Got to see Some Young Bucks Jousting, 1-13-21

Around 7:00 I was out the door with my friend Roxanne, to head over to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve for a walk. The first thing we saw was a pair of California Towhees in the parking lot, then when we stepped into the preserve, we saw a Red-Shouldered Hawk sitting in a tree.

While we were watching it and taking photos, we were glad to spot Rachael Cowan, the former volunteer coordinator at Effie Yeaw. I was so happy to see that she was still well and kicking.

At the preserve the air was full of birdsong; it seemed like it was never-ending. That was so different from our recent experience at Kenny Ranch where the forest seemed completely silent for the most part. We were able to identify most of the birds by their song: Red-Shouldered Hawks, Acorn Woodpeckers, Oak Titmice, starlings, wrens, nuthatches, Spotted Towhees, Wild Turkeys… But we weren’t always able to see them well enough to get photos each time.

We also saw a few deer, including some does and yearlings, a spike buck, and a pair of 2-pointer bucks who were jousting, if half-heartedly. They kept pushing one another into deep folds between the hillocks, so we could only see them when they came up for air. I got a few shots of the head butting, but would have liked to have gotten more.

Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

The does seemed focused on eating, and they seemed to really like the leaves of the olive trees on the property. One of them even walked down into a little ravine where the low branches of an olive tree trailed down over the side. Another doe tried to eat the leaves off a twiggy branch by pulling it around her head and stripping the leaves off as the twig ran through her mouth. It was fun watching them.

CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.

I was hoping to find some fungi, and we did come across a few common species, but it really needs to rain more to see more variety and specimens. I also found some green Trichoderma viride mold growing on a cast-off log.

“… The mold can grow directly on wood, which is mostly composed of cellulose, and on fungi, the cell walls of which are mainly composed of chitin. It parasitizes the mycelia and fruiting bodies of other fungi, including cultivated mushrooms, and it has been called the ‘green mold disease of mushrooms’…”

We were only out walking for about 2 hours – I was dragging a bit – but we were able to complete the one-mile necessary to count this as #4 of my #52HikeChallenge.