How far?

I had to do a quick errand in downtown Sebastopol this morning (30 September 2020).  As I walked, I started noticing burnt leaves scattered on the ground.  I'm guessing they drifted to Sebastopol a couple of days ago when the Glass Fire started, but perhaps folks who live there know more about the timing?  For the record, here's one example:

 

 

How far did this oak leaf travel?  What did the tree look like?  I'm so sorry, old friend.  Thank you for your gifts.

 

At the top of the oak

 

Hooded Oriole (Icterus cucullatus), 25 July 2019

 

Acorns for dinner

 

American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos) eating an acorn in our yard on 23 November 2017

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.

Gathering

 

On 26 March 2016, we watched this female White-breasted Nuthatch (Sitta carolinensis) approach a cavity on the underside of a large oak branch.  

 

At first we thought she might be interested in using it as a nest site.  But when she backed out with a mouthful of material, we realized that she was gathering nesting material from this cavity:

 

I don't know if there was a former nest in the cavity, or if softer materials had simply collected there and she was gathering them to use at a new site.  Before this, I hadn't considered what nuthatches use to make their nests, so it was intriguing behavior to watch.

 

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.