Up at 5:00 am again. I let the dog out to go potty and fed him his breakfast then headed over to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve for my weekly volunteer Trail-Walking gig.  It was a gorgeous 58° when I got to the preserve and was overcast, so it never got over about 68° while I was there.  Perfect walking weather.

CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.

One of the first things I saw was a Red-Shouldered Hawk carrying nesting materials. First she flew over my head, then she landed on a tree to get a better grip on the grasses she was holding before taking off again. These hawks only have one brood a year, but often work on the nest throughout the year to keep it clean.  It’s no uncommon for them to use the same nest over several season if the first nest is successful.  Later in my walk, I went by where I knew one of the hawks’ nest was and found a juvenile (fledgling) sitting out beside it squawking for its parents to come feed it. It was capable of feeding itself, but some of these young’uns milk the I’m-just-a-baby thing for quite a while. While it was near the nest, it was hard to get photos of it because it was backlit, but later it flew out and I was able to get a few better photos of it when it landed in a nearby tree.

There were a lot of deer out today, but I didn’t see any fawns. I DID see a couple of bucks, though, both of them still in their velvet, a 2-pointer and one with wonky antlers (one super-long one and one stumpy one). The 2-pointer was walking with a doe, and when I stood on the trail to take photos of them, he decided he didn’t like that.  He stepped right out toward me with a very determined look on his face. (Bucks can get real possessive of “their” does.) I knew he wouldn’t rush me and try to gore me because he was still in his velvet.  In that state, the antlers are super-sensitive to touch, and if he rammed me, he’d actually hurt himself.  But, he could still outrun me mash me with his hooves if he had a mind to, so I put my head down and back away.  That seemed to be enough of a submissive posture to him, and he returned to his doe.  As beautiful as the deer are, I have to remind myself that they’re still wild animals and will do whatever their instincts tell them to do – even in a nature park.

I heard and caught glimpses of several Nuttall’s Woodpeckers on my walk, but never got enough of a look at one to take its picture. Those birds enjoy teasing people, I swear. They’re really loud about announcing themselves in flight, but then hide from you once they land.

The wild plum and elderberry bushes are all getting their ripened fruit now. I saw birds eating some of the berries and came across an Eastern Fox Squirrel breakfasting on the plums.

Along the river, there was a small flock of Canada Geese feeding (bottoms-up in the shallow water) with a female Common Merganser fishing among them. They eat different things, so the geese were stirring up the water plants and the Merganser would grab any small fish that appeared. Unintentional mutualism.  While I was watching them, I saw something else in the water, swimming against the current and realized it was a beaver! 

I went down as close to the shore as I could – (It’s hard for me to clamber over the rocks.) – and tried to get some photos of it. Photo-taking was difficult because the beaver stayed close to shore and was obscured by the tules and other riverside plants and scrubby trees. When it got into less cluttered spots, in was in the shade, and my camera had trouble focusing between the dark and the reflections on the water.  So, I walked ahead of where I thought the beaver was heading to a sunnier spot and waited for it… and waited for it… and then I heard a splash and realized it had swum under the water right past me and came up in the river behind me.  Hah!  Sneaky Pete!  

I walked for about 4 hours and then headed back home.

Species List:

1. American Bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus,
2. Bewick’s Wren, Thryomanes bewickii,
3. Black Harvester Ant, Messor pergandei,
4. Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans,
5. Blue Oak, Quercus douglasii,
6. Bush Katydid nymph, Scudderia pistillata,
7. California Black Walnut, Juglans californica,
8. California Mugwort, Artemisia douglasiana,
9. California Poppy, Eschscholzia californica,
10. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica,
11. California Towhee, Melozone crissalis,
12. California Wild Grape, Vitis californica,
13. California Wild Plum, Prunus subcordata,
14. Canada Goose, Branta canadensis,
15. Chinese Privet, Ligustrum sinense,
16. Coffeeberry, California Buckthorn, Frangula californica,
17. Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus,
18. Coyote Mint, Monardella villosa,
19. Coyote, Canis latrans,
20. Desert Cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii,
21. Doveweed, Turkey Mullein, Croton setigerus,
22. Eastern Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger,
23. Elegant Clarkia, Clarkia unguiculata,
24. English Plantain, Ribwort, Plantago lanceolata,
25. European Praying Mantis, Mantis religiosa,
26. Evening Primrose, Oenothera biennis,
27. Goldwire, Hypericum concinnum,
28. Greater Periwinkle, Vinca major,
29. Green Lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea,
30. House Wren, Troglodytes aedon,
31. Italian Thistle, Carduus pycnocephalus,
32. Leafhopper Assassin Bug, Zelus renardii,
33. Moth Mullein, Verbascum blattaria,
34. Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura,
35. North American Beaver, Castor canadensis,
36. Northern Yellow Sac Spider, Cheiracanthium mildei,
37. Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Picoides nuttallii,
38. Pink Grass, Windmill Pink, Petrorhagia dubia,
39. Poison Oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum,
40. Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus,
41. Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia,
42. Rock Shield Lichen, Xanthoparmelia sp.,
43. Rusty Tussock Moth, Orgyia antiqua,
44. Saw-whet Owl, Sophia, Aegolius acadicus,
45. Showy Milkweed, Asclepias speciosa,
46. Spanish Clover, Acmispon americanus,
47. Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus,
48. Sudden Oak Death pathogen, Phytophthora ramorum,
49. Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura,
50. Western Drywood Termite, Incisitermes minor,
51. Winter Vetch, Vicia villosa,
52. Wood Duck, Aix sponsa,
53. Wooly Mullein, Great Mullein, Verbascum thapsus,
54. Yarrow, Achillea millefolium,
55. Yellow Starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis