I headed out around 6:30 am to go to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve for a walk this morning.  I met my friend and fellow naturalist Roxanne there.  It was 51°F outside when we got there, but got up to 70° quickly.

Lots of people were on the trails this morning, but everyone was respectful of the 6-foot social distancing thing, which I appreciated.

The first thing we did when we got there was to check out the Valley Oak and Coyote Brush bushes around the parking lot, looking for galls and whatever else we could find.  We’re seeing a lot of Coyote Brush Bud Gall and fimbriate-like Leaf Galls, but not much else yet (except for the large Oak Apples.) I don’t remember a time when I’ve seen so many of the Leaf Galls on the Valley Oaks. 

We DID find something’s pupal case on one of the leaves (and I think it might be that of some kind of moth. [It was pretty tiny.]

I found two new-to-me ladybeetles: the nymph of an Ashy Gray Lady Beetle, Olla v-nigrum, and a Six-spotted Zigzag Lady Beetle, Cheilomenes sexmaculata.  We found the Zigzag one wrapped in a leaf and thought she was dead at first. When we got her out, though, she rolled onto her back in my hand and then used her wings to upright herself again.

See? Even “everyday” bugs can surprise you when you really look at them.  iNaturalist actually has a nice page where you can see the different species in crisp clear photos. (You have to be a little bit careful with your IDs, though, because the site includes the beetles from all over the world, not just California.)

CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.

The Showy Milkweed around the nature center is starting to blossom. They’re such amazingly lovely plants. They’re notoriously difficult to grow because they take quite a while to get settled, and they get “ugly” when they’re ready to go back to sleep, but I’d love to have some around the yard.  At the nature center, I’m keeping an eye out for Monarch butterfly eggs and caterpillars, but haven’t seen any yet. (It’s really early in the season, though.)

We found lots of Mugwort Weevils along the trail, including some that were mating (and one group stacked three-high, a Ménage à Trois insect style); and we found a male Snakefly which is always a cool sighting for me. You don’t get to see the snakeflies very often.

• 

Near the end of our walk we also came across a large swarm of Little Black Ants scurrying around a dead log.  The swarm included some winged “alates” getting ready for their nuptial flight. Seemed like a lot of organized chaos to me…

Before we actually went onto the trails, though, Rox and I also made sure to check out the Red-Shouldered Hawks’ nest near the head of the main trail. The nest is almost completely hidden now as the tree has leafed out, but we were still able to catch glimpses of the mom and two fuzzy-headed babies in the nest.  The babies are fledging.  They have most of their wing feathers, but are still white-grey fuzz over the rest of their bodies.  Both babies were kind of sleepy, stretching and yawning before settling down again.  I got a few photos and a video snippet of them.

We could certainly HEAR a lot of other birds around us, but couldn’t catch sight of many of them, which was a little frustrating.  There were “birders” along the trails, using binoculars, but I don’t know if they had any better luck than we did with our long-lens cameras.

The most noise was when a group of European Starlings and Acorn Woodpeckers got upset about the Red-Shouldered Hawk when she landed in “their” tree.  They squawked, and dive-bombed and harassed the hawk until she moved on. And we could periodically hear rival gangs of male Rio Grande Wild Turkeys gobbling loudly at one another in order to impress nearby females.

We were treated at one point to the sight of a male Western Bluebird who alighted on the top of one the trail signs and then flew down onto the ground in front of us.  As I think I mentioned before, during this time of year when the birds are breeding, the males’ blue coloring is almost “neon” it’s so bright. They practically GLOW.

In the pond along the Pond Trail, we found a mama Wood duck with two little ducklings. Usually the Wood Ducks have a LOT more babies than that, but the little guys are also prey for all sorts of other animals like hawks, snakes, otters and raccoons… so she was probably actually lucky to have two tiny survivors with her.

We also saw a handful of deer along the trails, but not very many. Some of the females are starting to look pregnant, and the males – even the yearlings – are just starting to get their summer velvet as their antlers come in. One of them was a young buck I recognized from the previous two years: his nose was smashed in when he was a fawn, and he has a very foreshortened muzzle now with a distinctive underbite.

And one fawn was obviously in the middle of shedding his winter coat for his summer coat – super floofy. Nature in flux.

