Tag Archives: Sitta carolinensis

Firsts, General Blog, Naturalist, photography, Volunteering

Poults and a Snake, 07-04-19

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.

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:

  1. Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus,
  2. Ash-Throated Flycatcher, Myiarchus cinerascens,
  3. Black Nightshade, Solanum nigrum,
  4. Black Walnut, Juglans nigra,
  5. Blue Elderberry, Sambucus cerulea,
  6. Buttonbush, Cephalanthus occidentalis,
  7. California Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta,
  8. California Pipevine, Aristolochia californica,
  9. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica,
  10. California Wild Grape, Vitis californica,
  11. Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus,
  12. Common Crow, Corvus brachyrhynchos,
  13. Common Green Lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea,
  14. Common Merganser, Mergus merganser,
  15. Doveweed, Turkey Mullein, Croton setigerus,
  16. Fennel, Sweet Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare,
  17. Flowering Tobacco, Nicotiana alata,
  18. Giant Mullein, Verbascum thapsus,
  19. Golden Shield Lichen, Xanthoria parietina,
  20. Great Blue Heron, Ardea herodias,
  21. Green Shield Lichen, Flavoparmelia caperata,
  22. Horsetail, Rough Horsetail, Equisetum hyemale,
  23. Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni,
  24. Italian Thistle, Carduus pycnocephalus,
  25. Live Oak Gall Wasp, 2nd Generation, Callirhytis quercuspomiformis,
  26. Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos,
  27. Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura,
  28. Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, Crotalus oreganus oreganus,
  29. Nuttall’s Woodpecker, Picoides nuttallii,
  30. Pumpkin Gall Wasp, Dryocosmus minusculus,
  31. Red Swamp Crayfish, Crawfish, Crawdad, Procambarus clarkia,
  32. Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus,
  33. Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia,
  34. Rusty Tussock Moth, Orgyia antiqua,
  35. Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus,
  36. Tarweed, Common Madia, Madia elegans,
  37. Tree Tobacco, Nicotiana glauca,
  38. Treehopper, Oak Treehopper, Platycotis vittata,
  39. Western Bluebird, Sialia mexicana,
  40. White-Breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis,
General Blog, Naturalist, photography, Volunteering

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

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.

California Towhee, Melozone crissalis

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:

  1. Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus,
  2. American Bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus,
  3. American Goldfinch, Spinus tristis,
  4. American Robin, Turdus migratorius,
  5. Ash-Throated Flycatcher, Myiarchus cinerascens,
  6. Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans,
  7. Black Walnut, Juglans nigra,
  8. Black-Tailed Jackrabbit, Lepus californicus,
  9. Blue Elderberry, Sambucus nigra ssp. cerulea,
  10. Blue Oak, Quercus douglasii,
  11. Bordered Plant Bug, Largus californicus,
  12. Bur Chervil, Anthriscus Sylvestris,
  13. Bushtit, American Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus,
  14. California Black Walnut, Juglans californica,
  15. California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi,
  16. California Mugwort, Artemisia douglasiana,
  17. California Penstamon, Penstemon californicus,
  18. California Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta,
  19. California Pipevine, Aristolochia californica,
  20. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica,
  21. California Towhee, Melozone crissalis,
  22. California Wild Grape, Vitis californica,
  23. California Wild Plum, Prunus subcordata,
  24. Chinese Privet, Ligustrum sinense,
  25. Cloudless Sulphur Butterfly, Phoebis sennae,
  26. Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus,
  27. Common Green Lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea,
  28. Coyote Mint, Monardella villosa,
  29. Desert Cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii,
  30. Doveweed, Turkey Mullein, Croton setigerus,
  31. Eastern Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger,
  32. Elegant Clarkia, Clarkia unguiculata,
  33. European Honeybee, Apis mellifera,
  34. European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris,
  35. Fig, Common Fig, Ficus carica,
  36. Flax-leaved Horseweed, Erigeron bonariensis,
  37. Giant Sunflower, Helianthus giganteus,
  38. Goldwire, Hypericum concinnum,
  39. Himalayan Blackberry, Rubus armeniacus,
  40. House Wren, Troglodytes aedon,
  41. Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni,
  42. Lesser Goldfinch, Spinus psaltria,
  43. Live Oak Wasp Gall, 1st Generation, Callirhytis quercuspomiformis,
  44. Lords-And-Ladies, Arum maculatum,
  45. Mayfly, Order: Ephemeroptera,
  46. Oak Titmouse, Baeolophus inornatus,
  47. Poison Oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum,
  48. Pumpkin Gall Wasp, Dryocosmus minusculus,
  49. Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus,
  50. Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia,
  51. Showy Milkweed, Asclepias speciosa,
  52. Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus
  53. Sweet Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare,
  54. Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura,
  55. Valley Oak, Quercus lobata,
  56. Western Fence Lizard, Sceloporus occidentalis,
  57. White Horehound, Marrubium vulgare,
  58. White-Breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis,
  59. Winter Vetch, Vicia villosa,
  60. Yarrow, Achillea millefolium,
  61. Yellow Salsify, Tragopogon dubius,
  62. Yellow Starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis,
General Blog, Naturalist, photography, Volunteering

