an unusually plump California ground squirrel
Otospermophilus beecheyi

OK. I swear this will be my last post of Fatty... unless something unusual happens. I've been laughing all evening while looking through my recent photos. For the past couple weeks, I've had the camera out with hopes to capture the new unknown hawk in our area and the winter songbirds. Mostly, I get bits of trees and blurs of wings, nothing clear enough for a positive ID. While I wait for the birds, I'll take a couple pics of the fat ground squirrel, who is always present and doesn't move much. Haha, it didn't look like it was too pleased with me taking a picture of it eating. How rude of me! And, no, I don't feed the squirrels or the birds. I think all wildlife should earn an honest living. Plus, I wanted to illustrate with the second pic above why my squirrel and bird pics are so fuzzy - I use the maximum zoom setting on my point-and-shoot.

ps - I lied. I forgot I still feed a couple scrub-jays peanuts when they come calling.

Townsend's warbler ~ 12/10/10 ~ at home

Townsend's warbler on coast Douglas-fir
Dendroica townsendi on Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

Well, she's not as striking as her boyfriend, but he's off chasing a flashy goldfinch. For me, these bird pictures are not too shabby. I really enjoy watching the Townsend's search through the Douglas fir tree next to our balcony for food. Insects? I don't know. Sometimes they hover like a hummingbird and pick at the tree, which I've learned is called hover-gleaning. I'm amazed at how many birds and insects use this coast Douglas-fir tree. It helps that our balcony is 3 stories up, so I'm able to get an eye-level view of the top of the tree to witness all the action.

I'd like to add that the Townsend's warbler is not mentioned at all in a recently-purchased CA bird guide book, which shall remain nameless until I get a better handle on whether it's a decent bird book or not. I bought it because it was the same style that my mother-in-law uses up in WA. At $20-30 a pop, I've been disappointed with my field guide purchases lately.

CA towhee ~ 12/02/10 ~ at home

California towhee perched on coast Douglas-fir
Pipilo crissalis perched on Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

Have I mentioned my bird photos are generally lousy? My fuzzy pictures of this Pipilo from July were way better than what I was able to capture today. I don't think I have the patience (or camera) to get really great photos of birds. These two visited our balcony and stayed for the longest time, until I had Andy hand me the camera through the window and I started the camera with the "bling" sound. All the commotion scared them away to the nearby tree. Argh! While I had the camera out, I tried to capture a Townsend's warbler, but it was too quick in the branches. Heavy sigh. My goal for the next year is to capture better bird photos.

ps 12/06/10 - And yes, it is this green around here and fairly warm. A light sweater is all I need to be comfortable enough outdoors in December. While I love the pics many nature bloggers post of snow, I'm glad to not have to endure that kind of cold weather.

young or female Anna's hummingbird
Calypte anna

Back to my regularly scheduled blog program...

Thanks goes out to Don Roberson who confirmed this ID for me. In the past week, the hummingbirds around home have been rather frisky with high speed chases and spectacular dives. Does this mean they're mating in September? For another link to info on the sound made by Anna's at the bottom of the dive, check out Cornell's All About Birds.

ps - I'm posting this 09/21/10 and yesterday morning I said "hello" to a couple local nature photographers (Greg and Peter). I see them regularly at the Coast Guard Pier during my morning walks when I never take my point-and-shoot... well, because my hands are full with 2 lb. weights (a subject for another post). So, anyways, they were snapping pics of a young black-crowned night heron. I felt silly, but I had to ask what kind of bird it was, because it was mottled light brown with funny greenish-yellow legs. I'm hoping they'll post their pics to share. I've finally accepted the fact that photography or birding simply isn't my thing (as evidenced in the pic above), but I sure do appreciate the patience and dedication others have.