There are a lot of Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars everywhere, and some of them are large enough now to go into the chrysalis stage.  We’ll have to keep an eye on them and see if can find some mid-metamorphosis.

We walked for about three hours and headed back to our respective homes.

Species List:

1. Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus
2. Ash-Throated Flycatcher, Myiarchus cinerascens
3. Ashy Gray Lady Beetle, Olla v-nigrum [nymph, lion]
4. Asian Ladybeetle, Harmonia axyridis
5. Black Locust Bug, Lopidea robiniae 
6. Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans
7. Black-Tailed Jackrabbit, Lepus californicus
8. Blue Elderberry, Sambucus nigra cerulea
9. Brown Leafhopper, Family: Cicadellidae
10. Bur Chervil, Anthriscus caucalis
11. Bur Parsley, Caucalis platycarpos
12. Bush Katydid, Scudderia furcata [nymph]
13. California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi
14. California Mugwort, Artemisia douglasiana
15. California Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta
16. California Pipevine, Dutchman’s Pipe, Aristolochia californica
17. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica
18. California Towhee, Melozone crissalis
19. California Wild Grape, Vitis californica
20. Canada Goose, Branta canadensis [heard]
21. Cleveland Sage, Salvia clevelandii
22. Clouded Sulphur Butterfly, Colias philodice
23. Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus
24. Coyote Brush Bud Gall midge, Rhopalomyia californica
25. Eastern Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger
26. Elegant Clarkia, Clarkia unguiculata
27. European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris
28. Feral European Honeybee, Apis mellifera
29. Golden-eyed Grass, Sisyrinchium californicum
30. Hairy Vetch, Winter Vetch, Vicia villosa ssp. villosa
31. Harvest Brodiaea, Brodiaea elegans
32. Himalayan Blackberry, Rubus armeniacus
33. House Finch, Haemorhous mexicanus
34. Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni
35. Leaf Gall Wasp/ Unidentified per Russo, Tribe: Cynipidi [on Valley Oak]
36. Little Black Ant, Monomorium minimum [including alates, winged individuals]
37. Lupine, Chick Lupine, Lupinus microcarpus
38. Meadow Plant Bug, Lopidea instabilis
39. Mirid Bug, Thick Sensor Soft Bug, Heterotoma planicornis
40. Mock Orange, Sweet Mock Orange, Philadelphus coronaries
41. Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura
42. Mugwort Weevil, Scaphomorphus longinasus
43. Oak Apple Gall Wasp, Andricus quercuscalifornicus
44. Poison Oak, Pacific Poison Oak, Western Poison Oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum
45. Red-Margin Lopidea Bug, Lopidea instabilis
46. Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus
47. Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia
48. Showy Milkweed, Asclepias speciosa
49. Six-spotted Zigzag Lady Beetle, Cheilomenes sexmaculata
50. Snakefly, Agulla adnixa
51. Soft Rush, Juncus effuses
52. Spice Bush, California Sweetshrub, Calycanthus occidentalis
53. Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus
54. Sudden Oak Death pathogen, Phytophthora ramorum
55. Tall Flatsedge,  Cyperus eragrostis
56. Tobacco Budworm Moth, Chloridea virescens
57. Tree Swallow, Tachycineta bicolor
58. Tule, Common Tule, Schoenoplectus acutus
59. Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura [flying overhead]
60. Valley Oak, Quercus lobata
61. Western Bluebird, Sialia Mexicana
62. Western Fence Lizard, Blue Belly, Sceloporus occidentalis
63. White Horehound, Marrubium vulgare
64. White-Breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis [heard]
65. Wood Duck, Aix sponsa

I slept pretty solidly last night and woke up just a little before 6:00 am. By 6:30 I was out the door heading for the Mather Lake Regional Park. It was a lovely day, cool and breezy in the morning and light rain in the afternoon.  I wanted to go back this time to do more detailed “naturalist” work.  Last time I was there, I was so focused on goslings and cygnets that I wasn’t paying much attention to anything else.

