Radiation from Japan has reached California in low levels. Can there be a more important time to watch the natural world around us and observe changes to our "canaries in the coalmine" – wild birds and amphibians?
Get to know you wild neighbors and they will help us all to really understand the environmental ramifications for ourselves.
This morning the Allen's hummingbirds are tending to spring. A Spot took a quick bath in the fountain. BIF is drinking at his feeder while his father FIK is moving in on his son's territory and dominating the courtship field with the females. (Hummingbird Territories and hummingbirds and climate change)
The Bewick's wrens are building a new nest in the lariat house. The House and Last Year's Nest.
The rain that has been forecast has yet to arrive. Will it be the life-giving resource that the blooming plants are hungry for or will it bring an unseen radiation taint?
Two weeks from now will the hummingbirds be nesting or will life be greatly altered?
Can you image killing a leopard for its ear? Of course not. Cutting the fin off a shark and throwing the fish back into the sea to die is basically the same thing. You have a piece of cartilage and the shark forfeits its life.
Shark fin soup is a delicacy in Asia and Asian communities here in California. Making soup from the fin probably goes back to people using all parts of an animal that was caught because the resource was valuable. I had shark fin soup years ago at a wedding reception for a Chinese friend of the family. Unfortunately, the growing number of people wanting to consume this unique dish has seriously impacted shark populations because the fins are cut off of the sharks and the rest of the animal is tossed back into the sea.
This conservation problem has an easy solution. People can make the choice not to eat shark fin soup.
The Monterey Bay Aquarium is supporting the California Bill (AB 376) to make it illegal to import shark fin. You can send a quick note to your state congressman to express your opinion on the matter through the Aquarium's Take Action page.
You also can make the choice to try an alternative recipe, Faux Shark Fin Soup created by chef Peter Pahk.
When we can't moderate our actions, we have to legislate them. Let's give sharks break for a while.
Water is a vital element to a habitat. The fountain that we added this winter has attracted a variety of birds including this adult Cooper's hawk. It stood in the bubbling water for 10 minutes. Later the same day, an immature Cooper's hawk took a turn standing in the exact same location.
Did it observe the older hawk or was there some communication between the two birds about the interesting new water source?
I’m still entering all of the data for species in Zone 1 for my Backyard Biodiversity Project. But there is an unexpected resident in this small Zone of stairs, cement and a narrow planter. Zone Map
This is an arrow-headed flatworm (Bipalium kewensis) a species of planarian. These are the kind of creatures that you may have experimented with in biology class dividing their bodies in a variety of ways to see that they can regenerate themselves if they have some part of a head.
The arrow-headed flatworm is an exotic species thought to be an Indo-Malayan import that came to the U.S. via Europe.
How did this creature come to be in my planter? How long have its ancestors frequented my neighborhood?
I found it under a brick in the planter. Interestingly, when I looked at the photos I realized that it appears to have some nasty gashes along its sides. And actually it seemed to be regenerating most of its head. How did it come to have these injuries? Did it encounter some kind of a predator? And what was that predator? Was it the resident of the cave?
It amazes me the stories you can discover when you look under a rock.
Again this year Southern California experienced abnormally warm weather in December - January. The Allen’s hummingbirds in our yard set about breeding.
The female who has staked out her territory in the driveway, DR, built a beautiful nest in a native Catalina cherry shrub. DR's territory. Last year, DR had the earliest successful chick reported to NestWatch in North America. But the consequence of the early nesting was that only one chick survived when winter weather returned.
This year, DR once again responded to early days of warm weather and began nesting. Just a few days after laying her two eggs strong winter winds came up and lasted for several days. She rode out the first day keeping her eggs safe in the nest, but on the second day she must have gone off to get some food and wind tossed one of the precious eggs out and onto the pavement.
The remains of the tiny hummingbird egg were smashed on the driveway.
The next day she was on the nest, but the weather turned and became not only windy but cold. DR abandoned the single egg. After several days it was clear, she had decided to cut her losses and build a new nest in a more protected location.
Unusually warm winter weather patterns convince the female Allen’s hummingbirds that spring has arrived. They begin nesting and for the second year, those early nests are unsuccessful. For the tiny hummingbirds it means reproductive opportunity wasted.
