I got up around 6:00 AM, got the dogs fed and pottied, and then headed over to theStone Lakes National Wildlife Refuge. This is a 18,000 acre site of protected land in the southern portion of the county near Elk Grove, one of the few urban refuges in the nation. Grasslands, vernal pools and diverse wildlife and plant life can be found here, but most of it can only be seen through guided tours that go past the paved Blue Heron loop trails.
Pond which is circled by the paved Blue Heron Loop trail
I seldom see any wildlife there to speak of when I’m there, and more recently I found the place to be a horrible mess: very neglected and unkempt. Today, I was happy to see that they cleaned the place up a lot since the last time I was out there. I went there because I knew they had a great collection of the native California Wild Rose plants there, and this is rose gall season. I saw two species: the galls of the Spiny Leaf Gall Wasp, Diplolepis polita, and galls of the Leafy Bract Gall Wasp, Diplolepis californica. So cool!
The only birds I saw there were the usual suspects: a few Red-Winged Blackbirds, House Finches, some tree Swallows and Mourning Doves, and a Song Sparrow. I could hear Killdeer, but didn’t see them.
The only other creature I saw there was a very pregnant Western Fence Lizard. Her coloration was so bold and bright, you couldn’t miss her. I’ve never seen one colored like that.
I found a few different kinds of lichen on the wood and metal spurs of one of the bridges on the property, including one I’d never seen before.
I walked there for about 2 hours. This was hike #24 in my #52hikeChallenge for the year.
Because it was so close, I drove over toward the Cosumnes River Preserve. I didn’t go into the preserve itself, but drove around Franklin, Desmond and Bruceville Roads to see if I came across anything interesting.
There were cattle in some of the ag fields. And across from them were quite a few Purple Salsify. Chicory, and Bristly Oxtongue plants. Along Franklin Road, across from the entrance to the preserve there was a row of fennel plants.
I always check out fennel plants when I find them during this time of the year because they are a host plant for the caterpillars of the Anise Swallowtail Butterfly, Papilio zelicaon. They go through 5 instars (molts) changing in color and size as they mature. They start out looking like bird poop, and end up banded in glorious colors. I found specimens in the first, third, fourth and fifth instars. So cool.
A little bit further on the road was a pond filled with Great Egrets and Snowy Egrets. I assumed they were eating crayfish, which a common inhabitants of the pond.
I was out for about 4 hours and headed back home.
Species List:
Anise Swallowtail Butterfly, Papilio zelicaon
Baccharis Stem Gall Midge, Rhopalomyia baccharis [creates twisting stems on coyote brush]
Bee, European Honeybee, Western Honeybee, Apis mellifera
Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans
Blessed Milk Thistle, Silybum marianum
Blue Elderberry, Sambucus nigra cerulea
Boxelder, Box Elder Tree, Acer negundo
Bristle Fly, Family: Tachinidae
Bristly Oxtongue, Helminthotheca echioides
California Blackberry, Trailing Blackberry, Rubus ursinus
California Sycamore, Western Sycamore, Platanus racemose
Spiny Leaf Gall Wasp, Diplolepis polita [on rose leaves]
Swallow, Tree Swallow, Tachycineta bicolor
Torrent Sedge, Carex nudata
Tule, Common Tule, Schoenoplectus acutus
Valley Oak, Quercus lobata
Western Fence Lizard, Blue Belly, Sceloporus occidentalis
Western Kingbird, Tyrannus verticalis
Willow, Arroyo Willow, Salix lasiolepis
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It’s the City Nature Challenge Day #3and my friend Roxanne and I went over to the American River Bend Park with my dog Esteban to look for more species to add to our totals. Esteban walked the whole trail along with us and never complained or asked to be picked up and held. I was very proud of him. The weather was lovely: cool and breezy. It was so nice.
There were so-so many California Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars everywhere. We even found one that was just starting to go into it’s metamorphosis. CLICK HEREfor an excellent video (not mine) about the butterfly’s life cycle.
At one spot, we noticed that a White-Breasted Nuthatch was whizzing back and forth with food for its babies, and followed it back to its nest: a hole at the end of a downed log in the grass. It’s usually really difficult to get clear photos of this species of bird because it’s small, moves a lot, and usually has its back to you. But at this particular nesting site, we were able to get quite a few face and full body photos of the birds.
There were a lot of tiny House Wrens singing from various trees all around us, but it took a while before we were able to find one that was within photographing range.
Roxanne had really wanted to see some of the Rough-Winged Swallows I saw the last time I was at the park, but they were being shy today. We finally did see a few in flight, and one landed on a tree nearby, so at least she was able to get pictures of that one.
