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Avian Camouflage

Nanday Conures, Western sycamore, Peter Strauss Ranch, Cornell 11/14/22 Kathy Jonokuchi
Nanday Conures, Peter Strauss Ranch, Cornell (11/14/22) Kathy Jonokuchi

Had Kathy Jonokuchi not seen a Nanday Conure fly to one of the Western sycamores at the Peter Strauss Ranch in Cornell, she might not have been able to send photographs of them. Their lime green plumage is that well camouflaged with the chartreuse of peaking sycamore.

Until this past spring, the Peter Strauss Ranch in the Santa Monica Mountains NRA had been closed to the public since the Woolsey Fire of ’18 due to hazardous conditions. Western sycamore and live oak survived the fire, as did these naturalized parakeets which were busy devouring sycamore seed pods and occasionally squawking when another flock of conures flew by.

She captured a trio of Nandays inspecting a tree hole, one likely made by one of many acorn woodpeckers in the area.

Western sycamore, Peter Strauss Ranch, Cornell 11/14/22 Kathy Jonokuchi
Western Sycamore, Peter Strauss Ranch, Cornell (11/14/22) Kathy Jonokuchi
  • Peter Strauss Ranch, Santa Monica Mountains NRA, Cornell (790′) – Patchy to Near Peak (10 – 75%) Go Now.
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Baby It’s Cold Outside

Mule Deer and Quaking Aspen, Meadow Valley, Plumas County (11/8/22) Michael Beatley
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Mountain Blue

Mountain Bluebird, Lobdell Lake Rd (10/10/22) Mark Harding

This Mountain Bluebird (Sialia currucoides) sure found the right spot to observe fall color in Mono County. Mark Harding spotted it atop a bare perch along Lobdell Lake Rd.

Mountain bluebirds prefer high elevations and open woodlands. They migrate in late fall. So, this snowbird might eventually fly over the Sierra to the foothills or down through Nevada to Arizona once the berries are off the bush. 

Mark Harding spotted it while spotting fall color along the road and at nearby Molybdenite Creek. Also spotting the thrush was a Red Tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis). Red Tailed Hawks prefer squirrels for dinner, but a bluebird is also on the menu.

Numerous reports of spectacular peak color have prompted us to declare Sonora Pass and Lobdell Lake Rd as Drive of the Week. Mark’s photographs reinforce that decision.

Molybdenite Creek (10/10/22) Mark Harding
Red Tailed Hawk, Lobdell Creek Rd (10/10/22) Mark Harding
  • Lobdell Lake Rd (8,600′) – PEAK (75-100%) GO NOW!
  • Molybdenite Creek (7,865′) – PEAK (75-100%) GO NOW!
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Colorful Tioga Brookie

Brook Trout, Yosemite National Park (10/1/22) Curtis Kautzer

When Curtis Kautzer couldn’t find much fall color in the trees along the Tioga Road in Yosemite National Park, he found it in the park’s subalpine waters where brightly colored spawning Brook Trout swim and along streambanks among the willows.

Yosemite National Park (10/1/22) Curtis Kautzer

Undiscovered-Yosemite.com reports that brook trout are “one of Yosemite’s most popular game fish. Together with related species such as the Dolly Varden and lake trout, the brook trout is often referred to as a ‘charr.’

“The mottled olive markings of the brook trout with their dark background, are distributed over the back, dorsal and tail fins and are a distinctive feature of theirs. The light spots on the sides are either cream-colored or red. Often the red spots are encircled with a blue halo. The lower fins are reddish orange, mar­gined with bands of black and white.

“This fish is especially colorful during the spawning season when the un­derside of the male become brilliant­ly red or sometimes orange.

Brook trout are “most commonly found in higher elevations above 7,000 feet in Yosemite (it) seldom does well at lower elevations where waters are too warm. The brook trout was widely planted in the (park’s) early days throughout the head­waters of the Merced and Tuolumne Rivers and can still be found there today,” the site describes.

  • Tioga Road, Yosemite NP (9,514′) – Patchy (10-50%)
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The Other White Mountains

Little Colorado River, White Mountains, Arizona (9/25/22) Philip Reedy

Arizona’s White Mountains share geography with California’s White Mountains. They’re both located near the eastern borders of their states.

They also share pockets of autumn beauty as color spotter Philip Reedy found when photographing fly-fishing locations.

He was in search of Arizona’s elusive Apache Trout, one of only two native species in  Arizona and the official State Fish. It is boldly polka-dotted across its olive-yellow body with golden belly.

Apache Trout, courtesy of Western Native Trout Initiative

Growing as large as 20 inches, few Apache Trout that big are caught because of the smaller streams in which they live. Most live in shallow waters that meander through marshes and beside forests of conifer and aspen in the White Mountains. This constrained habitat limits their size to 9 inches. 

Apache Trout were once nearly extinct, though conservation efforts reversed the decline. The specie remains Critically Threatened, as it has the unfortunate habit of hybridizing with rainbow and cutthroat trout.

Phil did not say if he was successful at catching and releasing an Apache Trout, though he did send these images of Patchy color among the aspen of the other White Mountains.

