Tag Archives: Croton setigerus

Firsts, General Blog, Naturalist, photography, Volunteering

Poults and a Snake, 07-04-19

July 4, 2019 The Chubby Woman

Happy 4^th of July. Up at 5:30 am, and out the door before 6:00 to go to the American River Bend Park for a walk. It was about 59°when I got there with a slight breeze blowing, so it was nice. I was expecting the place to be crawling with people for the holiday, but nope. I had the trails almost to myself all the while I was out there.

The very first thing I saw when I drove in was a doe crossing the road in front of me. She stopped and looked behind her, and then I saw her fawn come out after her and scurry across the road, too. I tried to get photos, but I had to shoot through the windshield so… nuthin’. Dang it! But the park was otherwise pretty kind, giving me two other surprises with better photo ops.

CLICK HERE to see the full album of photos.

The first of those two was getting the chance to see some Rio Grande Wild Turkey poults (Meleagris gallopavo intermedia). I hardly ever get to see them because the moms are so good at keeping them hidden. This was a group of three adults and five poults. The poults were all fledged in their first feathers but still too small to fly. Among the adults was the leucistic (black and white) female I see often in the park. She was following after the other two, so I inferred that she was “learning” from them. She mimicked a lot of what they did, and also seemed to be helping out with protecting the babies.

At one point, one of the adults jumped up into an elderberry bush and started pulling berries off and dropping them to the ground so the babies could get them. A few seconds later, one of the poults got up into the bush, as well, but couldn’t reach the berries and jumped down again. So cute. I think that little guy was blind on one side. It kept on eye shut all the time, and the lid looked “flat” in the socket (instead of rounded out by an eyeball).

I walked with the small flock for a while, but the adults were really good about keeping the kids out of the sunlight, for the most part, and keeping themselves between the babies and me. Who says turkeys are stupid?

The second surprise came when I walked down near the shore of the American River because there was a Buttonbush down there in full bloom and I think the flowers are so cool-looking. Anyway, while I was taking pictures of the flowers, I caught a glimpse of something moving past my foot and going behind me, so I turned around and saw a spotted snaky form slipping through the rocks. At first I thought it was a gopher snake because they’re really common in the park, but then I caught a glimpse of the head. Not a gopher snake.

It was a young RATTLESNAKE. It was about as long as my forearm, so not too-too big, but still large enough to pack a good supply of venom. What was weird was: when I first saw it, it was in diffused light so all of the light parts on it looked pale blue and all of the spots on it looked kind of orangey. Very odd.

Pacific Rattlesnake among the rocks on the shore of the American River.

I followed after it a little bit to try to get more photos — which is hard for me on the shore because it’s all rocks there and my feet don’t work well on unstable cobbly ground. I stopped when the snake got pissed off at me and wound itself into a striking position. Uh, yikes! I took just a few more photos and then let it be.

I also came across a small family of crows: a parent and two fledglings, I think. I saw the parent hand off a rock to the kids – which they weren’t interested in — and then pick up some seeds from along the shore. The fledglings were very loud and fussy, demanding that mom feed them (even though they were large enough to fly and forage by themselves.) Huge mouths! They cracked me up.

Walking through the rocks on the shore, and then having to climb back up an incline to get to the trail pretty much did me in, though. The bones in my feet are “welding together” like Mom’s did from arthritis, so my feet don’t bend and flex like they should, which is why walking on uneven ground is hard for me these days. Still, I was able to walk for about three hours total before heading back to the house.

Species List:

Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus,
Ash-Throated Flycatcher, Myiarchus cinerascens,
Black Nightshade, Solanum nigrum,
Black Walnut, Juglans nigra,
Blue Elderberry, Sambucus cerulea,
Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis,
California Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta,
California Pipevine, Aristolochia californica,
California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica,
California Wild Grape, Vitis californica,
Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus,
Common Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos,
Common Green Lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea,
Common Merganser, Mergus merganser,
Doveweed, Turkey Mullein, Croton setigerus,
Fennel, Sweet Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare,
Flowering Tobacco, Nicotiana alata,
Giant Mullein, Verbascum thapsus,
Golden Shield Lichen, Xanthoria parietina,
Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias,
Green Shield Lichen, Flavoparmelia caperata,
Horsetail, Rough Horsetail, Equisetum hyemale,
Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni,
Italian Thistle, Carduus pycnocephalus,
Live Oak Gall Wasp, 2nd Generation, Callirhytis quercuspomiformis,
Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos,
Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura,
Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, Crotalus oreganus oreganus,
Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Picoides nuttallii,
Pumpkin Gall Wasp, Dryocosmus minusculus,
Red Swamp Crayfish, Crawfish, Crawdad, Procambarus clarkia,
Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus,
Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia,
Rusty Tussock Moth, Orgyia antiqua,
Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus,
Tarweed, Common Madia, Madia elegans,
Tree Tobacco, Nicotiana glauca,
Treehopper, Oak Treehopper, Platycotis vittata,
Western Bluebird, Sialia mexicana,
White-Breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis,

General Blog, Naturalist, photography, Volunteering

Lots of Fledglings and Other Critters Today, 06-30-19

June 30, 2019 The Chubby Woman

I got up around 5:30 this morning and immediately headed out to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve for my weekly volunteer trail walking thing. It was cool, around 55°, when I got there, but as soon as the sun got up a little higher in the sky it started to heat up. It ended up around 75° by the time I left the preserve. There were some latent clouds overhead which meant it was humid, too. Not my favorite.

