Tag Archives: North American River Otter

Firsts, General Blog, Naturalist, photography, Volunteering

Many, Many, Many Deer… and a Swarm of Bees, 03-26-19

I headed out to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve for a walk.  It was about 51° and drizzly when I left the house around 7:30. Although I carried my umbrella throughout my walk, I didn’t need it. As soon as I got to the preserve, the rain stopped. And by the time I left there, around 11:30 am, the sun had come out and it was about 63° outside. A very nice morning for a walk.

CLICK HERE for the album of photos.

Lots and lots and lots of deer were out today, including some boys who have antler-bumps, and some exceeding pregnant females.  I also came across one doe with a yearling, and the yearling had a bad cough.  I always worry about these little guys. I could see this one’s rib cage starting to show; he might not make it.

I got glimpses of some otters in the river. They were rolling over one another as they went upstream, barking and chirping at one another.  Uhhh… I think they were mating.  “Mating may take place on land but is more likely to occur in the water.” I was worried they were going to drown one another! Hah!

And speaking of drowning: on the Pond Trail, I came across a male Mallard trying to kick the snot out of another male who go to close to “his” female. Mallards aren’t particularly monogamous, but occasionally I’ll see a male who’s very protective of his mate and won’t let anyone else near her. The fight today took place almost a few years to the date of the last time I saw this behavior at the same pond. I wonder if it was the same pair pf ducks.  Rival-guy hightailed it out of the pond after macho-guy tried to drown him and bit him repeatedly on the back and butt. Wow!

The coolest thing I saw on my walk, though, was something I didn’t recognize at first. I saw it from a distance on the Meadow Trail and thought it might have been a nest (like a magpie’s nest), but it was on a weird part of the branches and too odd a shape for it to be a bird’s nest. I zoomed my camera in on it, and realized the whole thing was “moving”, sort of undulating all over its surface. Zooming in further, I realized I was looking at a swarm of bees! It didn’t look like they were building anything’ more like the swarm was gathered around their queen to protect her and keep her warm until she was ready to move on again.

I walked for about 3 ½ hours.

Species List:

1. Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus
2. Audubon’s Warbler, Yellow-Rumped Warbler, Setophaga coronata
3. Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans
4. Brown Jelly Fungus, Jelly Leaf, Tremella foliacea
5. Buckbrush, Ceanothus cuneatus
6. Bullfrog, American Bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus
7. Bush Lupine, Lupinus albifrons
8. Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus
9. California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi
10. California Manroot, Bigroot, Marah fabaceus
11. California Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly, battus philenor hirsuta
12. California Pipevine, Dutchman’s Pipe, Aristolochia californica
13. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica
14. California Towhee, Melozone crissalis
15. Canada Goose, Branta canadensis
16. Chanterelle, Cantharellus californicus
17. Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Mule deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus
18. Common Merganser, Mergus merganser
19. Desert Cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii
20. Dog Vomit Slime Mold, Fuligo septica
21. Eastern Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger
22. European Honey Bee, Apis mellifera
23. False Turkey Tail Fungus, Stereum hirsutum
24. Giraffe’s Head Henbit, Henbit Deathnettle, Lamium amplexicaule
25. Green Shield Lichen, Flavoparmelia caperata
26. Hermit Thrush, Catharus guttatus
27. House Wren, Troglodytes aedon
28. Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni
29. Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos
30. Miniature Lupine, Lupinus bicolor
31. North American River Otter, Lontra canadensis
32. Northern Flicker, Colaptes auratus
33. Nutthall’s Woodpecker, Picoides nuttallii
34. Painted Lady Butterfly, Vanessa cardui
35. Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus
36. Rio Grande Turkey, Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia
37. Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus
38. Western Bluebird, Sialia mexicana
39. Western Redbud, Cercis occidentalis
40. White-Breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis

Firsts, General Blog, Naturalist, photography

A Beaver and a Loon at Lake Solano Park, 03-16-19

The weather at Lake Solano Park was perfect for walking with my naturalist students; about 49° when we first got there, and then up to about 68° by the time we left. It was sunny, clear and bright outside. My coworker Bill and I took turns pointing things out to everyone, and one of the students, Charlie (who’s something of a plant expert) helped us identify plants.