CA ground squirrel ~ 08/24/10 ~ at home

California ground squirrel
Otospermophilus beecheyi

Sigh, I've had this post in my drafts for a couple days now, because I've been debating about its ID. I've seen squirrels both in the trees and running into holes in the ground around home. My previous squirrel posts were grossly misidentified - yep, I'm still searching and learning. I don't think this is the same individual, nor the same species as last year's staring squirrel post from home. The other possibility for ID is the California ground squirrel (Otospermophilus beecheyi). Interestingly enough, there's not much information online about local squirrels to the species level; most sites simply mention "squirrel" and leave it at that. I welcome any link suggestions from my blog readers.

I decided on the eastern fox squirrel (Sciurus niger) (and yes, it's introduced into western CA), because of its big size... of course, this individual could be feeding on all those peanuts my friendly scrub jays try to hide in the trees rather than eating them... or it could be pregnant? Like last year's, this one loves sunning on this rock and stares at us through the windows for hours, which unnerves me. Where's my fatty red-shouldered hawk when I want a "hit" done?

ps 09/24/10 - Hahaha! I'm now deciding the subject of the fuzzy pic above is a CA ground squirrel, not an eastern fox squirrel. Although, I do believe I've seen fox squirrels chasing each other in the Douglas-fir next to our balcony. For the past month I've been watching this particular squirrel and looking for identifying features such as the white eye ring characteristic of CA ground squirrels. I'm correcting the label below the pic, but I'm choosing to keep my original post unedited to show how I have difficulty identifying even the most common animals. We also have a new raptor in the vicinity. It's smaller than the red-shouldered hawk and its breast is mostly white with brown flecks. Don't know what it is, yet, and will keep trying to take its pic to post on Nature ID.

red-shouldered hawk ~ 07/20/10 ~ at home

red-shouldered hawk perched on coast Douglas fir
Buteo lineatus on Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

I'm glad to have this fir tree right next to our balcony. It's nature in action within 5 feet! The squirrels eat the unusual looking seed cones like corn on the cob. Plus, we get lots of birds searching for insects or perching on this tree.

We have other raptors around, I just haven't been able to capture them on camera. More often than not, I first hear ruckus from the crows (I like to call them the sheriffs of the bird world) before seeing them bombarding a perched hawk. Click on the scientific name above to hear the call of the red-shouldered hawk.

CA towhee ~ 07/10/10 ~ at home

California towhee
Pipilo crissalis

Can you get any more plain, brown-grey? Both males and females look like this. It's taken me a while to capture a few fuzzy photos of this bird. Again, thanks to a friend, I finally figured out who was making an early morning (anywhere from 4:45-5:30 a.m.) very loud, very high-pitched, chip, chip, chip - it sounds like a smoke detector that needs new batteries, but quicker in succession.

There are a couple towhees around and I think this is the individual that wakes me up. It's one of the few birds I can actually hear while I'm sleeping, so it's been my alarm clock since before June. I have an odd, one-ear hearing impairment, and if I'm sleeping on my "good" ear I cannot hear most plug-in alarm clocks (huge problem in college after late nights of studying), my husband's occasional snoring (conveniently useful), and many other noises. It reminds me of the story E.O. Wilson wrote about how his hearing impairment kept him away from ornithology and his nearsightedness led him to entomology. I understand.

On a similar train of thought, during a visit to a history of Impressionism exhibit in Rome this spring, Andy and I postulated that Claude Monet was nearsighted for most of his life and then developed the typical age-dependent loss of close-up clarity. His paintings seemed to reflect his change in vision as he aged. I think Monet was painting what he was literally seeing.

wordless Wednesday #2

snakefly

He's baaaaaack! Looking in on me from the office window. Seriously, I doubt this is the same individual from March 11, 2010.

dark-eyed junco ~ 04/07/10 ~ at home

dark-eyed junco perched on coast Douglas fir
Junco hyemalis perched on Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesiiPinaceae

I've been trying to capture one of these on camera since last fall. I believe this is the Oregon form. They love the pine next to our balcony (I'll ID this tree later) and appear to feed on it. They make a mess of my planters by tossing soil everywhere.