In the river, we saw a pair (male and female) of Common Mergansers. In this species, the males don’t look anything like the females (sexual dimorphism). According to Cornell: “…Adult sexes strongly dimorphic in size and plumage most of year. Male has iridescent, greenish-black head with rounded crest, brilliant white neck, underparts, and secondaries contrasting with black upperwings, gray back and tail, and long narrow scarlet-orange bill. Female plumage has rusty-brown head with long crest and distinct white chin patch, slaty-gray breast, back, wings and tail, white flanks and belly, and scarlet-orange bill; brown of head and upper neck sharply demarcated from white lower neck..” I’m looking forward to them having lots of red-headed ducklings.
A big surprise, for me, was seeing my first Townsend’s Warbler: a little yellow guy with thick black eyeliner. So cute. This species is migrating through right now, and flies between because Alaska and Central America each year. The species hasn’t been studied very much, so most of the information on it is anecdotal.
Throughout the park, we found several different kinds of lichen, and also were able to find an identify a few species of grasses.
On our way out, we spotted a mama Wild Turkey with about four or five little poults. As soon as she realized we were trying to get photos of the babies, she hurried them into the long grass where they were all but invisible – except for the grass-tops moving over them.
We were out for about 3½ hours and then headed home. This was hike #23 in my #52Hike Challenge for the year.
Species List:
Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus
Alder, White Alder, Alnus rhombifolia
Anna’s Hummingbird, Calypte anna
Ash-Throated Flycatcher, Myiarchus cinerascens
Bark Rim Lichen, Lecanora chlarotera [looks like Whitewash Lichen but has apothecia]
Bee, Leafcutter Bee, Megachile sp.
Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans
Blessed Milk Thistle, Silybum marianum
Blue Elderberry, Sambucus nigra cerulea
Bur Parsley, Anthriscus caucalis
Bushtit, American Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus
California Black Walnut Pouch Gall Mite, Aceria brachytarsa
California Buckeye Chestnut Tree, Aesculus californica
California Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta
California Pipevine, Dutchman’s Pipe, Aristolochia californica
Two-Horned Gall Wasp, unisexual gall, summer generation, Dryocosmus dubiosus [small, green or mottled, on back of leaf along the midvein]
Vetch, Hairy Vetch, Vicia villosa
Wax-Leaf Ligustrum, Ligustrum japonicum
Western Fence Lizard, Blue Belly, Sceloporus occidentalis [pregnant female]
Western Hoptree, Ptelea crenulata
Western Redbud, Cercis occidentalis
Western Tiger Swallowtail Butterfly, Papilio rutulus
White-Breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis
Wren, House Wren, Troglodytes aedon
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This was the City Nature Challenge Day #1 and I got up at 5:30 AM to get the dogs all fed and pottied, and to get myself and Esteban ready for a day out in the field with my friend and fellow naturalist Roxanne. We went into Placer County and up along the length of Drum Powerhouse Road. My right arm still hurt from the COVID booster, all the way down to my wrist. I pretty much tried to ignore it, but sometimes I had to change which hand I held my camera/cellphone in.
On the way up into the foothills, Roxanne took a short detour to show me a spot where there were white globe lilies blooming along the road side. Such pretty things.
Next we stopped at a rest stop along the highway to use the restroom, get Esteban walked and pottied, and check out the colony of Cliff Swallows there. I could watch those little guys all day. They’re so entertaining.
Once we got going, we got confused by some of the road signs, and ended up going down a road we didn’t mean to, but at an intersection there we saw more Cliff Swallows. They were on the ground near a puddle collecting mud for their nests. We noted that the birds were flapping their wings all the while they were on the ground.
I suggested it might be to confuse and ward-off predators, but according to bird-photographer expert Ron Dudley it has a different purpose. He writes: “…It’s thought to be a defensive posture used by both sexes and meant to prevent extra-pair copulations (EPCs). At almost any opportunity males try to copulate with swallows other than their own mates and those sexually aggressive males often mistake other males for females. So swallows on the ground, both males and females, typically raise and flutter their wings in an effort to prevent those unwelcome matings while their gathering behavior makes them more vulnerable. As a result, vicious fights often break out…”
So, the wing-flapping is sort of like the swallows’ version of birth control. Hah!
The drive took us up through the foothills, past huge outcroppings of serpentinite, seeps and small waterfalls, and one spot where water (from melting snow above) was actually trickling through the rocks and mosses. It seemed that everywhere we stopped along the road, we saw a generous variety of species.