I found a parking spot in the shade right new the trail – score!—and headed out.  As I was cross the walkway that leads over the irrigation canal, my way was blocked by three Wild Turkeys, a female being followed by two males.  The female stopped before she got to close and stepped off into the adjacent field, and one the of the males followed after her. The final male though, who was in full strut, refused to step aside and kept approaching me. I think my wide brimmed hat looked too much like fanned tail feathers to him, and he was insistent on confronting me. If there hadn’t been a female turkey around, I don’t think he would have been so aggressive, but today he was on a mission. 

He walked right up to me and stepped in close.  I took the hat off, and he stepped in closer still.  I stepped back several steps and tried to walk away, and he rushed after me.  Yikes! I know how powerful these birds are, and I didn’t want the turkey to peck at me, so I tried waving him off with the hat.  Wrong idea. He jumped up and hit my hand with his spurs, catching me across the knuckles. It hurt enough so I dropped the hat to the ground, but luckily the blow didn’t break the skin.  Once the hat was on the ground, the turkey walked away, s-l-o-w-l-y, still in full strut: head tucked in, snood down, tail fanned, chest puffed up and the primary feathers of his wings dragging on the ground.  

I don’t know if his attack on me impressed the female turkey, but it was an interesting way to start my walk.

There were quite a few fishermen out, but I didn’t see any of them catch anything.  And several of them kept following me, passing me by, following me, passing me by… unable to find a spot where they really wanted to concentrate on their fishing.  Some of them crossed in front of me as they passed, messing up some of my photos, another cast his line right into an area where a muskrat was swimming in the water. I thought that was rude and stupid.  (He could have injured the muskrat with his hook and line.)

Not all of the fishermen were jerks, however. At one point, a pair of Canada Geese were leading their creche of goslings along the shore, when one of the Mute Swans came rushing in from the water and attacked the adult geese.  I saw this and tried to get to the geese to defend them, but two young Russian men who were fishing nearby, dropped their poles in the water and ran ahead of me to get to the get more quickly than I could. They were successful in driving the swan away, and stayed between the geese and the water until everyone had calmed down. I thanked them for coming to geese’s aid.

The aggressive nature of the swans is part of the reason why they’re considered an “invasive species”. They move into an area and try to drive out anything they consider competition for food and breeding space. The swans are much larger than the adult geese, and who knows what damage this one could have done to them – and the goslings. 

Speaking of the goslings… there were lots and lots of them out this morning from the little yellow fuzzballs to the tall lanky fledglings. One pair of adults were escorting 27 babies!  There was another smaller group with one gosling who was limping, obviously in some distress.  I don’t know how seriously the injury was or how long the parents could keep giving it extra attention, but I was happy to see that one of the adults with that group stayed back with the injured one to make sure it wasn’t left alone.

Taking some semi-close-up photos of the goslings, I got a view of the tongue of one of them.  Goose tongues are interesting because they have hairs and spikes on them that act like a sieve (along with the tooth-like “tomia” around the edges of the bill)  when the birds feed in water.

In the lake, I got to see a pair of Common Gallinules mating.  The male flapped his wings all the while he was mounted on the female, then she dumped him off to one side. Then he dropped his head to the ground and raised his winds and tail feather and walked across in front her before leaving her to preen and mock feed. 

I was surprised to read in Cornell that the mating behaviors of the North American common gallinule “have not been described”, so they had to use information from Europe. That seems like an unusual oversight to me. I guess I should have been paying more attention to the pair I saw. But I’m glad I got some photos and a video snippet of the action.

CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.

I also saw the muskrat swimming in a few different parts of the lake.  I’m assuming it’s the same one; I suppose there could be more than one in there.

According to livescience.com: “…Muskrats are very social and live in large, territorial families, according to the Animal Diversity Web. They communicate with others and mark their territory with a secretion from their glands called musk… They tend to prefer vegetation like cattails, waterlilies, roots and pondweed. They also eat snails, mussels, salamanders, crustaceans, fish and young birds… They usually don’t travel any farther than 150 feet away from their homes… Females have a gestation period of three to four weeks and give birth to three to eight young. They can have up to three litters each year. Baby muskrats are called kits…”

Another website, havahart.com, said, “…As monogamous breeders, muskrats live with their mates and their young. They are very territorial – especially during breeding season…  Newborn muskrats are weaned for about a year before they become independent… Muskrat kits are born hairless and blind.”

I’m hoping to see some babies in the near future.