Only the Vulture Seemed Cooperative, 06-27-19

I got up around 5:00 am, let the dog out to go potty and fed him his breakfast. Then I headed over to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve for a walk.  I was joined by fellow volunteer trail walker, Mary Messenger (“The Other Mary”).  The weather today was beautiful, cool, breezy, sunny… in the 70’s. Just gorgeous.  I was able to keep the bedroom window open for most of the day to let the fresh air in.

At the preserve today the sightings were few and far between, and Nature was playing keep-away (we’d see something, but it was gone before we could get any decent photos of it). It took quite a while before we spotted a single deer, and I’m hoping that’s because a lot of the does are off having their babies right now.  Among the deer, I did see a couple of bucks in their velvet, including the one with the wonky antlers (long on one side, stunted on the other). 

And I came across a male Wild Turkey that I assumed was sick. It was hunkered down on the ground and breathing in short breaths, as though it might have been in pain.  It let me get to within touching distance of it and made no effort to get up or get moving.  My brain goes to the two most pervasive threats to the turkeys: rat poison and West Nile virus.  The turkeys in the preserve are surrounded by a huge residential area… and those nasty poison-pellets folks put out for rats look like food to the birds.  And we’re in the middle of the mosquito season, so West Nile can be a factor for many animals.  There’s no way to know what was affecting this papa, though, unless he can be caught and examined.

I took a photo of the turkey with some of the landscape markers so it would be easier to locate him at a later date/time if necessary.

According to the National Wild Turkey Federation, other things can also impact on Wild Turkeys, such as avian pox (which can result in the lesions in the esophagus and make breathing difficult for the birds) and several different kinds of equine encephalitis. (Usually, though, the birds are carriers of the equine diseases and don’t succumb to them themselves.)  Avian influenza and Mycoplasmosis can also be problematic, but they usually only affect domestic turkeys kept in small confined areas where they’re breathing each other’s crap for days on end. Poor babies. 

On a happier note, we did come across a very cooperative Turkey Vulture who was preening himself on the end of a large barren branch in a tree… and on that same branch was an Eastern Fox Squirrel preening, too.  So, we got quite a few photos of both of them. 

CLICK HERE for the album of photos.

The Other Mary had to cut her walk short because she had a lunch date with an old friend, but I kept walking for another hour or so after she left, so I put in about 4 hours of walking before heading home again. 

Species List:

  1. Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus,
  2. American Bullfrog, Lithobates catesbeianus,
  3. American Robin, Turdus migratorius,
  4. Ash-Throated Flycatcher, Myiarchus cinerascens,
  5. Black-Tailed Jackrabbit, Lepus californicus,
  6. Blue Elderberry, Sambucus nigra ssp. cerulea,
  7. Blue Oak, Quercus douglasii,
  8. California Black Walnut, Juglans californica,
  9. California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi,
  10. California Mugwort, Artemisia douglasiana,
  11. California Pipevine Swallowtail Butterfly, Battus philenor hirsuta,
  12. California Pipevine, Aristolochia californica,
  13. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica,
  14. California Towhee, Melozone crissalis,
  15. California Wild Plum, Prunus subcordata,
  16. Chinese Privet, Ligustrum sinense,
  17. Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus,
  18. Common Green Lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea,
  19. Coyote Mint, Monardella villosa,
  20. Desert Cottontail, Sylvilagus audubonii,
  21. Eastern Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger,
  22. European Honeybee, Apis mellifera,
  23. European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris,
  24. Fig, Common Fig, Ficus carica
  25. Flax-leaved Horseweed, Erigeron bonariensis,
  26. Giant Sunflower, Helianthus giganteus,
  27. Goldwire, Hypericum concinnum,
  28. Himalayan Blackberry, Rubus armeniacus,
  29. House Wren, Troglodytes aedon,
  30. Interior Live Oak, Quercus wislizeni,
  31. Live Oak Wasp Gall, 1st Generation, Callirhytis quercuspomiformis,
  32. Lords-And-Ladies, Arum maculatum,
  33. Mayfly, Order: Ephemeroptera,
  34. Oak Titmouse, Baeolophus inornatus,
  35. Red-Shouldered Hawk, Buteo lineatus,
  36. Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia,
  37. Showy Milkweed, Asclepias speciosa,
  38. Spotted Towhee, Pipilo maculatus,
  39. Sweet Fennel, Foeniculum vulgare,
  40. Turkey Vulture, Cathartes aura,
  41. Valley Oak, Quercus lobata,
  42. Western Fence Lizard, Sceloporus occidentalis,
  43. White Horehound, Marrubium vulgare,
  44. White-Breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis,
  45. Yellow Starthistle, Centaurea solstitialis
Firsts, General Blog, Naturalist, photography, Volunteering

Checking Out the Spider’s Den and Other Stuff, 05-18-19

I got up a little before 6 o’clock this morning and headed out to the Effie Yeaw Nature Preserve for a walk by myself.  I was trying to beat the rain – and was also on the lookout for slime molds.  I did beat the rain (it didn’t show up until around 3:00 pm), but I zeroed out on the slime molds. I think they need one more sunny day between the rainstorms to wake up.

It was nice and quiet on my walk, although I did come across a few other people. I was able to identify some birds to a couple who I think was visiting the place for the first time, and also directed a photographer to some good spots for photo opportunities. Doing my trail-walker thing.

CLICK HERE for the album of photos.

I saw a lot of the usual suspects: deer, turkeys, Starlings, House Wrens. I saw several bucks in their velvet, including the one with wonky antlers (one long and one short) and a torn ear. He should be easy to recognize from here on out.  And I also saw a doe with one ear that seemed really droopy. I don’t know what might have been bothering that ear; It didn’t look damaged or infected, at least as far I could tell.

A nice find was a male California Quail and one of his brides. I hear the quail at the preserve all the time, but they’re very fast and secretive, so I hardly ever get to actually see them.  This pair were pretty far away from me, across a meadow, but I was still able to get some shots. At one point, the male jumped up on a pile of brush so I could see him. They crack me up; their chubby little bodies look like light bulbs.

I also got to see quite a few female Common Mergansers going up into the cottonwood tree the Wood Ducks were in the last time. There were maybe three or four of the Mergansers, each flying around the tree and landing on different parts of it, quacking in low voices all the while. I don’t know if they were scouting out a nesting spot or were attracted to something else. I got some interesting-angle shots of them.

I was greeted by a pair of Western Bluebirds on another part of the trail. First the female flew in and then the male. They’re such bright, cheery-looking little birds. I always like seeing them.

And there was a very chubby California Ground Squirrel who popped up from her burrow to look around. I think she was pregnant based on her body mass. Their gestation lasts about a month, and then its another 6 to8 weeks before the babies emerge from the burrows. So, we won’t see them until sometime in July, most likely.

By the pond at the end of the Pond Trail were was some very fresh otter scat, so I’m guessing the otter was around there earlier this morning.  I’ve seen otters in that pond occasionally, but they usually wait until there are more crawdads around… The leeches in that pond might deter them, though.

I’m always curious when I find folded leaves or sealed leaf tents on plants, but I recognized what one was before I opened it when I found it on a mugwort plant. I handled it gingerly, and put it back where I found it afterwards.  Inside was, as I suspected, a mama American Yellow Sac Spider, Cheiracanthium inclusum, and her egg sac.

I was careful about how I opened it and handled it, because theses spider can pack a very painful bite (and are believed to bite more people than any other spider). The bite is said to burn like a wasp’s sting (and for sensitive people it can make them sick). The mother spider seals herself inside her rolled leaf tent with her egg mass, which can have as many as 100 eggs in it (although less is typical). She stays with the mass until the spiderlings hatch. After her babies hatch, she’ll stay with them until they’ve all gone through one molt (usually around 2 weeks).  As I mentioned, I set her and her tent back where I found them. She’ll spin new web to close her tent up again. ((Investigating leaf-rolls can be very interesting and rewarding for a naturalist, but just be careful.  You never know what might be inside of them.))

The young coyote showed up again today, in between two deer who didn’t seem to be aware that it was there.  It’s a very young coyote – gangly and thin, a teenager – but is hunting on its own, which I think is kind of unusual.  It moves too quickly, so I can’t tell if it’s a male or a female, but I did manage to get a few better photos of it today and a video snippet.

I got so preoccupied with my photo-taking that I lost track of time, and didn’t get back to the car until 11:30 am… So, I’d been on my feet for five hours. My ankles were killing me during the drive back to the house.

