I got up around 5:45 this morning and headed out to the Gristmill Recreation Area for a walk. It was 56° at the river when I got there. Again, I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, so I was open to whatever I came across. I walked along the shore of the American River for a while then climbed up onto the trail to walk back to where the car was parked.

I found quite a few little toadlets in one area. There must be a nursery of them in there somewhere, but the riverside plants were too overgrown for me to see exactly where they coming from.

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I also found a melanistic Bull Frog. It was a young one and kind of skinny, and because it was still a little chilly outside, the frog was torpid. That made it easy for me to catch him and get some photos of him.

CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.

There were lots of galls on the willow trees, but nothing much, really, showing on the oaks there yet.

I saw a Great Blue Heron on the edge of the water, slumming with some Canada Geese. It let me get pretty close before it flew off, croaking at me. A male Belted Kingfisher was also cooperative, sitting on a snag by the water drying off from fishing. And a young Red-Shouldered Hawk flew into a tree right near the trail, and let me get some photos of it before it also took off across the river.

I walked for about 2 hours and then headed home.

Species List:

1. Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus
2. African Cluster Bug, Agonoscelis puberula
3. American Bull Frog, Lithobates catesbeianus
4. Anna’s Hummingbird, Calypte anna
5. Armenian Blackberry, Rubus armeniacus [pink flower]
6. Arroyo Willow, Salix lasiolepis
7. Belted Kingfisher, Megaceryle alcyon
8. Black Walnut Pouch Gall Mite, Aceria brachytarsa
9. Black Walnut, Eastern Black Walnut, Juglans nigra
10. Black-Tailed Jackrabbit, Lepus californicus
11. Blue Elderberry, Sambucus nigra cerulea
12. Boxelder, Box Elder Tree, Acer negundo
13. California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi
14. California Gull, Larus californicus [yellow legs; dark eye; red spot]
15. California Mugwort, Artemisia douglasiana
16. California Towhee, Melozone crissalis
17. Canada Goose, Branta canadensis
18. Coast Live Oak, Quercus agrifolia
19. Common Merganser, Mergus merganser
20. Crow, American Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos
21. Desert Cottontail Rabbit, Sylvilagus audubonii
22. Doveweed, Turkey Mullein, Croton setiger
23. European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris
24. Fremont’s Cottonwood, Populus fremontii
25. Goodding’s Black Willow, Salix gooddingii
26. Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias
27. Hairy Woodpecker, Dryobates villosus [long bill]
28. Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni
29. Interior Sandbar Willow, Salix interior
30. Mallard Duck, Anas platyrhynchos
31. Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura
32. Mullein, Great Mullein, Verbascum thapsus
33. Mullein, Moth Mullein, Verbascum blattaria [thin stick, white or yellow]
34. Muscovy Duck, Cairina moschata
35. Northern Catalpa, Indian Bean Tree, Catalpa speciosa
36. Oak Apple, California Gall Wasp, Andricus quercuscalifornicus
37. Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus
38. Silver Maple, Acer saccharinum
39. Smooth Horsetail, Equisetum laevigatum
40. Spanish Clover, Acmispon americanus
41. Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus
42. Tall Flatsedge, Cyperus eragrostis
43. Valley Oak, Quercus lobata
44. Western Boxelder Bug, Boisea rubrolineata
45. Western Toad, Anaxyrus boreas
46. White Horehound, Marrubium vulgare
47. Willow Apple Gall Sawfly, Pontania californica
48. Willow Bead Gall Mite, Aculus tetanothrix
49. Willow Beaked Twig Gall Midge, Rahdophaga rigidae
50. Willow Mid-Rib Sawfly, Unknown species [per Russo, pg.219]
51. Willow Rosette Gall Midge, Rabdophaga salicisbrassicoides
52. Willow Stem Sawfly, Euura exiguae