I heard quite a few bullfrogs along the edges of the lake, but couldn’t see any of them. They have a deep croak that sounds like a cello. 

I watched a Pied-Billed Grebe eat something it had caught in the water but I couldn’t tell if it was a frog or a small fat fish. It had a pink to it.

While I was watching the grebe, several male Great-Tailed Grackles flew in, following after a female.  The males did some posturing for the female.  The “head-up” posture is done by males during the breeding season to impress the females and intimidate other males. They also “squint” their nictitating membranes (inner eyelids) when doing this to make themselves look tougher (ala Clint Eastwood). I saw an was able to get several photographs of this behavior. 

Elsewhere on the trail, I saw a male Mourning Dove bring twigs and other nesting materials to his mate.  By doing this, the male inadvertently tells everyone where the nesting site is. This one was in the flattened branches of a coyote brush bush. It was REALLY difficult to see the nest… and I didn’t want to get too close for fear of scaring the female off. But I did manage to get a few distant photos of the site… and the nesting female.

I saw several ground squirrels running around by they were too fast for me to photograph.  The photos I did get were of one young squirrel who seemingly had an exceedingly bad case of mange.  He was itchy all over, and in some places his skin was barren of fur and raw-looking.  Poor little thing.

I also got some photos of a Scrub Jay eating an insect.  I couldn’t see what it was eating on site, but when I got the photos and video snippet home, I was able to tell that it had caught a large emergent dragonfly.  The dragonfly hadn’t pumped its wings up yet and was still its teneral-green color.  Nice catch for the bird!

Altogether, I documented over 60 species today, so I was happy with that. I walked for about 3½ hours before heading back home.

Species List:

1. American Robin, Turdus migratorius
2. Bewick’s Wren, Thryomanes bewickii
3. Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans
4. Black Willow, Salix nigra
5. Brown-Headed Cowbird, Molothrus ater
6. Bushtit, American Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus
7. California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi
8. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica
9. California Sycamore, Platanus racemose
10. Canada Goose, Branta canadensis
11. Cobwebby Thistle, Cirsium occidentale
12. Common Duckweed, Lemna minor
13. Common Gallinule, Gallinula galeata
14. Common Spike-Rush, Eleocharis palustris [has a head somewhat like SB Sedge]
15. Cork Oak, Quercus suber
16. Cottonwood Leaf Gall Aphid, Pemphigus populivenae
17. Cottonwood Petiole Gall, Poplar Petiole Gall Aphid, Pemphigus populitransversus
18. Coyote Brush Bud Gall midge, Rhopalomyia californica
19. Coyote Brush, Baccharis pilularis
20. Cudweed, Jersey Cudweed, Pseudognaphalium luteoalbum
21. Curly Dock, Rumex crispus
22. Double-Crested Cormorant, Phalacrocorax auratus
23. Downy Woodpecker, Picoides pubescens
24. Eurasian Collared Dove, Streptopelia decaocto [heard]
25. Field Mustard, Brassica rapa
26. Floating Water Primrose, Ludwigia peploides ssp. Peploides
27. Fremont’s Cottonwood, Populus fremontii
28. Geometer Moth, Family: Geometridae
29. Goldwire, Hypericum concinnum
30. Great-Tailed Grackle, Quiscalus mexicanus
31. Hairy Vetch, Winter Vetch, Vicia villosa ssp. villosa
32. Herring Gull, Larus argentatus
33. Himalayan Blackberry, Rubus armeniacus
34. House Finch, Haemorhous mexicanus
35. House Wren, Troglodytes aedon
36. Hoverfly, Common Flower Fly, Syrphus ribesii
37. Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni
38. Jointed Charlock, Wild Radish, Raphanus raphanistrum
39. Lesser Golden Knapweed Fly, Chaetorellia jaceae [tiny pale yellow fly, green eyes, gold lines on wings]
40. Lesser Goldfinch, Spinus psaltria
41. Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura
42. Muskrat, Ondatra zibethicus
43. Mute Swan, Cygnus olor
44. Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus [red shafted]
45. Pacific Forktail Damselfly, Ischnura cervula [male]
46. Pied-Billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps
47. Poison Oak, Pacific Poison Oak, Western Poison Oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum
48. Rabbitfoot Grass, Polypogon monspeliensis
49. Red-Eared Slider Turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans
50. Red-Winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus
51. Ribwort Plantain, Plantago lanceolata
52. Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia
53. Slender Path Rush, Juncus tenuis
54. Soldier Fly, Microchrysa sp.
55. Tall Flatsedge, Cyperus eragrostis
56. Tree Swallow, Tachycineta bicolor
57. Tufted Hair Grass, Deschampsia cespitosa
58. Tule, Common Tule, Schoenoplectus acutus
59. Turkey Tangle Fogfruit, Phyla nodiflora
60. Vivid Dancer Damselfly, Argia vivida [female]
61. Western Kingbird, Tyrant Flycatcher, Tyrannus verticalis
62. Willow Pinecone Gall midge, Rabdophaga strobiloides
63. Yellow-faced Bumblebee, Bombus vosnesenskii