CLICK HERE for an album of photos.

When I got to the park, Bill and some of the students were already there, and some of them had already spotted an otter in the water. What a great way to start their day! Other highlights during the outing included spotting a beaver in the lake (!) and a Common Loon (!!) which I had never seen there before. We at first thought the beaver was another otter, but it’s large size and big ears brought us to the conclusion of its true identity. It was moseying along in the water, and treaded water for a long time, so we were able to get some photos of it. ((I think I took about 500 photos of its head poking out of the water. Hah!)) Eventually, it made its way to the other side of the lake and disappeared into the shadows. We inferred it might have had a lodge over there although we couldn’t see one.

The loon was a big surprise. At first we were all looking at it, trying to wrap our heads around what we were seeing. Checking through a field guide, though, we were able to determine that it was a non-breeding Common Loon, most likely resting there during its migration through our region.

Deeper inspection of the skull and skeleton we’d found on Wednesday, seemed to indicate that they were from opossums, not dogs as we’d originally thought (based on the canine teeth). There were “too many” small teeth between the canines for the skulls to be from a dog, so opossum was the next best guess. I need to study skulls more deeply – especially the ones of the common animals around here.

I stupidly stepped into the ants’ nest near where we located the Giant Horsetail ferns again. I recognized the spot and tapped on the area with my foot to see if the ants were still there from Wednesday, but nothing emerged, so I thought it was safe to go in there… But as soon as my shadow passed over their nest, they came out in force again. I got bit a few time, but nothing bad. They weren’t Fire Ants; more like red Harvester Ants. But they were still angry about my trespass over their nest and practically “exploded” out of the ground to swarm all over me. The students helped to whack them off my clothes.

On another part of the trail, we came across a large colony of Velvety Tree Ants swarming over an old log. What alerted me to them was a White-Breasted Nuthatch that flitted down onto the log, snatched up an ant, and flew off, flitted down onto the log, snatched up an ant, and flew off several times in a row. Along the ridgeline of the log was a line of winged adults getting ready to take off to establish new colonies… and it was the big winged one the Nuthatch was after. Very cool.

On the lake were Bufflehead ducks mingling with Goldeneyes, and both Common and Hooded Mergansers (along with the egrets, some herons, and Canada Geese). On the shore were lines of turtles sunning themselves; both Red-Eared Slider Turtles and a few Pacific Pond Turtles. We also all got to watch a Belted Kingfisher on the other side of the lake, dive-bombing for fish in the water. Some of the students had never seen that before and were “wow-ing” at the speed of the little bird.

In the ponds, we found Water Boatmen, Mosquito Fish, Bullfrog tadpoles, and a Black-Fronted Forktail Damselfly that was “swimming” along the top of the water before it lighted on some algae to dry off. I’d never seen a winged damselfly swim before! So odd! I need to remember to bring my dip-net with me next time I go out there so I can scoop up some critters to photograph.

We walked for about 3 ½ hours, and all in all, I think I recorded over 60 different species (that we saw and/or heard). It was a good day.

Species List:

1. Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus,
2. American Kestrel, Falco sparverius,
3. American Robin, Turdus migratorius,
4. Arundo, Giant Reed, Arundo donax,
5. Audubon’s Warbler, Setophaga auduboni auduboni,
6. Beaver, American, Beaver, Castor canadensis,
7. Belted Kingfisher, Megaceryle alcyon,
8. Bewick’s Wren, Thryomanes bewickii,
9. Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans,
10. Black-Fronted Forktail Damselfly, Ischnura denticollis,
11. Brewer’s Blackbird, Euphagus cyanocephalus,
12. Bufflehead, Bucephala albeola,
13. Bullfrog, American Bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus,
14. Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus,
15. California Manroot, Bigroot, Wild Cucumber, Marah fabaceus,
16. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica,
17. Canada Goose, Branta canadensis,
18. Cattail, Broadleaf Cattail, Typha latifolia,
19. Chickweed, Stellaria media,
20. Cliff Swallow, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota,
21. Common Goldeneye, Bucephala clangula,
22. Common Loon, Gavia immer,
23. Common Merganser, Mergus merganser,
24. Double-Crested Cormorant, Phalacrocorax auratus,
25. Fresh Water Snail, Fluminicola sp.,
26. Galium, Bredstraw, Velcro-Grass, Sticky Willy, Cleavers, Galium aparine,
27. Giant Horsetail Fern, Equisetum telmateia,
28. Giraffe’s Head Henbit, Lamium amplexicaule,
29. Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias,
30. Great Egret, Ardea alba,
31. Honey Fungus, Armillaria mellea,
32. Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus,
33. Longstalk cranesbill, Geranium columbinum,
34. Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos,
35. Mistletoe, American Mistletoe, Big Leaf Mistletoe, Phoradendron leucarpum,
36. Mosquito fish, Gambusia affinis,
37. Mugwort, California Mugwort, Artemisia douglasiana,
38. Northern Mockingbird, Mimus polyglottos,
39. Pacific Pond Turtle, Western Pond Turtle, Actinemys marmorata,
40. Peafowl, Indian Peafowl, Pavo cristatus,
41. Phainopepla, Phainopepla nitens,
42. Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta
43. Pipevine, California Pipevine, Dutchman’s Pipe, Aristolochia californica
44. Red Harvester Ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus,
45. Red-Eared Slider Turtle, Trachemys scripta elegans,
46. Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus,
47. Red-Tailed Hawk, Buteo jamaicensis,
48. Red-Winged Blackbird, Agelaius phoeniceus,
49. River Otter, North American River Otter, Lontra canadensis,
50. Snowy Egret, Egretta thula,
51. Speedwell, Veronica arvensis,
52. Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus,
53. Tree Swallow, Tachycineta bicolor,
54. Tule, Schoenoplectus acutus,
55. Valley Oak, Quercus lobata,
56. Velvety Tree ant, Liometopum occidentale,
57. Water Boatmen, Corixidae (family),
58. Western Bluebird, Sialia mexicana,
59. Western Screech Owl, Megascops kennicottii,
60. White Alder, Alnus rhombifolia,
61. White-Breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis,
62. Yellow-Headed Blackbird, Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus,

Firsts, General Blog, Naturalist, photography

Went to See the New Okapi at the Zoo, 02-21-19

I headed over to the Sacramento Zoo with the hopes of being able to see their new okapi. When I got there, I realized that the electronic membership pass I had to get into the zoo had not transferred from my old phone to the new one, so, I had to go see the membership department to get that resolved. I also got a printed pass just in case the fix for the electronic one fails again.

As I mentioned, I’d come mostly to see the new okapi – which look like a cross between a zebra and a giraffe. Only one was out in the enclosure, but, wow, what a beautiful weird-looking animal. The coat is amazing; smooth, glossy, brown here, striped there. It’s tongue is so long it can lick its own eyeball.

Thursdays are “bone day”, so all of the big cats had cow bones to gnaw on. Coconut the baby Snow Leopard was out with his mom, Misha, hoarding all the bones for himself and pouncing on his mom whenever she came near them. I could watch those leopards all day; they’re so gorgeous. While I was there, an English couple with their two small children came up. The dad was enamored with the big cats and kept taking photos and video with his phone. As if they knew he was interested, Coconut and Misha put on a show for him, running and jumping around, rolling on the ground, leaping from rock to rock.

I asked the couple if they knew coconut’s story, and they said no, so I told them all about him (how he had swimmer’s legs when he was a cub and couldn’t walk, his physical therapy, the operation he had on his eyelids, etc.) I think the dad videoed that, but I’m not sure. The mom said, “Thank you so much for that!”, when I was done. What was funny about the whole thing was that while I was talking, the parents were totally enthralled – and behind them their kids were totally bored. “Can we go see the giraffes now?” they kept saying. Hahahaha!

CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.

The lions had bones, too, but the big male was generous and let the female eat what she wanted to. He’s feeling amorous right now, so I was figuring that any second the kids at the zoo would get an eye-full. They didn’t get that from the lions, but they did see some of that from the River Otters. Horney little dude kept chasing the dark female all over the place, and then one or the other of them would dance-poop all over the place. At one point, the male went right up to the glass wall of their enclosure, and put his hands on the glass, glaring at us humans. The “do you people mind?! I’m trying to get busy here!” was so obvious on his face that it made me literally laugh out loud.