Along with the usual suspects – deer, Acorn Woodpeckers and Wild Turkeys – I got to see quite a few fledgling birds out today. The fledglings are fully feathered and the same size as the adults, but not quite adept at flying yet, so they spend a lot of time around ground level begging their parents to feed them. They’re so bossy! I watched one little House Wren fledgling sitting on top of a pile of old tree limbs. For a while, he tried posturing like the adults do with his little tail standing straight up behind him, but then he got tired and just sat and dozed… until he saw or heard one of his parents flying by. Then he’d perk up and open his mouth wide expecting food to be dropped into it. Hah! Although I could see the parents flitting around where he was, they also had other fledglings in the nearby shrubbery (which I could hear buzzing away), and because I was standing between the shrubs and the baby on the woodpile, they wouldn’t go near him. After getting quite a few photos of the little guy, I decided I’d better move on or he wouldn’t get fed at all.

I also came across two fledgling California Towhees. Now, the California Towhees usually look kind of obese and drab to me, but the babies… they were soooo scrabbly looking; total bed-heads! They were sitting close to one another with their feathers all fluffed out, so they looked extra fat and messy. Made me chuckle. One was content to sit and wait for their parents to bring breakfast, but the other one was extra hungry, I guess, and kept tugging at the dead grass near them trying to get something out of it. Can’t get milk out of a stick, son. Sorry.

Further on along the trail I could hear a parent and fledgling Red-Shouldered Hawk calling to one another. The fledgling was very loud and persistent, demanding to be fed, and the parent would call back him as if to say, “Shut up! I’m working on it!” I eventually came across the fledgling sitting up in the bare branches of a tree. (He was so loud he was announcing to everyone exactly where he was.) He saw me and tried to scramble away to other branches but was still unsure of how to make his wings work, so he looked pretty clumsy. He stuck to the shadows as much as he could then, but I was still able to get a few photos of him. (And I’m assuming he was a male based on his coloring; females are usually larger and have less vivid colors.)

I also found one of the parents, sitting quietly now in the low branches of another tree right along the side of the trail, just above eye-level, ignoring the fledgling. Totally habituated to people, it didn’t move from its perch, but kept its eye on me as a passed by and stopped to take some photos. I think they’re such handsome birds.

CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.

Among the other things I found today were a few Pumpkin Galls on the leaves of a Live Oak tree. It’s kind of early in the season for those, so I was surprised to see them. They’re super-tiny galls, and if you don’t know where or how they develop you’d completely miss them. Right now, they’re pale green, but come fall they’ll turn dark orange and fall off the leaves onto the ground were the little larvae will pupate through the winter.

I found a few Eastern Fox Squirrels and some California Ground Squirrels. I was surprised to see one of the Fox Squirrels climbing through poison oak and eating the berries! Yikes! I mean, I knew that the toxin in poison oak don’t generally harm wildlife, but I’d never actually seen any of the animals eating the stuff before. I also saw a Fox Squirrel eating the husk off of a black walnut and watched a Ground Squirrel eating the tops off of some other plants. (I think that gal was blind on one side, but once she saw me she moved too fact for me to get photos of her blind side.)

The other cool thing I spotted along the trail was that feral honeybees have found the tree along the Pond Trail again and seem to be setting up house there. I saw them last year (I think it was) checking out the big opening in the side of the tree, but they left the site after a few weeks. I guess the queen didn’t like it. Now the opening is more covered with plants, so maybe it will feel more “protected” to them and they’ll stay there this time. I let the gals in the nature center know they were there, so hopefully they can discourage hikers from walking off the trail to see the bees. We’ll see.

A feral hive of European Honeybees, Apis mellifera

I walked for about 4 hours and then headed home.