I woke up around 6:00 am after a fairly good night’s sleep, and got myself ready to head out to the American River Bend Park again for my walk. The Poltergeist was acting up a little bit, so I stuck to trails I knew weren’t too lumpy or full of obstacles.  It was already about 64°F outside when I got to the park, and it felt kind of humid, too.

The first thing I saw when I drive into the park was a squirrel that jumped up onto the top of a fence post to look in the window at me.

There were literally hundreds of Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly caterpillars all over the ground. Some are big enough already to start working on their chrysalises.  Most of them had climbed up onto the stems of the tall grass to warm themselves in the sun before continuing to fill their bellies on pipevine.  There were also several butterflies still flitting around.

• 

• 

On the Italian Thistles there were quite a few Painted Lady butterfly caterpillars laying in their thin webs, gorging themselves on plant material.  They usually don’t show up until July, so I was surprised to see them. I’m afraid they’re going to get caught in the cold if it rains next week.

CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.

There were tons of Mugwort plants everywhere, and along with them I also found quite a few Mugwort Weevils – including a mating pair.  They do the “dead-drop” when you try to touch them  – let go of whatever they’re holding onto and fall to the ground — so I had one dead-drop into the palm of my hand so I could get some closeup photos of it. They kind of look like tiny anteaters with crew cuts to me…That vaguely fuzzy body and long proboscis.

I also saw lots of katydid nymphs, but not too many of them were cooperative enough for me to get photos of them. I did get pictures of a couple of different species of fly, though.  And I found a Western Tussock Moth caterpillar that was partially paralyzed and had several white eggs laid on its body.  I’m assuming it had parasitized by some kind of braconid wasp. Yikes!

• 

• 

There were loads of Elegant Clarkia flowers all along the trail in variations from pale pink, to deep rose to pure white.  So pretty.  And the quaking “rattlesnake grass” was thick in some places and thigh-high.  On some of the California Goldenrod plants, there were the rosette galls of the Goldenrod Bunch Gall Midge…and they seemed larger this year than I have ever seen them. 

Amid the plants were a few damselflies, bumblebees, and a burnt yellow Clubtail dragonfly.  I couldn’t get a look at the side of the dragonfly’s thorax, so I wasn’t sure exactly what species it was. Later, I discovered that it was a Sinuous Snaketail Dragonfly, Ophiogomphus occidentis. Cool! A first for me!

On the road adjacent to the trail, I found the smashed bodies of two rattlesnakes.  They were close to one another, but one had obviously been dead for a longer period of time; it was more desiccated than the other.  I noted, however, that the rattles were gone from both snakes.

As for the birds today I saw a pair of Common Mergansers in the river, and was able to follow the male with video for a little bit while he swam under the surface.  The water in the river there is very shallow and super clear. 

I also saw several bonded pairs of Western Bluebirds in the picnic area, and watched a female House Wren carry nesting materials to her chosen nesting cavity while the male stood by, singing away. The female tried bringing long grasses to the nets, but couldn’t seem to figure out how to get them across the threshold, so she opted then for small bits of grass and twigs.

• 

• 

I later came across several male Wild Turkeys strutting for a single female. They all looked like pretty high-ranking boys, with pure white pancakes and long snoods, but one of them was missing several tail feathers.  The female was not at all interested in them. As I was heading out of the park, I saw a female turkey hurrying four little poults across the road in front of the car.  She moved too quickly for me to get more than a fuzzy photo of her and the kids.

