my local patch and wildlife - Ian McDonald

[ashley]

Fantastic to see cranes Ian  
Here too it's been a great year for puffballs & fungi generally. 
Teal arrive on the dammed river below our garden in early autumn but rather than seeing them I usually hear the lovely whistling call during my torchlight forays to the greenhouse after work.

Senior moment: wrote teal, meant wigeon

[Robert]

Hi Ian,

On another post you had a fine photograph of an Admiral butterfly. I was curious about their habits. In California male Lorquin's Admiral, Limenitis lorquini, can be observed patrolling willow patches. It is quite interesting watching them flying back and forth within a clear territory.

We also have the Mormon Metalmark, Apodemia mormo, the butterfly that will not sit still! I generally identify them by their habit, however If I am very patient I can get a good look at them. So far, I have never been able to photograph them. Maybe in cold weather?

[ian mcdonald]

Hello Robert, the red admiral we have is Vanessa atalanta. I think you also have this species. With us it is a migrant from southern europe and africa. It usually arrives in spring and summer in southern england. In our area it seems to arrive later, i.e. mid summer. It feeds on a variety of wild and garden flowers. Just now they are feeding on the late ivy flowers, flying when the weather is warm. The early arrivals breed and the larvae live in a rolled up leaf for protection. I have found them in my shed in winter, hibernating but I,m not sure how common this is. The books say they do not usually return to their winter grounds. This year has been a good summer for red admirals, with fairly large numbers being recorded locally.

[Robert]

Hi Ian,

Thank you for all the information. Yes, we do have Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta, however I generally do not see them. I do see Lorquin's Admiral somewhat frequently throughout the season, both in the Coastal Mountains as well as in the Sierra Nevada.

Butterflies are still in flight in the Sacramento Valley, but I have not seen any in flight in the Sierra Nevada for several weeks. The weather in the high country has turned cold. Last night the first widespread autumn rain and snow event came through our area. There was 9 mm of rain at the farm last night and snow in the mountains. I will be in El Dorado National Forest today. If I get a chance I will photograph the new snow on the Crystal Range.

[ian mcdonald]

Red admiral still in the garden on ivy.

[Robert]

Ian,

We are having a heat wave! Yesterday's high temperature was 84 F, 28.9 C. The record for the date is 86 F, 30 C. This morning (25 October) the low temperature was 54 F, 12.2 C. The record high low is 55 F, 12.8 C, almost a record! It will continue to be hot today and maybe tomorrow.

[ian mcdonald]

It was a warm day yesterday but not the temperatures reported by Robert. A dull start with not much wildlife showing at first apart from teal and black headed gulls on one of the pools. In the afternoon a breeze started and a couple of marsh harriers were seen quartering the area, hoping to flush prey. Pink footed geese were heard, then seen flying in. More fungi were seen on this visit, most of which were small. No deer were heard and it may be the end of the roaring season here. Several redwings and blackbirds were stripping a hawthorn bush of its berries in great haste. This is the first sighting of redwings this Autumn, for me. A cettis warbler was singing repeatedly from cover but as usual, it was not seen. I went to look at the area where the fire was earlier in the year. The Juncus has been replaced by Molinia, at least for the time being. A contradiction was a meadow pipit in a tree. Walking along a track I became aware of something coming towards me, flying very low. It was a sparrow hawk which veered off just before it reached me and perched low down in a tree. Unfortunately there were too many branches for a good photo. A water rail called from a deep ditch but I was unable to find it. There were several red admiral still flying and also dragonfly and darters. In a wet area I flushed three common snipe. Two cranes flew past in one area. As I was leaving a roe deer was seen near a track and ran a few yards then stood behind some heather watching me. Slime mould.

Small yellow fungi on peat, with gills.

Small red fungi on peat with gills.

Tiny fungi on peat with gills, less than 1/4"

[ian mcdonald]

Autumn colour of woody nightshade leaf.

Meadow pipit in a tree.

A view of the area which was burnt earlier in the year.

Another view of the burnt area with Molinia caerulea.

[ian mcdonald]

A black faced darter, Sympetrum danae, on fungi.

Another of the many pools on site.

A roe deer plays hide and seek.

Other species seen or heard were pink footed geese, teal, black headed gulls, wren, robin, blue tit, great tit, marsh harriers, reed buntings, mallards, blackbirds, sparrow hawk, water rail, moorhen, cettis warbler, great spotted woodpecker, pied wagtail, grey lag geese, crows, long tailed tits, redwings, common snipe, meadow pipit, pheasant, crane, wood pigeon, magpie, chaffinch roe deer and a small frog.

[Robert]

Ian,

In the high country of the Sierra Nevada, the warm weather has stimulated a late hatch of Midges. There were even a few Grasshoppers flying around. Generally, cold weather brings an end to insect activity, except for maybe Rockcrawlers (Grylloblattidae). The plants are dormant for the most part in the high country. The birds have not migrated to lower elevations, yet. I did see the following birds: Golden-crowned Sparrow, Mountain Chickadee, Common Raven, Clark's Nutcracker, Spotted Towhee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-crowned Sparrow, Steller's Jay.

Thank you for the report. Very interesting as usual. 

Still more warm weather today, however it will be a bit cooler. Maybe more rain and snow next week.

[ian mcdonald]

Robert, we are not far above sea level, although we are about 50 miles from the coast. It is unusual these days for us to experience any extremes of weather. Our wildlife does have seasons although January and February are our coldest months. Dragonflies can be seen ovi-positing until after the frosts have started. In my garden, small flies can be seen flying round the ivy at any time of the year if the weather is mild. I do not get biting midges in the garden and it is rare to see them on the "local patch" at all. Mosquitoes breed in the water tubs in the garden and I get bitten more often when I am sitting in the garden with a cup of tea. Perhaps the tea should be replaced?

[Robert]

Ian,

I liked the photograph of the Sympetrum Meadowhawk. They can be easy to photograph, at least for me. So far, I still do not have enough information to key our Sympetrum to species (this will change - just too busy to work on this right now). We have a number of different species in our part of California. Some are very colorful and great to watch. They all have different behaviors.

So what would you replace the tea with?  Smudge? 

[ian mcdonald]

A single malt

[Robert]

A single malt

It might not be strong enough in cold weather! 

but then the weather does not get that cold. 

[ian mcdonald]

Today was grey and misty and as my Mum would have said, the sun came out in time to set. The site is now looking as if it has closed down for the winter. Birch trees have turned yellow and the common cotton grass is brown. A roe deer was seen not far into the site, later two were seen in the same area. A marsh harrier was hunting over the heather and cotton grass. A small mixed flock of fieldfare and redwings were seen (winter visitors). While walking along a path I noticed a sparrow hawk, it flew right over where I was stood. A flock of grey lag geese were on a pool near a track. Another harrier was seen and may have been a female hen harrier but the light was poor. Two cranes flew by while I was talking to a bird watcher. A green woodpecker could be heard calling in the distance. Just before it got dark a short-eared owl was seen quartering an area. Birds seen today were, redshank, wren, fieldfare, marsh harrier, stonechat, kestrel, crow, greylag geese, blackbird, redwings, magpie, pink foot geese, linnets, mallard, lapwing, long tailed tit, blue tit, great tit, sparrow hawk, moorhen, goldcrest, chaffinch, robin, cranes, water rail, meadow pipit, green woodpecker, short-eared owl and lesser black back gulls.