Townsend's warbler ~ 02/19/10 ~ at home

Townsend's warbler on coast Douglas fir
Dendroica townsendi on Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

Yeah!!! I've been wanting to capture "my yellow-headed Zorro" on camera for a couple months, but he flits so quickly between the pine tree branches that I've had no luck until now. Considering I was up in WA for most of November and into half of December, I'm guessing I've seen him here since at least the last part of October 2009. He usually shows up every morning in the pine tree right by our balcony, but in the past two weeks I hadn't seen him at all and was starting to get disappointed that I may have missed my chance to document him.

I'm not much of a bird person and have found it extremely challenging to search online for bird IDs when I can't even name the general type of bird. In the process of my search, I found this incredible bird ID site and this Monterey County natural history site. Initially, I thought my fellow was a blackburnian warbler, but after considering its range map, I continued searching, even though this 2002 bird highlights claims blackburnians are sometimes found here - although, IMHO, I think the highlight ID was a mistake... what do you think?

Now, if only I can capture the dark-eyed junco that also regularly visits and tosses soil everywhere from my balcony planters.

ps 10/17/10 - I saw my first Townsend's this morning in many months. It must be that time of year (mid to late October). I like being able to track last year's observations. Plus, I still think the blackburnian 2002 bird highlight I mentioned earlier was a mistake. Look at the double row of shoulder stripes - it's got to be a Townsend's warbler.

pss 10/27/10 - I first thought my fella found himself a mate. It was cute. He was chasing another small bird with a pale yellow breast and light-colored wing stripes, but no dark cheek patch, through the trees. Once I looked it up, it must have been a goldfinch of some sort.

pss 10/04/14 - Spotted the first Townsend's of the season this morning. Last year I saw them as early as 09/15/13.

pss 10/07/16 - For the record, spotted my first Townsend's for the season.

black-tailed deer
Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

It's always surprising when I go downstairs to take out the trash and find these large deer foraging so close to the bins. I think I surprised them, too!

red-shouldered hawk ~ 10/04/09 ~ at home

red-shouldered hawk perched on coast Douglas fir
Buteo lineatus perched on Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

Fatty-fatty 2x4 couldn't fit through... oops, sorry, but this one is... er... um... plump! As much as I refer to most living things as male (pets: Sam, Fred, Jack, and Max - all female cats, btw; plants: George; and wild animals) this one is so much a female to me. "She" is Henrietta! I've seen her a couple of times on the tree right below our balcony since Sunday and I hope she continues to perch here.

western scrub-jay

Aphelocoma californica

I know it's not kosher to feed the birds, but I've made "friends" with this jay using peanuts. He's brought some of his younger family members (note the grey head in the second pic) who are more vocal. I feel like I should give them names.

ps 02/17/10 - In the past week, the scrub-jays have returned for their peanuts. They were missing for a couple months.

black-tailed deer
Odocoileus hemionus columbianus

I finally grabbed the camera fast enough to catch a fawn below our balcony. It's late in the year and has grown quite a bit now. I miss seeing the twins that regularly visited last year. In my previous post earlier this year on March 11, I called the pregnant female a mule deer. Take a note at how lush green the grass was back in March compared to the dried mess that we have here in August. Thanks to another quick Google search, I found an old CDFG report, which identified our local deer as black-tailed deer (Odocoileus hemionus) - so, I managed to get the scientific name correct in the first post. However, Wikipedia has differing opinions on whether what we have in the area is more closely related to the mule deer or the Sitka deer (see link in the common name above). I know so little about deer that I can only present the information I've found. If anyone has better information, I'd be happy to hear about it. Thanks!

mourning dove ~ 07/02/09 ~ at home

mourning dove on coast Douglas fir
Zenaida macroura on Pseudotsuga menziesii var. menziesii
Pinaceae

Funny, but I always thought of these as "morning" doves since I hear them calling in the mornings. While we see them regularly on telephone wires around town, this was the first time I saw one from our balcony perched in the tree.

rainbow from home

This was taken the morning after I returned home from visiting a friend going through rough times in SoCal. I will miss her dearly.