me! Hah! Dragonflies don’t sting but they do have hard mandibles and can give you a good pinch with their mouth. I put her back on her tree when I was done with the photos, and she sat there shuddering her wings for a moment more before taking off.
I walked for about 3 hours and then headed home.
Species List
- Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus
- Anna’s Hummingbird, Calypte anna
- Black Walnut Erineum Mite galls, Eriophyes erinea
- Black-Tailed Jackrabbit, Lepus californicus
- Blue Elderberry, Sambucus nigra cerulea
- California Brickellbush, Brickellia californica
- California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi
- California Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta
- California Pipevine, Dutchman’s Pipe, Aristolochia californica
- California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica
- Canada Goldenrod, Solidago canadensis
- Canada Goose, Branta canadensis
- Cedar Waxwing, Bombycilla cedrorum
- Coyote, Canis latrans
- Doveweed, Turkey Mullein, Croton setigerus
- Everlasting, Anaphalis sp.
- Goldenrod Bunch Gall, Goldenrod Floret Gall Midge, Solidago canadensis
- Green Darner Dragonfly, Anax junius
- Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni
- Italian Thistle, Carduus pycnocephalus
- Jimson Weed, Datura stramonium
- Kernel Flower Gall Wasp, Callirhytis serricornis
- Lesser Goldfinch, Spinus psaltria
- Live Oak Gall Wasp, 1st Generation, Callirhytis quercuspomiformis
- Live Oak Gall Wasp, 2nd Generation, Callirhytis quercuspomiformis
- Mallard duck, Anas platyrhynchos
- Pumpkin Gall Wasp, Dryocosmus minusculus
- Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus [heard]
- Red-Tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis [flying]
- Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia
- Ruptured Twig Gall Wasp, Callirhytis perdens
- Rusty Tussock Moth, Orgyia antiqua [cocoons]
- Swedish Blue Duck, Anas platyrhynchos domesticus var. Swedish Blue
- Tall Buckwheat, Eriogonum elatum var. elatum
- Tarweed, Common Madia, Madia elegans
- Two-Horned Gall Wasp, Dryocosmus dubiosus
- Valley Oak, Quercus lobata
- Western Bluebird, Sialia mexicana
- Western Fence Lizard, Blue Belly, Sceloporus occidentalis
- Western Goldenrod, Solidago lepida
- White-Breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis
- Woolly Oak Aphid, Stegophylla brevirostris
- Wooly Mullein, Great Mullein, Verbascum thapsus
- Yellow Starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis
