Among the oaks

  

A couple of quick shots from Crane Creek in the late afternoon today (4 February 2021).  Nuttall's Woodpecker (Dryobates nuttallii), above, and Brown Creeper (Certhia americana), below.

Blackened

 

This afternoon (29 October 2017), I went for a short walk at Crane Creek Regional Park — the first time I've been there since the fires.  Quite a bit of the northern edge of the park was burned.  For the record, this was one example of many blackened and charred oak trees.

"The hardest thing of all to see..."

 

Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula), Santa Rosa, 21 November 2015

A picture from last month, but one I really like, and was reminded of recently when I read this quote:

"The hardest thing of all to see is what is really there." (J.A. Baker, The Peregrine, 1967).

Many of us have observed Ruby-crowned Kinglets, but have you seen those beautiful yellow edges to the wing and tail feathers?  And have you wondered why they're there?

And have you noticed the wonderful lichens where the kinglets search for food?

It is hard, but I'm glad there's so much more to see.

To Catch an Acorn Thief

 

 

This afternoon we watched two striking Lewis's Woodpeckers (Melanerpes lewis) at Crane Creek Regional Park.

They spent some time hawking insects from the tops of trees — providing nice views in flight:

 

We also watched one of the woodpeckers feeding on cached acorns in an oak tree:

 

Then we noticed that someone else was interested in the acorns, too:

 

Did you spot the Oak Titmouse at the top of the picture?

Here's a different view of the two species in one photo.  Can you find the titmouse?

 

(The titmouse is just right of center at the bottom of the image.) 

It was interesting to watch the woodpecker and the titmouse interact.  The woodpecker would remove an acorn from a crevice, then bring it to the horizontal branch to break it into pieces.  Sometimes the woodpecker would fly off before it had finished the entire acorn, and the titmouse would be waiting to sneak out to the branch to steal some "crumbs."  But the woodpecker was vigilant and protective.  As soon as it realized the titmouse was near the branch, the woodpecker swooped down to chase the titmouse away. 

Sure, the woodpecker had done all the work of finding and caching the acorns in the first place.  And the titmouse was behaving like a thief (or kleptoparasite).  But watching this, it was hard not to root for the titmouse, at least occasionally.

Although most of the titmouse's attempts ended in failure, here's what happened at least once:

 

Yes!  The Oak Titmouse was successful in securing a piece of an acorn. 

It made us wonder — How much time does the titmouse spend trying to sneak in for "crumbs"?  How much time does the woodpecker spend trying to defend its cache?  It also made us appreciate how highly valued acorns must be.

P.S.  If you're interested in seeing the Lewis's Woodpeckers, try walking the Creek Trail at Crane Creek Regional Park in Santa Rosa.

 

Striped grain-eater

 

Someday I'll get better pictures of a Lark Sparrow (Chondestes grammica), but I thought I'd share this one for now because it's such a pretty bird.  This species is rare on Bodega Head, but more common inland.

I ran into a flock of about 10-12 Lark Sparrows feeding on the ground at Crane Creek Regional Park on 15 November 2015.

I hadn't looked into the meaning of their scientific name before, so it was fun to learn that it means "striped grain-eater."  

The name is appropriate in that Lark Sparrows eat a lot of seeds (especially from grasses).  However, I was intrigued to learn that ~25% of their diet can be insects (primarily grasshoppers!).  [Diet facts from The Birds of North America Online.]

Thanks, Mom!

 

If you're reading this on May 10th — Happy Mother's Day!  If you're reading it on the 11th, I apologize for being a day late.  I took these pictures today, 10 May 2015, at Crane Creek Regional Park in Santa Rosa.

Above, a juvenile White-breasted Nuthatch has its bill wide open, ready to receive food from its parent — probably its mother, based on the paler gray (not black) crown.

Here's the next scene:

 

I encountered some nuthatches in an oak tree, and heard lots of soft, twittering sounds, making me suspicious that there could be juveniles around.  I couldn't locate a juvenile at first, and then I finally found one sitting quietly — see below, and note the yellow bill color.

 

I wondered, if I waited long enough, whether I'd see an adult bring food to the juvenile.  Sure enough, I saw two separate feeding events.

Here's the second one (I think this was the father, with a black crown):

 

I haven't seen juvenile White-breasted Nuthatches that often.  So I took a few pictures to document some of their characteristics.

I mentioned the bill color (yellow in juveniles, gray in adults).  The bill length is different, too — shorter in juveniles.  Compare them in the next picture:

 

Note the softer-looking plumage, and the paler and more restricted crown of the juvenile (i.e., there's more white on the back of the neck):

 

To my eye, the juvenile had grayer underparts (see below).  (And I was surprised to see that the juvenile already had rusty undertail coverts!)

 

The Birds of North America account mentioned that juveniles may have back feathers with dark tips and scapular feathers with light tips.  I couldn't make out that patterning on the back feathers.  I could see light tips in the shoulder region, creating a thin, pale bar:

 

Although I observed this juvenile being fed by the adults, I also saw it (or a different individual) foraging on its own.  (Note the short bill.):

 

Interestingly, I thought I might have counted 3-4 birds in the tree at first, but it was hard to keep track as they moved among the dense oak leaves.  When this flock left the tree, at least 8 nuthatches flew out!  Later I read that the average clutch size is 6.4.  Young nuthatches may stay with their parents for several weeks after leaving the nest.

 

Slender-billed Nuthatch

In 2013, the American Ornithologists' Union voted on whether White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) should be considered several species rather than one.  For example, whether there should be a Carolina Nuthatch, a Rocky Mountain Nuthatch, and a Slender-billed Nuthatch.  (The birds we encounter on the West Coast would be in the third group.)

The A.O.U. voted against the proposal, citing the need for more data.  For now, these groups of nuthatches remain subspecies, and they vary in plumage, bill shape, and vocalizations.  

Now when I see and hear White-breasted Nuthatches, I pay a little more attention.  It's a chance to consider how they might vary, and it's also an opportunity to contribute to what's known about them in different parts of the country.

Here are two views of a male White-breasted Nuthatch in Santa Rosa on 14 March 2015.

 

Examples of things to look for: the length of the bill, the amount of white in the face, the width of the black crown, and the amount of black in the blue-gray feathers.

 

And you can listen to this male singing, too.  I should have also tried to record the call notes (which vary among the subspecies), but I have a brief recording of his song.  [By the way, I haven't heard a discussion about why the call notes would differ more than the song.  Nuthatches do tend to call a lot, and they don't sing that often.  Could that be part of the reason?]

Pardon the background noise, as this recording was made with my camera.  Remember to turn up the volume of your speakers.

If you're interested, you can read more about differences in the subspecies of White-breasted Nuthatches in this article by Steven Mlodinow. 

Among the leaves and flowers

 

I had fun learning about Nuttall's Woodpeckers (Picoides nuttallii) today, 14 March 2015.  

I know some of you are familiar with this species, and some of you aren't.  If you have spent time with the similar Downy Woodpecker, some notable differences in Nuttall's include:

- black-and-white barring extending across the back (Downy's have a vertical white stripe)

- an extensive red patch on the back of the male's head (a male Downy's patch is smaller)

- some black spotting on the underparts (Downy's have none)

 

I watched this male Nuttall's Woodpecker foraging in an oak in Santa Rosa.  It spent most of its time among the new leaves and flowers.  I hadn't really watched a woodpecker do that before, so when I returned home, I read more about Nuttall's Woodpeckers and their feeding behavior.

It's true that Nuttall's Woodpeckers like oaks — especially Live Oaks, Valley Oaks, and Blue Oaks.

But it turns out that they're known for being different — i.e., they don't often peck wood vigorously and forage deep below the bark like many other woodpeckers.  Instead they tap gently from the side, probe near the surface, and glean from the surface itself.  Miller and Bock (1972) also observed that they spend a lot of time scanning foliage and twigs.

 

Nuttall's Woodpeckers eat insects (e.g., beetles, ants, bugs, caterpillars, etc.), and they also eat "vegetable matter" (e.g., seeds, berries, and flower buds).

Now this gets tricky.  Was this woodpecker eating oak flowers, or insects attracted to the oak flowers and leaves...or both?

Only the woodpecker knows...

 

P.S.  I'm not sure how to identify all of the local oaks yet.  My guess is that this is a Valley Oak (Quercus lobata), but please let me know if that's wrong.

P.P.S.  Facts above from the Birds of North America account by Lowther (2000), and Miller, A.H. and C.E. Bock.  1972.  Natural history of the Nuttall Woodpecker at the Hastings Reservation.  Condor 74: 284-294. 

 

Which blue?

 

This wonderful butterfly sent me down a bit of a frustrating path tonight.  It's a "tailed blue" — can you see the "tails" trailing off the back edge of each hind wing?  They're hard to see in the field, so you have to look carefully.

Even though I haven't seen one in California yet, my first thought was, "Okay, this is going to be a Western Tailed Blue (Cupido amyntula)."

But then when I started doing some research, I learned that Eastern Tailed Blues (Cupido comyntas) are also present in some parts of California.

So now the question is — which of the tailed blues is this?

Unfortunately, I don't have my butterfly field guides with me right now.  And when I tried to find out how to separate the two species online, I had a hard time tracking down useful information.  Then I reviewed pictures of the two species.  I've seen lots of Eastern Tailed Blues (on the East Coast), but not many Western Tailed Blues. 

I'll also reveal that I didn't get very good looks at the underside of this butterfly (although it looked quite pale).

After all of this, I still couldn't decide which one this was — a Western Tailed Blue or an Eastern Tailed Blue.

So...I'll either have to ask around for help from people with more experience, or wait until I have access to some butterfly books that perhaps can help point me to characters that might separate the two species.  Can you help?

Here's a slightly different view:

 

Photographed at Crane Creek Regional Park in Santa Rosa on 21 February 2015.

Pears? Or...

The other day, as we were driving along the Coast Highway, my mother (who is visiting from Massachusetts) said, "I think I just saw some pears!"  I've been in California long enough now that I knew what she had seen...but do you have a guess?

Warning: The picture below might give the answer away. 

Although not the actual ones that she saw, these are the same type of "pear-look-alikes":

 

Did you guess the fruit of the California Buckeye (Aesculus californica)?

These large, pear-shaped leathery capsules split to reveal a beautiful, shiny, swirled-with-brown-patterned seed: 

 

Today we were walking at Crane Creek Regional Park (in Santa Rosa), and while stopping to admire California Buckeye trees, we heard a few loud thuds as the seeds dropped to the ground.  Then we noticed quite a few picnic tables under these large California Buckeye trees.  It crossed our minds that it might be a risky time of year to sit at those tables (see below):

 

(Just kidding...no mothers were hurt in the creation of this image!)

While researching California Buckeyes, I came across a wonderful article by Roger Raiche.  He did such a great job, I'm just going to direct you to Roger's article here — California Buckeye: A Tree for All Seasons.  It's totally worth reading.  I especially like his description of how well matched this species is to a Mediterranean-type landscape.