Diario de joerich

We have had a very hot summer here in Lincoln, situated on the cusp between the Sacramento Valley and the Sierra Foothills. But we are now experiencing some unusual weather for this part of the country for August. Yesterday I believe the high was only 75 and today we awoke to a light rain. As I am writing this at 3 PM we are experiencing gentle thunder, which sounds very pleasant.

Thinking the rain this morning would causes some creatures to stir, I decided to take a walk through the fields east and west of the South Creek Trail between Twelve Bridges Drive and Wilson Park. I stayed in the grassy areas to see what I could see. Unfortunately, I saw very little. I flushed three grasshoppers and maybe a half dozen dragonflies. I saw a Black Phoebe as the only bird. And for the highlight of my venture I saw a snake, maybe six inches in length, which hurriedly slithered under a small rock. When I lifted the rock I found a hold about an inch in diameter - whether the snake knew the hole was there and fled back to the rock for protection, or whether it was just fortuitous I don't know. I did see some Turkey Mullein fried to a crisp. I flushed no sparrows nor Black-tailed Jackrabbits, no Ring-necked Pheasants, no Meadowlark or Doves. I saw no bees - maybe not surprising because of the rain and there were only a very few flowering plants. There were many Yellow-star Thistle and Bristly Oxtongue but these were burnt and had no flowers which I think would be productive for bees or butterflies to feed.

And as I walked I wondered if I was witnessing our 2 degrees C future.

I have lived in the Lincoln CA area for just a little over two and a half years. One of the things I noticed missing from the local environment was the Pipevine Swallowtail. These are beautiful black and purple swallowtail which, along with the Dutchman's Pipe vine are common up along the Sacramento River in the Red Bluff CA area in the summer. Doing a little research on the map function, I also saw they are observed along the American river just south of here in Folsom. We have some great riparian area here along the Auburn Ravine and, even closer to my home along Orchard Creek and South Creek. The question in my mind was why there was no California Dutchman's Pipe vines in the Lincoln area.

According to what I have been told and also read, the beaver population in this area was greatly reduced by Russian fur trappers prior to the gold rush. The few remaining were trapped out upon the arrival of the many miners and settlers coming in from the east. In addition, this area was modeled after English culture with sheep and goat herds feeding on the vegetation. The thinking is that the destruction of the riparian areas due to the removal of Beaver and the sheep grazing eliminated the Dutchman's Pipe vine.

I don't know if the beaver were reintroduced or if they arrived naturally but their presence on Orchard and South Creek is quite evident. They have done some amazing geoengineering. I have written about this in another journal entry.

I was able to get two Dutchman's Pipe vine starts and planted them along South Creek fairly close to my house so that I could tend them. One did not make it but the other is now starting to put on new leaves and looks like it is starting to thrive. It is planted adjacent to a willow tree and close to an old beaver pond on the creek. The soil appears damp about a foot below where the vine is planted. Since I have planted the vine I have been watering it twice weekly and , during this heat wave, every other day. I had noticed small bud leaves or stems forming on the plant but today the leaves have burst forth and the plant has taken on new vigor.

The California Dutchman's Pipe observation is here: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/228855446

Beavers are amazing. Like I described in my last entry on June 16, I learned that beavers can stay submerged for up to 15 minutes. I had thought that they primarily swam on the surface, but this may not be true as then I witnessed them either eating or cutting cattails while totally submerged underwater. I saw this again on my walk yesterday.

On Tuesday I placed two camera traps just below a dam on South Creek just above where it joins Orchard Creek. While crossing the dam I was amazed to see two fairly large rocks, maybe six inches in maximum dimension, on top of the dam. Doing a little more research I find that beavers use rocks in their construction and that they are able to maneuver these rocks fairly easily, especially under water.

So I learned two things about beavers in the last week. Here are links.

Pictures of the rocks: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/223868946

And a YouTube video of beavers moving rocks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BQsV9S3eZA
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Walking across the paved trail over Orchard Creek Walking along Oak Valley Drive I noticed some cattails being shaken. It wasn't the wind because it was just one single clump of cattails amongst the other cattails. I paused and watched for about 7 minutes. Every minute or so the cattails would shake and sometimes the water would ripple. Once there was a swirl in the water in the stream near the cattails and a large board shot to the surface in the stream - no idea what this was from but it must have been being carried by something underwater. At another time the water in the stream seemed to foam and there was a fair amount of ripples. Once I heard a small splash, like a fish, further in the cattails. I never saw anything on the surface. After doing a little research I learn that beaver can hold their breath for up to 15 minutes, so it is highly probable that this was a beaver.

I went back and took a couple of photos and added them to the observation. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/223092452

Walking down South Creek trail this morning I heard a cricket. I cannot recall when was the last time I have heard a cricket.

On my early morning walk this morning I came across a Marsh Wren nest in the cattail reeds along the trail just west of Oak Valley Drive. I tried to photograph it but it was a little far off the trail and I could not get a good shot through the reeds. There was a Wren about calling so the nest may be occupied and I do not want to disturb the Wrens, so I will return at a later date.

Yesterday I retrieved the two of my trail cameras yesterday on Orchard Creek. The one which was just west of the low water bridge on Twelve Bridges Dr. to Wilson Park trail had about three hundred plus photos, many of Beaver and Mallards and a few other critters. I posted some of the observations. And, as a bonus, as I was retrieving the camera I was fortunate and got some photos of a Mourning Cloak butterfly. I say I was lucky because it fluttered around much before landing and I was unable to get a photograph. It landed on some tall sedge where I could just barely get some photos, then it took off and was gone over the cattails.