I walked for about 3 hours, and then headed back home.

Species List:

1. Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus
2. Arroyo Bluet Damselfly, Enallagma praevarum
3. Belted Kingfisher, Megaceryle alcyon [heard, saw in flight]
4. Black Cottonwood, Populus trichocarpa
5. Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans
6. Black-Tailed Jackrabbit, Lepus californicus
7. Blue Elderberry, Sambucus nigra cerulea
8. Braconid wasp, Family: Braconidae [eggs]
9. Bristly Dogtail Grass, Cynosurus echinatus
10. Bur Chervil, Anthriscus caucalis
11. Bush Katydid, Scudderia furcate
12. California Buckeye Chestnut Tree, Aesculus californica
13. California Manroot, Bigroot, Marah fabaceus
14. California Mugwort, Artemisia douglasiana
15. California Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta
16. California Pipevine, Dutchman’s Pipe, Aristolochia californica
17. California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica
18. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica
19. Canada Goose, Branta canadensis
20. Cheatgrass, Bromus tectorum [reddish heads, split open when dry]
21. Common Hoptree, Ptelea trifoliata
22. Common Merganser, Mergus merganser
23. Cranefly, Mosquito Hawk, Tipula dietziana
24. Elegant Clarkia, Clarkia unguiculata
25. Glossy Privet, Ligustrum lucidum
26. Goldenrod Bunch Gall, Goldenrod Floret Gall Midge, Solidago canadensis
27. Goldwire, Hypericum concinnum
28. Green Plant Bug, Ilnacora malina
29. Green Shield Lichen, Flavoparmelia caperata
30. Hairy Vetch, Winter Vetch, Vicia villosa ssp. villosa 
31. House Wren, Troglodytes aedon
32. Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni
33. Italian Thistle, Carduus pycnocephalus
34. Killdeer, Charadrius vociferous [heard]
35. Lauxaniid Fly, Homoneura occidentalis [yellow fly with reddish eyes, black hairs]
36. Mallard duck, Anas platyrhynchos
37. Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura
38. Mugwort Weevil, Scaphomorphus longinasus
39. Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, Crotalus oreganus oreganus
40. Oak Apple Gall Wasp, Andricus quercuscalifornicus
41. Oak Titmouse, Baeolophus inornatus
42. Oracle Oak, Quercus × moreha
43. Oregon Ash, Fraxinus latifolia
44. Pacific Pea, Lathyrus vestitus
45. Painted Lady Butterfly, Vanessa cardui
46. Poison Hemlock, Conium maculatum
47. Rattlesnake Grass, Greater Quaking Grass, Briza maxima
48. Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus [heard, saw in flight]
49. Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia
50. Ruptured Twig Gall Wasp, Callirhytis perdens
51. Sinuous Snaketail Dragonfly, Ophiogomphus occidentis [club tail, yellow with gray eyes]
52. Snakefly, Agulla adnixa
53. Snowy Egret, Egretta thula
54. Swift Crab Spider, Mecaphesa celer
55. Tree Swallow, Tachycineta bicolor
56. Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura
57. Valley Oak, Quercus lobata
58. Vivid Dancer Damselfly, Argia vivida  [bands and arrowheads]
59. Western Bluebird, Sialia Mexicana
60. Western Fence Lizard, Blue Belly, Sceloporus occidentalis
61. Western Goldenrod, Solidago lepida [gets the bunch galls]
62. Western Gray Squirrel, Sciurus griseus
63. Western Tiger Swallowtail, Papilio rutulus
64. Western Tussock Moth, Orgyia vetusta
65. Yellow Dung Fly, Scathophaga stercoraria
66. Yellow Water Iris, Yellow Flag, Iris pseudacorus [invasive]

Up at about 6:30 this morning and then headed over to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve for a walk. It was lovely, breezy and relatively cool all morning, and got up to a high of about 84°F by the afternoon.

I was anxious to see if the bees were still in the “bee tree”, so I walked along the Pond Trail to check that out first.  I was so happy to see that they were still there.  The queen must be well-settled now.