All of the chimpanzees were out and crowded into the sun-shiny parts of their enclosure, so it was easy to get photos of them. They’d just been given branches of leaves and piles of grass with veggies hidden in them, so everyone was munching away or digging through the grass looking for tidbits. The orangutans were also out, but one was lying in a hammock so you could only see his fuzzy shoulder, and the other one was snuggled in her blankets in a little cave. So, not as many cool photo ops there.

At the kangaroos’ exhibit, they were all in the sun, too, and while I was photographing them, two of them decided to lay down and stretch out in a warm spot and scratch their butts and bellies. Animals. They crack me up.

Around 11 o’clock, I stopped to get some lunch from the café and ended up with a plate of veggie nachos (no beef) and a Sobe water. Then I made another round past my favorite exhibits – and skipped the reptile house – before heading out.

I stopped briefly at the middle pond at William Land Park (across the street from the zoo) and took some photos of the ducks, a couple of cormorants and a Great Egret hanging around the pond. I got home around 1:00 pm

Firsts, General Blog, Naturalist, photography

Lots of Photos from the Zoo, 10-17-18

DAY 12 OF MY VACATION. I headed over to the Sacramento Zoo for a walk there.

Wednesdays are apparently a good day to go to the zoo because there were hardly any people there and I got the first spot in the parking lot (closest to the crosswalk from the lot to the zoo gate). The weather was lovely all the while I was there (about 56º when I got there, about 76º when I left.) Bookends: as I was going into the zoo I saw a squirrel and took its picture, and when I came out of the zoo, I saw another squirrel and got his picture, too.

I had gone specifically to see Coconut again, the baby Snow Leopard. When I first stopped at the Snow Leopard enclosure, the dad, Blizzard, was out, so I walked on. When I came back to the enclosure about an hour later, the keeper was cleaning it out and setting out toys for Coconut to play with. So, I was one of the first people at the enclosure when she opened up the door and let out Coconut and his mom, Misha. I think I took over 200 photos of them. They’re so beautiful, and the baby is so funny.

He’s at the “let’s pounce on mom” stage, and play-attacked her from different angles. Most of the time, she saw him coming and just braced herself for the impact. (She’s really gentle with him.) But, once he came at her from a ledge above her and startled her enough to make her run off a bit. You could almost see how proud he was about that. Hahahaha!

CLICK HERE for the full album of photos.

As an extra fun moment, baby Cosmo, this year’s only baby Flamingo, was also out and walking around. She’s all gray right now and hasn’t started to pink up yet. Because she was the only flamingo born this year, was rejected by her mom and had no siblings, her keepers are allowing her to bond with them in the hopes that even when Cosmo joins the flock in the zoo later, she’ll still come to them whenever they lay down a little white blanket for her.

They were working with her today where everyone could see her, giving her hugs and praise and a clicker-treat (brine shrimp) when she came to her white blanket (“station”). Later, as the keepers were walking away, one of them had the white blanket with her, and little Cosmo walked right along after her on the sidewalks and paved paths of the zoo (without any enclosure or leash or anything else). It was so cute!

Among the other birds, they have a Plain-colored Amazon parrot who’s learning to “talk” and interact with people. It said “Hello” to me several times and made a “purring” sound. The sign beside its cage suggested that you sing and dance for the birds, but… uh, no. I wasn’t going to do that. Hah!

About halfway through my visit, I stopped at the café to have some lunch: a tri-tip sandwich, fries and a large soda. Their food is always good, but their portions are so large I can never finish it all. The food is expensive, too, but you have to keep in mind that about 30% of the price goes to the animals so… eat and shut up. Hah-2!

Other critters that I hardly ever get to see were also out: The sloth was moseying around in its enclosure, but it’s hard to get photos of it because its in a cage with tiny openings in the mesh that my camera can’t see through. The male jaguar was also out, but he was upset and pacing, so I couldn’t get any clear photos of him either. In the reptile house, though, I had better luck and got pretty good photos of the chuckwalla, Amazon Milk Frogs, and Dart Frogs… and also got to see the Rhinoceros Iguana, which I had never seen before. He was a big dude, about the size of my leg. It would have made a good “dinosaur” in a cheap monster movie.

I ended up seeing about 45 different species and getting some good photos, so I was very pleased.