I also got a California Bumble Bee on Harvest Brodiaea. I think this is the first pollinator I have seen on Harvest Brodiaeas. Where are the pollinators?

I failed to format a new micro SD drive in the other trail cam which was just west of Oak Valley Drive and got nothing.

I walked the field east of the South Creek trail which runs Twelve Bridges Drive to Wilson Park today. It appears that maybe the city will not have sheep grazed this field this year - I don't know if that is good or bad but the Round-Tooth Ookow will have a chance to seed. I looked for Yellow Mariposa Lilies today -they bloomed about two weeks ago - and I was able to find only two seed heads. I don't know what pollinates these, but it seems as if they were not very successful. There were also large patches of Bird's'-foot Trefoil on the field - however, I stood in these patches for many minutes and saw very very few pollinators. There were several Western Honey Bees but I saw only one small bumble bee and only one other bee which may be an Alfalfa Leafcutter Bee https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/217780552 and no hover flies. I would think that there would / should be many more and I am quite worried.

I now have three trail cameras out. One on the north bank of Orchard Creek just west of the low water bridge on South Creek Trail, on a small beaver dam pointing into a small opening in the reeds. A second on the south bank of Orchard Creek West of Oak Valley Drive. And I just put out a third today on the north end of the field east of South Creek Trail in some tall grass and reeds pointing at a small game trail I found. This one could be interesting because it is too small for raccoon but appears too large for voles.

I walked the field east of the South Creek trail which runs Twelve Bridges Drive to Wilson Park today. It appears that maybe the city will not have sheep grazed this field this year - I don't know if that is good or bad but the Round-Tooth Ookow will have a chance to seed. I looked for Yellow Mariposa Lilies today -they bloomed about two weeks ago - and I was able to find only two seed heads. I don't know what pollinates these, but it seems as if they were not very successful. There were also large patches of Bird's'-foot Trefoil on the field - however, I stood in these patches for many minutes and saw very very few pollinators. There were several Western Honey Bees but I saw only one small bumble bee and only one other bee which may be an Alfalfa Leafcutter Bee https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/217780552 and no hover flies. I would think that there would / should be many more and I am quite worried.

I have been thinking that I need to keep a better journal about my nature wanderings, both physical and mental.

I have come up to Coyote Pond almost everyday for a week now. I saw a rat scurry under a ledge about a month ago when walking on the middle trail, the one below the ridge top and I set a trail camera on it. The first time was just overnight and I got a photo of a upper portion of a rodent https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/214418884 but was not able to identify it. So I put it back for about four days and it took about 850 photos, of which only a few were of critters and the great majority was taken when the sun shine through the trees creating moving shadows in the wind. I have put it back out and will leave it longer this time. I have set the timer so that it only takes photos from after sunset to about noon, when there is no sun shining in the field of view.

I have also observed the many many California Buckeyes along the top of the ridge and along the bottom trail, the Enchanted Trail. On the first trip there were many Ichneumonid Wasps mostly on the California Buckeye https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/214268020,https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/214268022. However, when I went back on subsequent days I did not see any of these wasps, which I find strange.

I have seen three California Pipevine Swallowtails in the area, two of which I was able to photograph https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/215572651, https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/214672746. This makes me believe that there are California Dutchman's Pipevine in the area. I have searched both sides of Orchard Creek above Coyote Pond under the area of dense trees and have not found any. However, there are large parts where I cannot search due to the dense brambles in the understory. As an aside, I have planted a single Pipevine plant and it has started to put on leaves. More on this in another issue.

So, now to the Western Honey Bees (WHBs). There is a large area of California Buckeye in bloom (I will have to use the mapping function on my GPS to determine the actual area) and several areas of blackberry Brambles on which there are thousands of WHBs but I find very very few other pollinators such as Yellow-faced or California BBs. One area of brambles I have watched is an area at the upper end of the dense wooded area along Orchard Creek (this area https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/215317906). The bramble area is a triangular patch about 105 feet by 50 feet or roughly 300 square yards. I also estimate that there may be 5 WHBs per square meter, or 1500 WHBs (there seem to be more) but only maybe two BBs. But the other thing I notice is that a BB will land on a flower but only stay for a very brief period when I have seen them on isolated flowers away from the patch spend longer. I believe this is the threat that WHBs pose to our native bees.

While searching the understory for the Pipevine plant today I heard a soft Great Horned Owl call, then another. I estimated which tree it could be in and walked out from under the trees. I saw a shadow which I thought could be the owl, took some pictures, then started to take a circumferential route about the tree. Immediately the "shadow" moved behind some dense leaves, telling me it was the owl. I left it at that point and went back under the trees. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/215774451

And I saw a coyote. I saw one a week or so ago on my morning walk, but this one I was able to photograph. https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/215774447

And I got a flat tire on my bike and had to push it home. All in all, a good day.

Yesterday I surveyed the turtles on Coyote Pond, Lincoln, Placer County CA looking for Western Pond Turtles. Here is the count

Pond Slider (Trachemys scripta) 44
Western Pond Turtle (Actinemys marmorata) 2