dalemeister's Favorites

Wow, I woke up this morning and saw a Ground Squirrel in our backyard for the first time ever. But he was in a garden bed "checking the digs out". He must have just been out exploring for new territory, or he could be living in our firewood pile too. We can share the garden with it for awhile, but if he starts digging tunnels and holes and burrows, then I will have to trap it, and release it somewhere else away from the houses.

Photo 1- Note the Desert Black Swallowtail larvae dropped by the Scrub-Jay, which is about to be eaten.
Photos 2 & 3- Eating the larvae, including banging it against the boulder.
Photo 4- Back with another larvae, tucked under its left foot.
Photo 5- Back a third time to the Turpentine Broom, which is the host plant of the Desert Black Swallowtail.
Photo 6- Gotcha!

Monster flight with 30-odd seen today with many at nectar. This particular canyon notch had lots of nectar plants and lots of loki. Coordinates 33.574444, -116.423333 on the Cactus Spring Trail 5E01 of the Santa Rosa Mtns. in Pinyon Pines, CA.

Every year for the past 15 or more years, a pair of Oak Titmouse (or is it Titmice for plural ??) have nested in this bird house in our backyard. Here are photos of the 2024 Spring adult Oak Titmouse parents entering (they were so darn fast - lots of bird butt photos) and exiting (sometimes with hatchling poop waste) from the bird house today. Maybe in a few days I will try to get a photo or two of the hatchlings ......... I tried unsuccessfully today - I didn't want to disturb them too much (second to last photo).
The last photo of two very young Oak Titmouse hatchlings in the same bird house is from April 18, 2008.

A pair of western bluebirds flying from tree to tree together. It always makes me happy to see them. Link to observation of bluebirds bathing: https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/190548925

Western Bluebird (Sialia mexicana) Native, migratory songbird in the Thrushes (Turdidae) family that is 18cm (7 inches) long. Adult male tail, upper parts and throat are deep blue. Breast sides and flanks are chestnut colored, and belly and undertail coverts are gray. Female is duller, brownish gray above, breast and flanks tinged with chestnut, throat is pale gray. Nests in holes in trees and also in nest boxes. Bluebirds are year round residents in local (Monterey County) oak woodlands. Several nesting boxes can be seen in Toro County Park (Monterey County, CA). Diet is mostly insects and berries. Often forages by perching fairly low and flying down to ground to capture insects, sometimes hovering briefly before pouncing. May catch insects in mid-air, or may seek them among foliage. Perches or flutters among branches to take berries.

Breeding: "The western bluebird nests in cavities or in nest boxes, competing with tree swallows, house sparrows, and European starlings for natural nesting locations. Because of the high level of competition, house sparrows often attack western bluebirds for their nests. The attacks are made both in groups or alone. Attacks by starlings can be reduced if the nesting box opening is kept to 1.5 in (38 mm) diameter to avoid takeover. Nest boxes come into effect when the species is limited and dying out due to the following predators: cats, raccoons, possums, and select birds of prey such as the Cooper's hawk. Ants, bees, earwigs, and wasps can crawl into the nesting boxes and damage the newborns. Western bluebirds are among the birds that nest in cavities, or holes in trees, or nest boxes. Their beaks are too weak and small to dig out their own holes, so they rely on woodpeckers to make their nest sites for them."

Ebird with species description, range map and sound recordings: https://ebird.org/species/wesblu/

The Cornell Lab (Birds in U.S. and Canada, includes Compare with Similiar Species) https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Western_Bluebird/

Xeno-canto Bird songs, sound recordings, and species range map: https://xeno-canto.org/species/Sialia-mexicana

Audubon Guide to North American Birds https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/western-bluebird

Monterey Birds, Don Roberson, 2nd ed. 2002, sponsored by Monterey Peninsula Audubon Society, p. 368.

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 7th ed., 2017, pp. 408-409.

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 2008, p. 310-311.

Merlin Bird ID (great app available for Iphones) by The Cornell Lab (Bird ID help for 8,500+ species) https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

Comprehensive Feather I.D. tools and more: https://foundfeathers.org/resources/

Found Feathers (Worldwide): https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/idtool.php