Snipe!

  

I was still thinking about the Wilson's Snipe and wishing I could get better photos of them.  So this morning Eric and I went back and had two more tries taking pictures from the car during pauses in traffic.  I'm glad we went back as I learned a few things about snipe.

In the past I've mostly encountered snipe when they flush from a wetland and disappear, so I haven't spent much time actually watching them.

This morning they were actively feeding, probing deeply in the mud.  I read later that while their diet is diverse, they feed primarily on larval insects, especially flies and beetles.

 

 

 

Their cryptic camouflage is very effective among wetland vegetation, but a few individuals were resting on the open mud:

 

 

 

 

Snipe have short tails, but their tail feathers have a beautiful russet color that's often visible if you're looking for it:

 

 

 

 

A few times I saw them cock their tails up and off to the side, possibly a display (maybe territorial, or another possibility would be signalling awareness of a possible predator or threat; in this case, me):

 

 

 Another feature that's quite prominent is their very large eyes:

 

 

 

The eyes are also set far back on their head which allows them to see what's happening behind them (or above them when their head is down).  The photo below shows a snipe from behind, but notice how you can still see the eyes on either side of the head, which means the snipe can also see you (or a predator, like a harrier) from this angle:

 

 

 

Wilson's Snipe are winter visitors to Sonoma County.  They'll depart by ~mid-April, migrating north to wetlands (e.g., sedge bogs, fens, and alder swamps) for the breeding season.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

P.S.  Okay, if you're still with me, I can't help show one more photo.  The path to learn more about snipe displays led me to Sutton's 1981 paper "On aerial and ground displays of the world's snipes" in the Wilson Bulletin.  It's a really fun paper to read.  Here's the photo that led him to write the paper — a Wilson's Snipe displaying in Michigan, photographed by Betty Cottrille.  I hadn't known their displays were so dramatic!

Among the rushes

  

We've been seeing a small group of Wilson's Snipe (Gallinago delicata) feeding in a wet area near the side of the road on our way to work.  Unfortunately, it's a road where it would be dangerous to stop.  But this morning, with Eric driving, and making sure no one was behind us, we slowed down and I took a few quick shots from the car.  

I really love the colors and patterning of snipe, so here are a couple of images, including some of the rushes and the surrounding wetland habitat:

 

 

Aboveground network

  

Carol was asking me about Pacific Silverweed (Potentilla anserina ssp. pacifica) today, which triggered a memory of this photo I took back in 2007.   

This species has an amazing network of stolons (aboveground runners).  This was fairly early in the growing season, but imagine the leaves getting larger and filling in the spaces.  Later in the summer and fall, the stolons are harder to see.   

Pacific Silverweed likes wetlands, e.g., on Bodega Head we find it in freshwater marshes, wet seeps along the bluffs, ephemeral dune ponds, and the upper edges of salt marshes.

Then and now

In late January I decided I should start taking some pictures to document this year's drought conditions.

Below are two pictures comparing a previous year with this year.  The scene is a small wetland at the north end of the Bodega Dunes.  The first picture was taken in June 2007, after a winter with about 25 inches of rain.

 

The next image shows the same wetland, in just about the same place — compare the horizon line in the background — taken on 20 January 2014.  This was after receiving only ~4 inches of rain this winter.

 

On 9 February 2014 I stopped to take a picture of this wetland after ~7 inches of rain had fallen at the coast over three consecutive days.  I couldn't get to the same position as in the pictures above because of the water level, but here's a view of the flooded marsh.  The site in the earlier pictures is in the far back center of the image below.

 

And I'm delighted to report that when I was taking this picture (in the rain), my ears perked up to hear this sound:

chorus by nhbh


I'm sure many of you are now hearing the calls of treefrogs nearby, too!  But if not, head outside to your nearest wetland to enjoy the chorus! 

P.S.  For more about Pacific Treefrogs (also known as Pacific Chorus Frogs), review posts from 17 March 2012 and 15 December 2012.