I was out bird watching this morning in the heart of Los Angeles. The rain was fairly steady, not pouring, but soaking. The humans were few but the birds were many.
Birds enjoy a gentle rain and actually so do I.
Why would seven adults tromp through puddles to count birds?
I can give you several reasons:
- There is always the thrill of the unexpected, like the great blue heron we spotted flying low through the mist,
- The opportunity for discovery, we watched a pair of red-shouldered hawks putting the finishing touches on a new nest,
- Moments of peace and beauty like the female Allen's hummingbird taking a bath in the rain and the elegant nest she has built edged in bright green moss,
- There is always something new to learn, today I learned how to identify a male acorn woodpecker from a female,
- There are smiles and laughter, and real human friendship
- And the 35 bird species we counted will be reported to Cornell University through ebird.org so scientists can track changes in bird populations
Friday Feb. 18 - Monday Feb. 21 is the Great Backyard Bird Count an opportunity for you too to go out and count birds for science. You can count in your yard, walking to school, in a park or a parking lot. For four days people across North America will be taking a snapshot of the birds across the continent. Everyone is invited to participate. Click the button to go to the Great Backyard Bird Count website for more information and to enter your data.
Me, I'll be counting again on Saturday Feb. 19 at the Los Angeles Zoo. Zoo members are invited to join in on a bird walk before the Zoo opens. We will meet at the glass doors north of the main entrance between 7:45 and 8 AM. To make reservations please phone 323/622-8114 or e-mail docents@lazoo.org (including “Bird Walk” in the subject line) with the following information: your name, membership number, members in your party, age of attending children, and your phone number.
Zone 1 always surprises me. Zone Map
If I asked you what wildlife I might find in this small area of the yard, you might say a few ants and a spider or two. In the past this strip of cement walkway, stairs and a narrow planter has revealed numerous species of spiders. Zone 1 in summer 2007.
So far this February the variety of species has been down, probably due to the season. But the winter-blooming berginia is looking lovely, see blooms.
This short retaining wall at the edge of the walkway has an intriguing little cave. At the left side, where there is a triangular opening, a pile of debris is stacking up. Are these the remains of someone’s meals?
It is an interesting collection that the cave’s resident has pushed out its door. There are empty brown garden snail shells; some fragmented by strong jaws. Could the owner of the lair be a southern alligator lizard? A foot-long individual was seen in this area last summer.
But there are also holly-leaf cherry pits that have been gnawed open and the seed inside eaten. Is some kind of native mouse living in this dark dwelling?
Some animal is living in this tiny cave and if you are snail, you might just consider it a dragon.
While much of the rest of the country is white with snow, Californians can still delight in a variety of winter-blooming flowers.
In Zone 1, along the walkway and protected by the front steps, winter-blooming bergenia (Bergenia crassifolia) sends up flower stalks in January. This isn't a native plant. However this small patch was planted here when we moved into the house years ago. A native of the Himalayas, they thrive in poor soil and tolerate drought in a shady location. Under the steps seems the perfect location for them, and occasionally, native slender salamanders can be found in the leaf litter that builds up beneath the plants.
Zone Map
Before I can gather new biodiversity data, I have to format my data collection and tabulation. That means creating a species data base, determining the data to be collected and finalizing the areas where data will be collected. I've already updated my Zone Map.
But this time around I've decided to map out the territories of my resident hummingbirds. I plan to update these territory maps monthly. As we start off this January, one of the males, FIK, has expanded his territory. I have a special connection to FIK a male Allen's hummingbird. He was hatched in 2008 in the same plum tree that is the center of his territory. When he was a chick, a predator attacked the nest. His sibling did not survive, but FIK fell 20 ft. to semi-safety in the foliage below the tree. My dog, Inali, found him and with a little bit of ingenuity, she and I saved this tiny fellow. The whole story.
In 2009, FIK bred with a number of females and we had over a dozen chicks. Only one of the females in the yard, DR, has been here as long as FIK.
Last year FIK was the dominant male and he spent so much energy breeding, by the end of summer 2010, he was spent. His son, BIF (blue), almost pushed him out of his territory.