Species List:

Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus,
American Bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus,
American Goldfinch, Spinus tristis,
American Robin, Turdus migratorius,
Ash-Throated Flycatcher, Myiarchus cinerascens,
Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans,
Black Walnut, Juglans nigra,
Black-Tailed Jackrabbit, Lepus californicus,
Blue Elderberry, Sambucus nigra ssp. cerulea,
Blue Oak, Quercus douglasii,
Bordered Plant Bug, Largus californicus,
Bur Chervil, Anthriscus Sylvestris,
Bushtit, American Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus,
California Black Walnut, Juglans californica,
California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi,
California Mugwort, Artemisia douglasiana,
California Penstamon, Penstemon californicus,
California Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta,
California Pipevine, Aristolochia californica,
California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica,
California Towhee, Melozone crissalis,
California Wild Grape, Vitis californica,
California Wild Plum, Prunus subcordata,
Chinese Privet, Ligustrum sinense,
Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly, Phoebis sennae,
Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus,
Common Green Lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea,
Coyote Mint, Monardella villosa,
Desert Cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii,
Doveweed, Turkey Mullein, Croton setigerus,
Eastern Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger,
Elegant Clarkia, Clarkia unguiculata,
European Honeybee, Apis mellifera,
European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris,
Fig, Common Fig, Ficus carica,
Flax-leaved Horseweed, Erigeron bonariensis,
Giant Sunflower, Helianthus giganteus,
Goldwire, Hypericum concinnum,
Himalayan Blackberry, Rubus armeniacus,
House Wren, Troglodytes aedon,
Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni,
Lesser Goldfinch, Spinus psaltria,
Live Oak Wasp Gall, 1st Generation, Callirhytis quercuspomiformis,
Lords-And-Ladies, Arum maculatum,
Mayfly, Order: Ephemeroptera,
Oak Titmouse, Baeolophus inornatus,
Poison Oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum,
Pumpkin Gall Wasp, Dryocosmus minusculus,
Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus,
Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia,
Showy Milkweed, Asclepias speciosa,
Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus
Sweet Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare,
Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura,
Valley Oak, Quercus lobata,
Western Fence Lizard, Sceloporus occidentalis,
White Horehound, Marrubium vulgare,
White-Breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis,
Winter Vetch, Vicia villosa,
Yarrow, Achillea millefolium,
Yellow Salsify, Tragopogon dubius,
Yellow Starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis,

General Blog, Naturalist, photography, Volunteering

Lots of Critters… and a Beaver, 06-20-19

June 20, 2019 The Chubby Woman

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:

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

Firsts, General Blog, Naturalist, photography

Lots of Snowy Egrets, 05-31-19

May 31, 2019 The Chubby Woman

I got up about 5:30 this morning, fed the dog his breakfast and then headed out to the Cosumnes River Preserve for a walk.

There was little to no water in the “wetland” areas, so not a lot of birds or dragonflies. I walked along the slough on the side of the road, and then walked through the oak woodland to the nature center, and then back to the car. Along the slough, I saw Tree Swallows, a pair of Western Kingbirds, and a trio of Brown-Headed Cowbirds doing their bowing thing. They were on the top of a tree, so bowing was difficult, and they kept rolling off their twiggy branches. Eventually, they gave up and flew off.

Further along, I came across a small flock of Snowy Egrets who were feeling for things in the water with their feet. As I was watching them and taking pictures, a Great Egret flew in and joined them. Seeing the great Egret and the Snowy Egrets side-by-side really exemplifies their size difference. It looked like a mama bird with lots of babies around her. Some of the Snowy Egrets were flashing their top knots at one another. I got the sense that it was a more an aggressive, territorial thing than a romance thing. None of the birds had their long, trailing feathers in; and none of them were sporting the pink blush in the face the Snowies get when their breeding.

CLICK HERE for the album of photos.

Beyond the regular Oak Apple galls, there weren’t a lot of other ones out yet. I saw some Red Cones just starting to grow – looking like tiny red pimples on the leaves of some of the Valley Oaks. I did see the curling leaf galls and “flower” galls on the ash trees, but not as much as I’m used to seeing.

As I was walking through the oak woodland, I was surprised to see a large flock of American White Pelicans fly overhead. By the time I got my camera up and focused, though, they were gone. It’s always so neat to see those big birds flying. They don’t look like they should be able to stay aloft, but they’re so graceful in the sky.

I also got a glimpse of a Green Heron when he flew out from the rushes around the bridge area, and up into a willow tree. There were so many twiggy branches around him, though, it was hard to get any decent shots of him.

Near the nature center, I saw some House Finches, Anna’s Hummingbirds, and a baby cottontail rabbit. The baby was a surprise; my brain couldn’t get itself around how small it was at first, and I just stared at it. I did come to enough to get a few shots of the bunny before it scrambled away, though.

Even going down to the boat launch area, I was surprised by the lack of insects. I was hoping to see dragonflies, damselflies and spiders there, but… nothing.

I walked for about three hours and then started to head home. My insides were starting to complain, and I hurried to the restroom near the boardwalk area where my car was parked – only to find that the thing was locked shut. Seriously?! Guh! I hate it when that happens.

Species List: