Once we got the car loaded, my friend Roxanne and I were off again back toward Sacramento.  [[ CLICK HERE for the write up on Day One.]]

We took Highway 128 again and stopped three times along the way to look at the lace lichen on the trees and walk a little bit along Putah Creek.  At the first stop, where we were looking at the lichen, Roxanne realized that under the leaf litter, all over the area, was a huge crop of Sulphur Tuft mushrooms.  The mycelial web underground that supported them must have been huge!

• 

• 

Then we stopped briefly at the Monticello Dam and got a look at the Glory Hole. Water wasn’t flowing into it, but it was nice to see Lake Berryessa so full just the same.  We saw quite a few Robins there and some midges lighting along the rock retaining wall.  From a geological standpoint, the rock formations all around that area are quite impressive.  Lots of layers, all tipped up onto their side by plate tectonics.

“…Most of Northern California’s bedrock is part of just three large bodies: the granite of the Sierra, the metamorphic rocks of the Coast Range, and the sedimentary rocks of the Central Valley. All three are parts of one entity: a former subduction zone. Picture the Pacific seafloor plate being carried eastward against the North American continental plate and plunging underneath it—subduction…” READ MORE HERE.

CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.

At the third stop, along Putah Creek at one of the fishing turnoffs, we were “harassed” by a Mourning Cloak butterfly that at first seemed to want to avoid us, but then followed us all over the place and landed in conspicuous sots where we were able to get a lot of photos of it. 

And we saw our first Pipevine of the season in full bloom. The pipevine gets its flowers first and then leave follow. Each blossom is like a fat Calabash pipe. Here’s an interesting article on the plant.

We actually have an endemic subspecies of Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly in Sacramento County that would go extinct in just one season if the pipevine disappeared.     

The Mourning Cloaks are interesting, too, in that they estivate (like hibernation but in the hotter months) over the late summer, wake up in the fall and winter to feed, and then mate in the spring.  Some of them migrate; some don’t. Females lay their eggs all the way around the stems of willows, cottonwood trees, and other host plants, and when the babies emerge, they form a communal web around themselves and feed together until they’re bigger and stronger and able to go off on their own. In their butterfly stage, they don’t like nectar and feed instead on tree sap and rotting fruits and berries.  The caterpillars are black with black spikes and a row of bright red spots down the back.

The big deal to me at this stop was the number of different lichens on the boulders there. I found Stonewall Rim, Ink Lichen, several different kinds of Cobblestone lichen, Tan Nipple Lichen, Sidewalk Firedot Lichen and others. They were all relatively small (in comparison to the substrate) but really showed off under the macro attachment on my cellphone.

When we got into Winters, we stopped briefly for some extra coffee, and then continued on to Sacramento. I got to the house right around 2:00 pm. 

Species List from Both Days:

1. Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus
2. American Robin, Turdus migratorius
3. Arundo, Giant Reed, Arundo donax
4. Bay Laurel Tree, Laurus nobilis
5. Beaded Tube Lichen, Hypogymnia apinnata
6. Big-headed Ground Beetle, Scarites subterraneus [black, shiny, large mandibles] ??
7. Black Cobweb Spider, Steatoda capensis
8. Black Jelly Roll fungus, Exidia glandulosa
9. Brewer’s Blackbird, Euphagus cyanocephalus
10. Bright Cobblestone Lichen, Acarospora socialis [bright yellow, on rocks]
11. Bufflehead Duck, Bucephala albeola
12. California Black Oak, Quercus kelloggii
13. California Pipevine, Dutchman’s Pipe, Aristolochia californica
14. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica
15. California Slender Salamander, Batrachoseps attenuates
16. Canada Goose, Branta canadensis
17. Candlesnuff Fungus, Carbon Antlers, Xylaria hypoxylon [upright, branched, white with a layer of spores; spores release at a touch]
18. Canyon Live Oak, Quercus chrysolepis
19. Chamise, Adenostoma fasciculatum
20. Cinder Lichen, Aspicilia cinerea
21. Coastal Woodfern, Dryopteris arguta [pointed leaves, two rows of spore sites]
22. Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus
23. Common Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos
24. Common Gold Cobblestone Lichen, Pleopsidium flavum [bright yellow]
25. Common Gray Disk Fungus, Mollisia olivascens
26. Common Jelly Spot fungus, Dacrymyces stillatus
27. Common Merganser, Mergus merganser
28. Conifer Mazegill, Gloeophyllum sepiarium
29. Cowboys Handkerchief, Waxy Cap Mushroom, Hygrophorus eburneus
30. Coyote Brush, Baccharis pilularis
31. Crabseye Lichen, Ochrolechia subpallescens [creamy colored lichen with white-rimmed pale orange/pink apothecia on trees]
32. Crampball Fungus, Daldinia concentrica
33. Dark-Winged Fungus Gnat, Bradysia sp.
34. Dendroalsia Moss, Dendroalsia abietina [long curling moss on trees]
35. Double-Crested Cormorant, Phalacrocorax auratus
36. Douglas Fir Tree, Pseudotsuga menziesii
37. Dusky Tile Lichen, Lecidea Lichen, Lecidea fuscoatra  [black rimmed apothecia on rocks]
38. Ear-leaf Lichen, Normandina pulchella [green leaf-like on rocks]
39. Eastern Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger
40. Farinose Cartilage Lichen,  Ramalina farinacea [like Oakmoss but very thin branches]
41. Fishbone Beard Lichen, Usnea filipendula [hairy eyeballs]
42. Fluffy Dust Lichen, Pacific Fluffy Dust Lichen, Lepraria pacifica
43. Fremont’s Cottonwood, Populus fremontii
44. Fringed Wrinkle Lichen, Tuckermanopsis americana [pale green, brown fringes, on trees]
45. Globular Springtail, Ptenothrix marmorata 
46. Goldback Fern, Pentagramma triangularis
47. Gray lungwort, Lobaria hallii  [gray to green, with soredia on surface]
48. Gray Pine, Pinus sabiniana
49. Great Blue Heron, Ardea Herodias
50. Great Egret, Ardea alba
51. Green Shield Lichen, Flavoparmelia caperata
52. Green Trichoderma Mold, Trichoderma viride 
53. Herre’s Ragged Lichen, Platismatia herrei
54. Hidden Goldspeck Lichen, Candelariella aurella [small, scattered, yellow, on rocks]
55. House Finch, Haemorhous mexicanus
56. Ink Lichen, Placynthium nigrum [pitch black, fine grained]
57. Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni
58. Lace Lichen, Ramalina menziesii
59. Lipstick Powderhorn, Cladonia macilenta
60. Lung Lichen, Lobaria anthraspis
61. Mealy Pixie Cup, Cladonia chlorophaea
62. Milky Cap, Hemimycena hirsute [tiny white mushrooms with distant gills]
63. Mistletoe, American Mistletoe, Big Leaf Mistletoe, Phoradendron leucarpum
64. Mistletoe Gall, caused byMistletoe haustorium growing on a tree
65. Mourning Cloak Butterfly, Nymphalis antiopa
66. Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura
67. Non-biting Midges, Family: Chironomidae
68. Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus
69. Oakmoss Lichen, Evernia prunastri
70. Oleander Aphid, Aphis nerii
71. Orange Bonnet Mushroom, Mycena acicula
72. Pacific Madrone Tree, Arbutus menziesii
73. Pigeon, Domestic Pigeon, Columba livia domestica
74. Pin-cushion Sunburst Lichen, Polycauliona polycarpa
75. Pink Elongated Springtail, Podura sp.
76. Pink Honeysuckle, California Honeysuckle, Lonicera hispidula
77. Ponderosa Pine, Pinus ponderosa
78. Poor Man’s Slippery Jack, Suillus fuscotomentosus [sort of looks like a bolete]
79. Powderhorn Lichen, Common Powderhorn, Cladonia coniocraea
80. Powdery Sunburst Lichen, Xanthoria ulophyllodes [yellow, leafy, rare on rocks but does sometimes appear on them]
81. Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus [heard]
82. Red-Tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis
83. Red-Winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus
84. Rove Beetle, Quedius sp. [red-orange] ??
85. Ruby-Crowned Kinglet, Regulus calendula
86. Scaly Rustgill Mushroom, Gymnopilus sapineus
87. Shield Lichen Parmelia sulcata [gray foliose lichen on trees]
88. Sidewalk Firedot Lichen, Xanthocarpia feracissima  [bright orange, on rocks]
89. Silky Piggyback Mushrooms,  Asterophora parasitica
90. Slime Mold, Carnival Candy Slime Mold, Arcyria denudata
91. Slime Mold, Honeycomb Coral Slime Mold, Ceratiomyxa fruticulosa
92. Slime Mold, Insect Egg Slime Mold, Badhamia sp. [early stages of plasmodium]
93. Slime Mold, Spotted Trichia Slime Mold, Trichia botrytis
94. Soaproot, Amole, Chlorogalum pomeridianum ssp. pomeridianum
95. Speckled Greenshield, Flavopunctelia flaventior
96. Stonewall Rim Lichen, Lecona muralis [ pale green/gray thallus with rose/tan apothecia gathered in the center; color can be quite variable]
97. Stonewall Rim Lichen, Protoparmeliopsis muralis [tan, pebbled with leafy edges, orange-tan apothecia]
98. Striped Skunk, Mephitis mephitis [road kill, saw 5]
99. Sulphur Tuft Fungus, Hypholoma fasciculare 
100. Tan Nipple Lichen, Thelomma santessonii [gray/tan, deep holes in the structures]
101. Tanoak, Tanbark Oak, Notholithocarpus densiflorus
102. Toy Soldiers, Cladonia bellidiflora  [stalks are crusty, heads are split with red faces]
103. Toyon, Heteromeles arbutifolia
104. Trembling Crust Fungus, Merulius tremellosus [with guttation]
105. Turkey Tail Fungus, Trametes versicolor
106. Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura
107. Velvety Tree Ant, Liometopum occidentale
108. Western Gray Squirrel, Sciurus griseus
109. White Leaf Manzanita, Arctostaphylos viscida ssp. viscida
110. Winter Moth, Operophtera brumata [larvae, green inchworm with orange head]
111. Woolly Bird’s Nest Fungus, Nidula niveotomentosa
112. Wooly Foam Lichen, Stereocaulon ramulosum [like Oakmoss but very crusty with small brown apothecia at the end of the branches]
113. Yellow-Billed Magpie, Pica nuttalli