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Leave it to Beavers

Quaking aspen are providing food and building materials for beavers at Lam Watah Nature Trail in Stateline (8/5/22) Michelle Pontoni

Beaver have been trimming one of color spotter Michelle Pontoni’s favorite aspen groves at the Lam Watah Nature Trail in Stateline, NV.

She reports that though several impressive trees have been gnawed by beavers for their sustenance and use in building dams and lodges, many shoots of new growth give promise that the grove will continue to be a favorite of color spotters at South Lake Tahoe.

Why is it we hardly ever see beaver (Castor canadensis) chewing on quaking aspen (Populus Tremuloides)?

Because they’re nocturnal. The beavers, that is. Beavers emerge from their protective watery lodges at night to forage and build, because they have little defense against predators in daylight. That’s mostly when they chomp on the aspen. A beaver can topple a medium-sized aspen in a night.

A 1960 study by Joseph G. Hall of the Museum of Vetebrate Zoology at Berkley found that nearly every woody plant living near streams is cut to some extent by beavers. Though, they prefer aspen and willow and will consume mountain alder, ceanothus, currant, lodgepole pine, white fir and grasses living near streams and ponds.

So, to jump-start autumn, spend summer in the aspen groves, as Michelle did. You may just see a beaver braving daylight for one of his favorite meals.

  • Lam Watah Nature Trail, Stateline, NV – Just Starting (0-10%)
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Holiday Decorations

Green-winged teal, Arroyo Simi (12/21/21) Kathy Jonokuchi

As dazzlingly colorful as holiday decorations, the migratory birds at Arroyo Simi welcomed the first day of winter, this week.

Southern California color spotter Kathy Jonokuchi was in Simi Valley to record green-winged teal, Anas carolensis; American wigeon, Canada geese and white-faced Ibis, Plegadis chihi.

Kathy said she loves the drake Teals’ “bright green mask and wing band and their cinnamon-colored heads,” adding that the Ibis’ iridescent plumes “always captivate.” 

White-faced Ibis, Arroyo Simi (12/21/21) Kathy Jonokuchi
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Monarchs Return

Monarch Butterflies, Santa Cruz (1/15/2006) John Poimiroo

One hundred times more Monarch butterflies are being seen along the California coast this year, than were counted last year, as reported on CBS News.

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/monarch-butterflies-return-to-california-in-droves/

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Mass Sit-in

Snow and Ross' geese, Colusa NWR (12/1/21) John Poimiroo

A mass sit-in is occurring at the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge. Tens of thousands of Ross’ and Snow geese have taken up residence at the refuge where they honk, squabble, soar, rest and dine.

On a trip to Wheatland, we continued north past orchards along CA-99 to Marysville and Yuba City, then west by CA-20 to Colusa and the refuge. Walnut orchards vary from Near Peak to Peak orange-yellow. The almond trees are still green.

Though the sight worth the drive are the birds. Best time to be there is at dawn and for the first few hours thereafter. By midday, the birds have settled down and except for a few geese and ducks spreading their wings, most are grounded. Still, the mass of birds spreading off into the distance is inspiring.

 

American wigeon, Colusa NWR (12/1/21) John Poimiroo
Snow and Ross' geese, Colusa NWR (12/1/21) John Poimiroo
Black-necked stilt and various geese, Colusa NWR (12/1/21) John Poimiroo
Ross' geese, Colusa NWR (12/1/21) John Poimiroo
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Gone With The Wind

Western Sycamore, Malibu Creek SP (11/22/21) Kathy Jonokuchi

In autumn, the Santa Anas are strong, downslope winds that flow out of the Great Basin toward the south coast. They’re fearsome and often feed raging wildfires that incinerate dry areas of Southern California’s mountain ranges. This year, they scoured leaves from the branches of deciduous trees throughout the Santa Monica Mountains.

Southern California color spotter and naturalist Kathy Jonokuchi visited a favorite location, Malibu Creek State Park, where the forest appears Patchy with only a quarter of the trees still carrying their leaves.

The park was previously used for on-location filming of M*A*S*H the popular TV comedy about a Korean War mobile surgery unit. Once part of 20th Century Fox’s Movie Ranch, the location continues to appear in motion pictures and TV productions. In spite of the Santa Anas, Gone With The Wind was not filmed within the state park, though the scene in which Gerald walks with Scarlet was shot nearby at Malibu Lake.

Kathy did not visit Malibu Creek SP to study film history, but to study its trees and birds. She wanted to see how Western Sycamore have fared since the Woolsey Fire, four years ago, and found a grove that were spared the flames and are flourishing.

That’s good news for the Nanday Conure, naturalized parrots, which feed off sycamore seed pods during autumn. Once the trees lose their leaves, it’s easier to see the conures. During her visit, Kathy noticed the appearance of ash on the ground, but realized it was the fluffy seeds of cattail rushes, blown to the ground by the Santa Anas. The seeds will propagate in marshy  areas, a benefit of the Santa Anas which are otherwise thought of as a Southern California inconvenience.

  • Malibu Creek State Park, Santa Monica Mountains .91 – 2,739′) – Patchy (10 – 50%)