A Lewis's Woodpecker at Stonewall Mine

There have been reports of this species from the past four to five months near Stonewall Mine in Cuyamaca Rancho State Park on eBird. Perhaps it is the same individual or individuals wintering here, or not. There's no way to tell for sure.

I decided that it would be nice to see one of these uncommon birds and get it on my year list, so I drove over to Stonewall Mine to try to find it. I saw one individual well, and a possible second bird near the first. The single bird that was easily observed was fly-catching from perches in one large pine, and at one point pecked in between the scales of two different Jeffrey Pine female cones. The literature reports low percentages of "seeds" in the diet of these birds, so I thought it would be interesting to show the imperfect images I captured of this behavior - taken from quite a distance away.

Here is an image of the pine, right in the middle of the frame:

Jeffrey Pine favored by Lewis's Woodpecker, late morning, Feb. 8, 2020

 Below are images of the bird pecking one pine cone, then flying to a second, and then perched over the second. The three most likely explanations for the behavior to me are either consumption of the pine seeds, or searching for/consumption of insects hiding in the cone. Consumption of sap seems much less likely as the literature indicates that sap is not a significant component of this species' diet.

Lewis's Woodpecker and pine cone.

Flying to second cone.

Perched over second cone.

These are beautiful birds and it's a treat to see them living their lives here in our local piny woods.

A Fall Day in the Cuyamacas

It was a HOT day today - a good 10 degrees warmer than it should be at this time of year.

The Baccharis sarothroides that we planted to anchor the slopes around the house bloom every year at this time, and are covered in nectar-lovers. Being an especially warm day, they were out in force.

Honey bees are the most numerous, but tarantula hawks of at least three species are visiting also. Pepsis thisbe seemed to be the most common visitor to the milkweed earlier in the season. But now Pepsis mildei, often in groups of females, and Pepsis chrysothemis with its bright red wings are showing up too.

A large female Pepsis mildei. This is the only species of Pepsis in our area with orange antennae (in both sexes). This one was at least 40 mm long - one of the larger individuals. We saw a tarantula wandering the landscape around dusk, so the Pepsis have everything they need right here!

SO much nectar (and so little time)!

Later in the afternoon, I paid a quick visit to Paso Picacho campground and vicinity in the state park (Cuyamaca Rancho State Park, to be precise).

Honey Bees were the most common visitors to some of the last "fresh" Ericameria parishii, near the beginning of the Stonewall Peak trail. I saw a Pepsis mildei female and what appeared to be Pepsis thisbe on the same bush also.

A dinner-plate-sized shelf fungus, seemingly growing out of the ground. There were dead, burned tree stumps in the area though (some with more of this fungus), so I suspect there was some wood under this big specimen. Stonewall Peak trail.

Snowberry is "berrying". Azalea Glen trail.

Signs of cooler times to come soon.

What IS this?? (Answer at the end of the post)

An ultra-pubescent plant along the Azalea Glen trail. To be determined.

The fuzzy-leaved plant, with sunlight seeping through...

The mystery "mountain range" is the edge of an acorn cup!