Around 5:30 this morning, I headed out to the American River Bend Park for a walk. It was in the high 60’s when I got there and heated up quickly; around 71° when I left.
I didn’t have an agenda in mind and was just watching for whatever Nature wanted to show me. I ended up finding a few galls on the oak trees, including one I’d never seen before. I’d seen photos of them but had never seen one “live”. It was a Two-Horned Gall of the wasp Dryocosmus dubiosus. Coolness. They’re found on the underside of the leaves of Live Oak trees, usually along the median vein. Also found the big Oak Apple galls, tiny Pumpkin Galls, and some Goldenrod galls.
In the water fountain near the restroom, I found a large beetle lying on its back. It was about an inch long and really kind of “hairy”. It had lost one of its antennae and was dying, but I still took some photos of it. I wasn’t exactly sure what it was, so when I got home, I Googled “beetle with hairy chest” – Hah! – and the correct identification actually came right up. It was, of course, a “June Bug” or more correctly a May Beetle, Phyllophaga sp. Around that same area, I found the shed skin of a snake, including its face.
June Bug, May Beetle, Phyllophaga sp.,
I could hear Red-Shouldered Hawks yelling at each other across the forest while I was out there, and at one point a fledgling flew down out of a tree onto the ground beside the trail. I couldn’t tell if he actually caught anything or if he was just practicing, but he sat for a moment and looked over his shoulder at me so I could snap a photo before he flew off again.
Just as I was leaving, I came across the nesting cavity of some Tree Swallows. I watched them take turn flying in and out of the cavity a few times and got some photos before heading back to the house.
Happy 4th 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.
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,
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.
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,
I headed over to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve this morning and got there around 6:00 am and it was about 63° then. I was joined by “The Other Mary”, Mary Messenger, and we walked for about 4 hours. We saw lots of deer today, mostly does with their older yearlings. Some of the gals were very “round” with their pregnancies. When the new fawns arrive, some does chase off the older kids… but others let them hang around for a couple of years. We didn’t see any fawns, but that’s to be expected. The does keep them well-hidden when they’re new.
Along the shore of the river, we came across the mama Common Merganser and her three red-headed ducklings again. They were hanging around a pair of female Wood Ducks who had one slightly older duckling with them. We couldn’t get too close, so we had to be satisfied with long-distance photos.
We saw several Turkey Vultures, Cathartes aura, including one bird sitting in a tree and one sitting on a stump on the bank of the American River. The one on the bank turned toward us and lifted its wings in the “heraldic pose” so we could see its white under-wing feathers. This pose, in which the Turkey Vulture turns its back toward the sun and opens its wings, is used by the birds when they want to warm themselves up quickly.
The legs and some of the feathers of the vulture sitting in the tree were covered in dried feces (making them look white-washed). When it’s really hot, the Turkey Vultures will defecate their mostly white, watery feces on their legs and feet and then allow evaporation to help cool them off. As gross as this may sound, keep in mind that the vulture’s digestive system is so aggressive and their immune system is so high, that their feces come out virtually bacteria free and actually acts like a kind of natural sanitizer. Cool, huh? I wrote an article about the vultures in 2015. You can read it HERE.
We also stopped under the Red-Shouldered Hawk’s nest along the Pond Trail and saw one fledgling sitting in it. Where the nest is placed, it’s hard to get a good angle on it for photographs, so all we saw was the tippy top of the fledgling’s head. Near the pond itself, we saw another fledgling, and near the nature center we saw an adult… So got a few photo ops on the hawks today.
This is the time of year when there are a lot of Western Fence Lizards scurrying all over the place, ad we were able to see quite a few of them, including a pair on a log. The stubby-tailed male was trying to court a female, but she just wasn’t that into him. Hah!
We walked for about 4 hours and then headed back to our respective homes.
I got up at 5:30 this morning. I would have slept in a tiny bit more, but Sergeant Margie needed to get outside to pee. Since I was up, I decided to stay up and head over to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve for a walk. It was about 55° when I got there, and almost 70° when I left.
I saw a lot of the usual suspects at the preserve. Still very few deer around; the boys are off getting their antlers and the girls are off getting ready to give birth to their fawns.
I did get to see another pair of Mourning Doves working on their nest. I saw the male first, along the trail picking up twigs and bits of dried grass and flying them over to the female. She was sitting in the back of a half-fallen branch of a tree, tucked in a broken bit of bark. Smart girl!
Later on, along the trail, while I was watching a young Fox Squirrel, a California Ground Squirrel showed up, and then a Scrub Jay landed nearby with a green plum in its beak. Wow, lots of photos just within a few feet of one another. I love moments like that.
I walked for about four hours and then headed home.