The first spot was one we’d gone to a year or so ago where we saw giant trillium, Bleeding Hearts, and Mountain Misery among other things. And we found some Trumpet Lichen among the moss on the side of a stump. We also got to see a Brown Creeper bird creeping up the side of a fir tree. It was collecting little bits of bark and needles along the way.
Further along the road we found groupings of Yellow Star Tulips and Rainbow Irises along with Goldback Fern and other plants.
In a more rocky area we found lots of lichen including Emery Rocktripe, Black Eye Lichen, and Yellow Map Lichen.
In between some of the boulders Lace Lip Ferns were peaking out. But the standout find was several flowering Mountain Jewelflower plants. I’ve been trying to find a jewelflower for almost a decade, and this was my first! I was sooooo excited! It was nice to see, too, that there were so many healthy-looking plants growing out from the rocks. Tucked in closer against the rock walls were lots of Canyon Live-Forever Dudleya, most of them in bloom, too.
On the opposite side of the road was a steep drop-off covered in trees. We could hear a loud bird singing from the top of a tree nearby. I caught a glimpse of it, and could see it was a male Black-Headed Grosbeak, but it flew into another tree before I could get a photo of it. Luckily, it didn’t go too far, and we were able to take some photos and a video snippet of it before it flew off.
In other areas we found end-of-the-season larkspur, some Pacific Hounds Tongue (“Dog Lick”), and flowering Broad-leaved Stonecrop.
We also found that several of the Dogwood trees were in bloom. Sooooo lovely. All the “green”, cool temperatures and fresh air was just what I’ve been needing. We were also pleased to see the huge outcroppings of serpentinite along the road: shiny, slick, almost glassy, in varying shades of green.
According to KQED: “…Serpentinite is a metamorphosed version of rocks that make up oceanic crust after they are incorporated into subduction zones (plate boundaries where oceanic plates are thrust under continental plates). The recognition and study of serpentinite in California contributed to the understanding of modern plate tectonic theory… Serpentinite has a unique association with California for many reasons including: its association with gold deposits and the resulting California Gold Rush history, many plants unique to California grow on serpentinite-rich soils, the fact that serpentinite is thought to promote slow (and less hazardous) ‘creep’ along faults, and others…”
In 2009, there was a bill introduced in the state Senate to remove serpentinite as California’s state rock. The bill suggested that serpentinite shouldn’t be the state rock because “serpentine contains the deadly mineral ‘chrysotile asbestos, a known carcinogen, exposure to which increases the risk of cancer mesothelioma.”
The fact that there is no such thing as the mineral chrysotile asbestos was ignored in the bill. According to KQED: “…There is a mineral ‘chrysotile’ that crystallizes into a fibrous material referred to as asbestos but not all varieties of serpentinite contain it…” The only real danger from the stone was if someone threw a chunk of serpentinite at you and it struck you in the head. So, the bill failed – as it should have.
We drove past the plot of ground, a shallow meadow, that is regularly used as a makeshift shooting range by locals. It’s so sad to see all of this destruction in the middle of such a lovely environment. The ground is literally covered in shot gun shells, shot up boxes and other trash. There are circles cut into the ground by morons doing “donuts” with their vehicles, and rocks painted with lurid green smiley faces and graffiti. It’s all just sickening to look at.
We were hoping to get to see the powerplant at the end of the road but access was blocked by a gate that, although it was open, was covered in “no trespassing” and other warning signs. The powerhouse, a hydroelectric plant run by PG&E, is over 100 years old. It’s adjacent to the New Drum Afterbay dam which is over a mile long. There is so little information available about the dam and the powerhouse that it makes me a bit suspicious about it. Like, what’s really going on beyond that closed gate? Hah!
For me, it was extra fun to also be able to find several galls on the canyon live oak trees including Clustered Blister Galls, Fluted Gall, Gouty Stem Galls, and Hair Capsule Gall.
We were out from 6:30 AM to 3:30 PM. Phew! A long day, but we saw over 100 different species. A great start to the challenge.
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I headed over to the American River Bend Park, again, for a walk. It’s really close by and is becoming my sort-of go-to place. I tried going down a trail I hadn’t been down before because I thought an owl’s nest had been spotted there, but I didn’t see it.
I DID get to see some galls on the oak trees there that I hadn’t seen in the park before, so that was cool. I’m still looking for evidence of new Callirhytis quercuspomiformis wasp galls on the live oaks, but I haven’t seen any yet. The springtime galls look like upside down funnels on the edges of the leaves, and the summer galls look like spikey balls on the twigs. I found lots of old ones, but no new ones yet.
I then headed over to my regular haunt, a trail that runs above and alongside the river, and was surprised by the number of bicyclists that were out – even someone the hiking trail where they don’t belong. Grrr.