Species List:

  1. Acorn Woodpecker, Melanerpes formicivorus,
  2. American Yellow Sac Spider, Cheiracanthium inclusum,
  3. Ash-Throated Flycatcher, Myiarchus cinerascens,
  4. Bedstraw, Velcro Grass, Cleavers, Galium aparine,
  5. Bewick’s Wren, Thryomanes bewickii,
  6. Black Phoebe, Sayornis nigricans,
  7. Blessed Milk Thistle, Silybum marianum,
  8. Blue Elderberry, Sambucus cerulea,
  9. Bur Chervil, Anthriscus caucalis
  10. Bushtit, Psaltriparus minimus,
  11. California Brodiaea, Brodiaea californica,
  12. California Buckeye Tree, Aesculus californica,
  13. California Ground Squirrel, Otospermophilus beecheyi,
  14. California Mugwort, Artemisia douglasiana,
  15. California Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillar, Battus philenor hirsuta,
  16. California Quail, Callipepla californica,
  17. California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica,
  18. California Towhee, Melozone crissalis,
  19. California Wild Grape, Vitis californica,
  20. Columbian Black-Tailed Deer, Odocoileus hemionus columbianus,
  21. Common Merganser, Mergus merganser,
  22. Convergent Lady Beetle, Hippodamia convergens,
  23. Coyote Mint, Monardella villosa,
  24. Coyote, Canis latrans,
  25. Douglas Iris, Iris douglasiana,
  26. Eastern Fox Squirrel, Sciurus niger,
  27. Elegant Clarkia, Clarkia unguiculata,
  28. European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris,
  29. Fig, Common Fig, Ficus carica,
  30. Fremont’s Cottonwood, Populus fremontii,
  31. Fruit-tree Leafroller Moth, Archips argyrospila,
  32. Gold Dust Lichen, Chrysothrix candelaris,
  33. Gouty Stem Gall Wasp, Callirhytis quercussuttoni,
  34. Green Shield Lichen, Flavoparmelia caperata,
  35. Himalayan Blackberry, Rubus armeniacus,
  36. Honey Dew Wasp Gall, Disholcaspis eldoradensis,
  37. House Wren, Troglodytes aedon,
  38. Italian Thistle, Carduus pycnocephalus,
  39. Killdeer, Charadrius vociferous,
  40. Mallard, Anas platyrhynchos,
  41. Miniature Lupine, Lupinus bicolor,
  42. Mourning Dove, Zenaida macroura,
  43. Narrowleaf Vetch, Vicia sativa, (with black seed pods)
  44. Oak Apple Wasp Gall, Andricus quercuscalifornicus,
  45. Oak Titmouse, Baeolophus inornatus,
  46. Oakmoss Lichen, Evernia prunastri,
  47. Pink Grass, Windmill Pink, Petrorhagia dubia,
  48. Poison Hemlock, Conium maculatum,
  49. Poison Oak, Toxicodendron diversilobum,
  50. Purple-Top Vervain, Verbena bonariensis,
  51. Red Mulberry, Morus rubra,
  52. Red-Flowered Bird’s-foot Trefoil, Acmispon rubriflorus,
  53. Rio Grande Wild Turkey, Meleagris gallopavo intermedia,
  54. Rose Clover, Trifolium hirtum,
  55. Rusty Tussock Moth caterpillar, Orgyia antiqua,
  56. Showy Milkweed, Asclepias speciose,
  57. Sierra Wooly Sunflower, Eriophyllum lanatum var. croceum.
  58. Spicebush, Northern Spicebush, Lindera benzoin,
  59. Spider egg sac,
  60. Spotted Ladies Thumb, Redshank, Persicaria maculosa,
  61. Sunburst Lichen, Xanthoria elegans,
  62. Tall Cyperus, Flatsedge, Cyperus eragrostis,
  63. Tree Swallow, Tachycineta bicolor,
  64. Two-Striped Grasshopper nymph, Melanoplus bivittatus
  65. Unspecified brome, Broma sp.,
  66. Valley Popcorn Flower, Plagiobothrys canescens,
  67. Wavy-Leafed Soap Plant, Soap Root, Chlorogalum pomeridianum,
  68. Western Bluebird, Sialia mexicana,
  69. White Lupine, Lupinus albus,
  70. White-Breasted Nuthatch, Sitta carolinensis,
  71. Winter Vetch, Vicia villosa,
  72. Yarrow, Achillea millefolium,
  73. Yerba Santa, Eriodictyon californicum,