Species List:
Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus,
American Bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus,
Azolla, Water Fern, Azolla filiculoides,
Bewick’s Wren, Thryomanes bewickii,
Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans,
Blessed Milk Thistle, Silybum marianum,
Blue Elderberry, Sambucus cerulea,
Bush Katydid, Scudderia furcate,
California Brodiaea, Brodiaea californica,
California Dandelion, Taraxacum californicum,
California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi,
California Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta,
I got around 6:00 am this morning and headed out to the American River Bend Park for my walk. It was overcast for most of the day, but I was able to do my walk without getting rained on, so that was good.
The first thing I saw when I got there was the leucistic female turkey and another “normal”-colored turkey walking through the tall grass along the side of the road with one small poult following after them. I don’t know which of the gals had the baby, but they both seemed to be taking care of it. Poults are so hard to photograph most of the time because the moms try to keep them hidden as much as possible. So, I only got a few shots of the baby’s behind.
This is the time of year for caterpillars at the park and you could see Pipevine Swallowtail and Rusty Tussock Moth caterpillars almost everywhere you looked. When I was videoing some of the Pipevine Swallowtail guys eating pipevine a woman and two of her friends came up. The woman plucked a caterpillar from the ground to show it to their friends, and when she came back to set it back onto a pipevine plant, I asked her if she’d seem the Tussocks. She said, no, so I showed her where some of them were and gave her and her friends a mini lesson on the species. Naturalist thing: check.
The pipevine plants were abundant: on the ground, over logs, up into the trees and shrubbery. Some of them were super-thick. The wild grape vines were also everywhere. They seem larger than I’ve seen them in years – but that’s because of the rains, I’m sure. We were living with drought with so long that we don’t recognize the landscapes with water anymore… The Elegant Clarkia was in bloom all over the place; patches of pink – and some white – all along the river trail. So pretty.
Lots of House Wrens around singing today. I saw one male go over to a slit-like cavity in the side of a tree and look in, then he flew up into a nearby tree advertising his find. But the cavity was already taken by a pair of Oak Titmice. The mom came up with a beak full of bugs and started fussing at the Wren. She flew at him a couple of times to drive him off, but he was pretty persistent. When both of them were away from the cavity, I walked up to the tree to see if I could hear any babies inside. When I tapped on the tree, I could hear a hiss from inside. Sometimes, baby birds hiss to make themselves sound like snakes, so predators won’t bother to come inside the nesting cavity – and it also deters human from trying to get a better look inside. Hah!
I walked for about 4 hours and then headed back home.
Species List:
American Bumblebee, Bombus pennsylvanicus,
Anna’s Hummingbird, Calypte anna,
Bedstraw, Cleavers, Galium aparine,
Blue Elderberry, Sambucus cerulea,
Bush Monkey Flower, Mimulus aurantiacus,
California Buckeye Chestnut, Aesculus californica,
California Hairstreak Butterfly, Satyrium californica,
California Pipevine Swallowtail, Battus philenor hirsuta,
California Pipevine, Aristolochia californica,
California Wild Grape, Vitis californica,
Canada Goose, Branta canadensis,
Common Green Lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea,
Common Hoptree, Ptelea trifoliata,
Cranefly, Tipula spp.,
Creek Clematis, Clematis ligusticifolia,
Destroying Angel Mushroom, Amanita ocreata,
Dog Vomit Slime Mold, Fuligo septica,
Dogtail Grass, Cynosurus echinatus,
Eastern Gray Squirrel, Sciurus carolinensis,
Elegant Clarkia, Clarkia unguiculata,
European Praying Mantis, Mantis religiosa,
Gold Dust Lichen, Chrysothrix candelaris,
Goldwire, Hypericum concinnum,
Gouty Stem Gall, Callirhytis quercussuttoni,
Great Egret, Ardea alba,
Green Shield Lichen, Flavoparmelia caperata,
House Wren, Troglodytes aedon,
Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni,
Italian Thistle, Carduus pycnocephalus,
Lace Lichen, Ramalina menziesii,
Lesser Goldfinch, Spinus psaltria,
Live Oak Gall Wasp, 1st Generation, Callirhytis quercuspomiformis,
Live Oak Gall Wasp, 2nd Generation, Callirhytis quercuspomiformis,
Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura,
Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Picoides nuttallii,
Oak Leaf-Roller Moth, Archips semiferanus,
Oak Moss Lichen, Evernia prunastri,
Oak Titmouse, Baeolophus inornatus,
Oak Treehopper, Platycotis vittata,
Oregon Ash, Fraxinus latifolia,
Painted Lady Butterfly, Vanessa cardui,
Poison Oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum,
Rattlesnake Grass, Big Quaking Grass, Briza maxima,
Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia,