Of my bird sightings today, I saw a pair of Northern Rough-Winged Swallows (Stelgidopteryx serripennis) among all the bug-chasing Tree Swallows yesterday, and found where mama was building her nest in the side of a steep bank off the trail. When she saw me, she stopped working for a bit, not wanting me to spot the exact location of her nest. Dad pretty much just hung out in a nearby tree.
According to Cornell: “…Prefers open areas, including open woodlands. Fairly common throughout breeding range, but local distribution depends on suitable nest sites. Predominantly near rocky gorges, shale banks, stony road cuts, railroad embankments, gravel pits, eroded margins of streams, and other such exposed banks of clay, sand, or gravel. May accept any cavity or crevice in vertical surface, including gutters, culverts, drainpipes, and crevices or holes in walls, wharves, bridges, etc.. Often nests near open water, but water likely coincidental with occurrence of suitable nest site…”
This pair had chosen a spot on a steep bank below the trail. A medium-sized tree had fallen there during the heavier rains earlier this year, and the roots opened up hollows in the dirt. Perfect for the little swallows. I watched as the female collected twiglets and dried grass.
“…All or nearly all nest material collected by female from ground. She seeks materials close to nest site and repeatedly uses same collecting locations. Carries materials to burrow in bill… Bulk consists of woody twigs, weed stems, straw, roots and rootlets, coarse and fine grass (dry and green), sedges, leaves and parts of leaves (sometimes green), wood chips, bark shreds, plant fibers, moss, grass heads, flowers or parts of flowers, seeds, dung, mud, hair, string, and miscellaneous bits of rubbish…Function of dung unknown.”
Incubation of the eggs is apparently exclusively by female. Both parents feed the young after they’re born, “…Female begins feeding young as soon as they hatch, but male may delay onset of feeding up to 3 d. Once male participates, each parent feeds nestlings and makes trips to nest with about equal frequency (10–20 trips/h, with marked acceleration in frequency as dusk approaches) until young about two-thirds grown. Then female’s activity drops appreciably relative to male; reason unknown…”
In the water were Common Mergansers, Mallards, some Snowy Egrets, and some Canada Geese with goslings.
The number of Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies and caterpillars is increasing. Because they’re toxic, the birds won’t touch them. And there are still craneflies everywhere, of all different colors and sizes, including some Tiger Craneflies.
According to Daniel Stolte, University of Arizona: “…Most of the 15,000-plus species of crane flies in the world spend the larval part of their life living in water bodies, such as rivers and lakes, piles of wet leaves or in damp soil. About 95% of their life is spent in this larval stage, and it can last as long as three years or more. During this time as larvae, crane flies are important for recycling and decomposition – they eat leaves, plants and small bits of organic material in the soil or water bodies where they live… They can pass entire dry years, or perhaps even multiple dry years in a row, in a stage of dormancy called aestivation. When moisture returns to the soil during rainy winters, and wildflowers and grasses start growing again, then crane fly larvae will break from aestivation and spring back into action… Nearly 100% of the energy that crane fly adults have comes from the food they ate as larvae – the adults don’t eat any food at all. Imagine if we stopped eating food at age 18, and had to get by our entire adult lives on the food we ate as children…”
Then I came across something I thought was a cranefly, but it was actually a Hanging Scorpionfly: very large and bright-bright yellow. The was a first for me.
I also saw my first snakefly of the season. They’re such cool-looking insects. “…Females have a large and sturdy ovipositor which is used to deposit eggs in some concealed location. They are holometabolous insects with a four-stage life cycle consisting of eggs, larvae, pupae and adults. In most species, the larvae develop under the bark of trees. They may take several years before they undergo metamorphosis, requiring a period of chilling (32º) before pupation takes place. Both adults and larvae are predators of soft-bodied arthropods… Adult snakeflies are territorial and carnivorous organisms. They are diurnal and are important predators of aphids and mites…”
Is it any wonder why this spot is one of my favorites for nature walking? I see something different each time I go there. This was hike #20 of my #52HikeChallengefor the year.
Species List:
Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus
Ash-Throated Flycatcher, Myiarchus cinerascens
Ball Gall Wasp, Callirhytis perfoveata [on live oak]
Black Rock Licorice Lichen, Lichinella nigritella
Blessed Milk Thistle, Silybum marianum
Bumpy Rim-Lichen, Lecanora hybocarpa [tan to brown apothecia]
California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi
California Mugwort, Artemisia douglasiana
California Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta
California Pipevine, Dutchman’s Pipe, Aristolochia californica
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The Chubby Woman’s Walkabout ™ 
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