Some of Our Neighbors Here in the Woods...

Non-human neighbors, that is.

Over the past two weekends I spent a bit of time on my photography platform (without the blind), photographing the comings of goings in the morning rush.

Here are some of the locals from last weekend:

A special visitor: A male California Quail. We have had very few quail coming around over the years, although we hear them in the underbrush nearby periodically. This guy just appeared out of nowhere (seemingly) and wandered around in camera-shot for a while before retiring into the thick manzanita.

The California Scrub Jays are VERY common, and are easy to photograph on the perches I set out.

The Desert Cottontails are also very common, but they rarely wander past in the morning when I am outside. This one looks rather stern here!

The morning light is a wonderful thing!

The Oak Titmice are close neighbors, and seem to be on the lookout for me as long as the sun is up (I do put a little seed out on the ground in the morning, which they have become very fond of). If I wander anywhere near the platform area, they are right there in the small oaks talking to me. They fledged young (again) this year.

The Merriam's Chipmunks are not always in evidence, but seem to have re-emerged from hiding recently. This may be the "beat up" looking individual that I photographed last spring (missing the tip of its tail). Or just a look-alike. They appear to lead hard lives. Note the notches in the ears of this one.

Here are some of the animals that revealed themselves when I was on the platform this morning. In addition, Dark-eyed Juncos were around, and I heard a White-crowned Sparrow last week. Fall is here and Winter is coming...

Immature male Anna's Hummingbird, hatched this year. Earlier in the year I saw a female hummer collect some cat hair that I had placed out in a suet cage for the birds to use for their nest-linings.

The hummingbird feeders are beset by Honey Bees and yellowjackets, and this young male is eyeing the feeder carefully before attempting a sip.

The Oak Titmice are ALWAYS here.

The Steller's Jay made an appearance. I rarely see more than one at a time of this species here.

Too bad the tail is hidden...

Merriam's Chipmunk

The pair of White-winged Doves that I described in the previous post.

White-winged Doves in the Cuyamaca Mountains

White-winged Doves are typically found in the desert regions of southern California (as well as in the other southern tier states as far east as Texas).

They are not usually found in the mountains here in southern California, although the San Diego County Bird Atlas (Unitt), describes yearly movements between the desert and the coast, in small numbers, particularly in spring and fall.

Over the past 18 months, I (and at least one of my neighbors) have periodically seen or heard White-winged Doves in the Cuyamaca Woods area here in the Cuyamaca Mountains. It likely has not been the same individual, based on the movements described above. My first observation was near our property on April 1 (yes, April Fool's Day - but it WAS actually seen!). The characteristic vocalization, usually a signature of the desert, was heard very close to my house, and with some effort, the bird was found. It obligingly perched on a tree on a neighboring property, as shown below.

White-winged Dove, Zenaida asiatica, Cuyamaca Mountains, California, April 1, 2018.

I have heard the distinctive vocalizations on and off over the next year-and-a-half, and this morning, while photographing animals from the photography platform on my property, I saw a pair of doves appear, and then move around within view of the platform, first perching in a tall dead tree, then foraging on the ground, then perching on one of the boulders just downslope from our patio.

I was able to capture a few photographs of the pair together, the best two of which are shown below.

Two White-winged Doves on boulder a few feet from our patio. October 19, 2019.

White-winged Doves in dead tree downslope from house. October 19, 2019.

I have been reporting these observations to eBird: https://ebird.org/profile/MTA0NjUyMw/world

Acorn Woodpeckers: Sap Connoisseurs!

Immature male Acorn Woodpecker consuming sap (identified by his dark irises and lack of a black band between the white and red on his forehead). This young male was the most avid sap-eater.

The local Acorn Woodpeckers started creating small holes in one of our re-grown live oaks last year. Some sap began to flow and they partook of it happily, although only intermittently and on a small scale. This is not particularly unusual behavior and has been documented for the species, but I had never personally observed it (let alone photographed it).

This year, in the first couple weeks of August, the sap holes were re-opened and the sap flowed freely! We had such a wet winter and spring that presumably the sap was more plentiful, and for a couple weeks, the sap flows on this tree were visible from quite a distance, they were so substantial. The woodpeckers were the primary exploiters of the sap, and had clearly been the creators of the flows in the first place, but other local residents tried to sneak some sap too. Most notably, a White-breasted Nuthatch would try valiantly to get a little sap when it could before being chased off by an irate woodpecker.

After several days of intense sapping, the tree was taken over by honey bees. Then the bird visitors, including the "rightful owners", the Acorn Woodpeckers, dropped off dramatically, seemingly not wanting to tangle with the buzzing hordes.

Eventually the sap dried up, and the woodpeckers have not reopened the holes to any great extent, which is probably better for the health of the tree anyway.

Below are photos of the tree, the sap flows and the avian visitors (before the bees took over).

The sap tree with the most holes, in our landscape. A couple nearby trees had fewer holes. These small live oaks had regrown from ground level following the Cedar Fire in 2003.

An example of how vigorous the sap flows were around their peak.

An adult female Acorn Woodpecker eyeing a sap hole. Note her pale iris and black band on the forehead.

In the act. She is using her tail as a stabilizer here.

The young male woodpecker with his bill in a hole. He was a devoted sap-fan. He (or a close look-alike) also likes visiting the hummingbird feeder.

I sat out in the open on a small stool to take these photos and the birds were quite comfortable with my presence. 

On the day that I did the most photography, this little White-breasted Nuthatch was able to move in on a sap hole after the woodpeckers shown above departed.

Finally some sap! The woodpeckers had little tolerance for moochers like this little one.

The Squirrel Family's Progress

Several weeks have passed and now the California Ground Squirrel family has shrunk down to two (and on occasion, three). There have only been two pups (who are now quite mature in size and behavior) present of the original four-possibly-five.

The two pups spend much of their time near each other, foraging and lounging on the rocks together throughout the day.

The mother squirrel is only seen occasionally, and seems to be spending quite a bit of time away from the "home" burrow. But every few days we see her on the rocks or nearby on the property, and her reddish coloration and odd black linear marking make her easy to identify. A couple days ago she came to the rocks and her pups greeted her with nose sniffs.

The pups are wary, as always, but are willing to come out if I sit very quietly behind the camera on its tripod. On the 14th I was able to photograph them in the late afternoon.

The first four images here are of the "bolder" pup, coming down to the "photography area".

This was after the second pup joined the first one.

In late afternoon light...

A California Ground Squirrel Family Experiencing the "Trials of Life"

It's now June 15th and all has settled down, but a week ago or so there was high drama surrounding a mother California Ground Squirrel and her offspring who live among the boulders outside the house, in perfect view from the living room window.

Around June 1st, we first noticed some very young ground squirrels tentatively venturing from a hole at the base of some rocks to the south of the house. We could see them clearly from the upper storey, and I commented to Gary that it must be tough to live with the local snakes, which to them would seem like truly massive serpents. And then Gary said "Like that one?", and sure enough, there was a large Southern Pacific Rattlesnake gliding along, moving in the direction of the burrows. Within a couple minutes it had arrived and entered one of the burrows.

The mother squirrel, obvious from her enlarged nipples, vigorously tail-flagged (whipped her tail from side to side) to distract the snake, and possibly lure it towards her. Apparently California Ground Squirrels can direct warmth into the tail through shunting blood there, possibly to appear bigger, and I would postulate to attract a thermal-sensitive snake like a rattler. Research has shown that the squirrels do NOT direct warm blood to the tail when confronting a non-heat-sensitive snake species!

Eventually, but fairly soon, actually, after entering the burrow, the snake exited again. We assumed that it had not consumed any pups, as that is typically a fairly long process.

The mother squirrel was seen carrying some of her pups to the west, to another burrow, presumably. She carried it with the pup curled around her face, and completely immobile, unlike a dog or cat which would carry young by the scruff.

Mother squirrel with baby in characteristic curled posture.

The snake left the scene later and the family seemed to settle down.

This scenario played itself out for the next several days, with the snake visiting and the mother squirrel becoming highly agitated, tail-flagging and sometimes relocating her pups.

The "regular" Southern Pacific Rattlesnake leaving the squirrels' "favored" burrow.

The mother tail-flagging from atop a boulder.

One time we thought we might have seen five pups, but the fifth is uncertain. We did see four pups repeatedly, though, and that remained constant as the days passed. The snake never seemed to really get a meal from among the young squirrels. One day, TWO rattlesnakes showed up, each one disappearing down a burrow! The number of pups still remained at four (which is a small litter, as this species goes, and may reflect earlier losses that we did not observe). In between snake visitations, the squirrels were highly photogenic and often could be photographed from the living room through the big window. Sometimes the pups would allow photos to be taken of them as I hunkered down on the concrete walkway around the house outside. First, a variety of images of the mother on the boulders. Flies seemed ubiquitous. She has an odd, almost shaved look about her "mantle", with the fur on her shoulders being shorter than that further down her back, creating a black line where the black bases of the hairs are visible. She is also "redder" in coloration than many ground squirrels of this species are.

A rare quiet moment for grooming.

With a fly on her head.

Here are some of the pups on June 1:

Tentatively emerging from the burrow.

The "bold baby". Still at quite a tender age.

The bold one, relaxing in the sun.

On June 2nd, when the snake was not present, the pups were becoming more bold and photogenic.

Two pups would often emerge, with the third being quite shy, and the fourth extremely shy. 

The "lineup"

Over the next couple days I was unable to photograph the family, but did see the snake visit each day.

On June 5, I was able to do some more photography. There was a snake visit, and I managed to capture the mother just a few inches from the head of the rattler, which is emerging from her favored burrow between the two bigger rocks.

The plants are irises given to us by a neighbor over ten years ago. I divided them for the first time this year.

In the afternoon, after the snake had departed, the pups and their mother spent some relaxed time on the rocks. There is one pup who seems a bit bolder than the rest, and that pup interacts with its mother quite a bit. Flies were still very numerous.

The "bold baby", looking like a baby (kittens and puppies strike this sort of pose sometimes too!).

The bold one and his (or her) mother. Note the flies.

This mother seems amazingly patient and tolerant of difficult circumstances. Now, after two weeks with her pups out of the nest, she is less patient with the young ones, and often rebuffs them when they sniff at her face. Eventually the males will leave the area, although the females may stay near their mother.

The pups were out on the rocks quite a bit and easily photographed through the glass of the window.

Here is the mother with her nipples visible. The pups tentatively ate grass, but I suspect they may still have been nursing.

On June 6th, the babies were active in the morning and allowed me to photograph them from the sidewalk. The "bold baby" spent some time by him or herself on one of the bigger boulders and struck some awfully cute poses. The pups seem to yawn and stretch quite a bit.

They also scratch quite a bit - they are attractive to flies, and likely have fleas.

The bold baby also climbed one of the small oaks near the boulders.

Only a couple days after these photos were taken the family seemed to disappear, but then reappeared again by the mother's favored burrows. As of the 15th they are still active outside our living room window and we have not seen a snake in quite a few days!