The Black Phoebes have fledglings in their nest now.  I saw the dad coming with food to assist mom.  The last time I saw them, I didn’t see the male around and worried that the mom was on her own.  It was good to see she has help.

The Showy Milkweed on the grounds is starting to come into bloom, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for any Monarch caterpillars as the months go on.  We saw nothing last year, but hope we’ll get a glimpse of some this year.  I’ll be loading my observations to the Western Monarch Milkweed Mapper site) when I see anything.

CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.

The Goldwire is starting to bloom, too, and it’s nice to see the joyful bright yellow starting to dot the landscape.

I saw mostly “little things” today: ladybeetles in various stages of development, tiny moths, plant galls, spider eggs sacs and caterpillars. 

All along the trail I kept seeing these little insects scurrying along. To the naked eye, they looked like dark bugs with a pale rim around their bodies and legs, and I couldn’t tell what they were.  So, I got out the macro attachment for my cellphone and took some close up photos of a few of them.  They looked like small crickets – like tiny brown versions of the Jerusalem crickets, with smooth shiny bodies and long antennae.  I haven’t ID-ed them yet.

I saw quite a few birds, but most of them were back-lit or in stickery bushes, so I couldn’t get a lot of photos and that was a bit disappointing.  But it was still reassuring to see them… life goes on.

I walked for about 3 hours and headed back home. 

Species List:

1. Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus
2. Asian Ladybeetle, Harmonia axyridis
3. Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans
4. Blue Elderberry, Sambucus nigra cerulea
5. Boxelder, Box Elder Tree, Acer negundo
6. Buffalo Treehopper, Stictocephala alta [exuvia]
7. California Buckeye Chestnut Tree, Aesculus californica
8. California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi
9. California Manroot, Bigroot, Marah fabaceus
10. California Mugwort, Artemisia douglasiana
11. California Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta
12. California Pipevine, Dutchman’s Pipe, Aristolochia californica
13. California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica
14. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica
15. California Towhee, Melozone crissalis
16. California Wild Grape, Vitis californica
17. California Wild Rose, Rosa californica
18. Camel Cricket, Superfamily: Rhaphidophoroidea [small, found on trail]
19. Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus
20. Common Fringepod, Thysanocarpus curvipes
21. Convergent Lady Beetle, Hippodamia convergens
22. Coyote Brush, Baccharis pilularis
23. Coyote Brush Bud Gall midge, Rhopalomyia californica
24. Cranefly, Mosquito Hawk, Tipula dietziana
25. Darkling Beetle, Mountain Beetle, Coniontis sp.
26. Downy Leather-Winged Beetle Podabrus pruinosus [kind of looks like a Soldier Beetle]
27. Eastern Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger
28. European Earwig, Common Earwig, Forficula auricularia
29. European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris
30. Feral European Honeybee, Apis mellifera
31. Fimbriate Gall Wasp, Andricus opertus [on Valley Oak leaf]
32. Fruit-Tree Leafroller Moth, Archips argyrospila
33. Goldwire, Hypericum concinnum
34. Green Leafhopper, Nephotettix virescens
35. House Wren, Troglodytes aedon
36. Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni
37. Lace Bug, Corythucha sp.
38. Leaf Gall Wasp/ Unidentified per Russo, Tribe: Cynipidi [on Valley Oak]
39. Live Oak Gall Wasp, 2nd Generation, Callirhytis quercuspomiformis
40. Lupine, Chick Lupine, Lupinus microcarpus
41. Miniature Lupine, Lupinus bicolor
42. Mugwort Weevil, Scaphomorphus longinasus
43. Oak Apple Gall Wasp, Andricus quercuscalifornicus
44. Oleander Aphid, Aphis nerii
45. Plum, Prunus cerasifera
46. Poison Hemlock, Conium maculatum
47. Poison Oak, Pacific Poison Oak, Western Poison Oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum
48. Popcorn Flowers, Plagiobothrys sp.
49. Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus
50. Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia
51. Rose Clover, Trifolium hirtum
52. Showy Milkweed, Asclepias speciosa
53. Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus
54. Valley Oak, Quercus lobata
55. Western Tussock Moth, Orgyia vetusta
56. White-Breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis
57. Yarrow, Achillea millefolium
58. ?? spider egg sac with black tips