Now with the warm weather, the male Allen's hummingbirds are beginning to perform their breeding displays for the females. FIK is back up to fighting strength and he has reclaimed his former territory. His territory (green) is once again the largest. At the front of the house, he has the greatest visibility to visiting females.
DR is the oldest female and she has the largest territory of the girls (red), however, she does not have the prime territory. There is no feeder in her territory. However, she does have nectar-bearing and insect-attracting plants, and two native Catalina cherry trees where she has nested successfully for two years. 2010 nest.
A daughter of the long dominant "A" family of females, A-Spot, holds the prime female location with a feeder (orange). A young female, F, who's first attempts at nesting failed last year, maintains a small territory (yellow).
With three adult male Allen's hummingbirds, all in their prime, we could be in for territory challenges. Canyon (purple) also a chick from 2009 and probably a son of FIK, maintains a small territory at the back of the yard. And there is a newcomer, an immature Anna's male that has established his territory at the back of the yard (lime) next to Canyon.
More males, most likely will mean fewer females will nest here. But there is a large area of hillside territory with nesting locations that is unclaimed. Will a new female move in? It should be a fascinating spring.
The first step in documenting the biodiversity in our backyard ecosystem is dividing the landscape into Zones.
I have mapped the yards (front and back) into 18 Zones with an additional Garage Zone and House Zone.
These Zones are determined using physical separations (walls, fences, concrete walkways, gravel paths) and by clumping the natural microhabitats. For example, Zone 1 includes a planter against the house and a concrete walkway with stairs. This area is heavily used by people going in and out of the house. This activity has an effect on the plants and animals willing to live there. I have examined Zone 1 in detail before. Zone 1, 2007
Zone 2 has changed dramatically since I first documented the species living there in 2001, 2004 and 2007. This Zone is a raised planter in front of the house stretching from the sidewalk to the walkway and extending to the western corner of the house. It is landscaped and receives moderate sun in the summer. It was my observation of alien plants attracting alien pest species and creating a dead zone for native animal species that first inspired me to remove the African daisies in this planter and replace them with native plants. It will be interesting to see how the biodiversity in this area compares with ten years ago. Zone 2, 2007
Zone 17 is the lower end of the driveway at the side of the house and a small planter that typically only receives rain water. But this area has offered surprises in the past. Zone 17, 2007
Creating Zones provides manageable areas of observation and also allows comparison between areas that are similar or dissimilar in terrain, physical attributes and water availability. Off to a good start.
A pair of oak titmouses are checking out the bird houses for a spring nesting site. I've been trying for 5 years to get them to nest in our yard so this year I'm cleaning out the bird houses early. Last year a number of bird species nested unusually early in the yard because of changing climate patterns. (Climate Change in California).
The Bewick's wrens love this rope bird house, but they won't reuse it if I don't clean it out. They fill it to the brim with nesting material to make it cozy. Unfortunately, they won't come back unless all of the previous year's debris is removed.
Cleaning out the titmouse bird house I discovered a western bumble bee nest.
If the changing climate alters when the birds begin looking for nest sites, I have to alter when I prepare the bird houses.
Cavity nesting birds like the titmouses and wrens can have a difficult time finding appropriate nesting sites in cities. Providing suitable housing opportunities for them helps to maintain their populations. Many cavity nesters are insect predators, eating many of the bugs we consider to be pests. Offering them an appropriate bird house invites them to be your neighbors and gives you the opportunity to watch them raise their families.
Around the world biologists are gathering information on animal and plant biodiversity in wild places, but I can’t help but wonder how much we are missing in our own backyards. We raise money to save distant rain forests and try to change the daily lives of people in far away lands but what actions do we take to positively impact the ecosystems where we live?
I’ve seen amazing transformations in small areas of my yard by removing introduced exotic plants and restoring native plants to the landscape. Native Plants. The Mexican mountain marigold (pictured) provides food for pollen-eating insects even in the winter. I keep trying small gestures to provide more opportunities for native species. Bee Box.
Just in the last two months we’ve seen an amazing biodiversity in spider species without really trying: red jumping spider, trapdoor spider, green lynx spider. In the past I’ve found small areas around the house are home to numerous spider species. Here Be Spiders.
This afternoon I checked on the green lynx spider egg casing. It has survived the December rains, but for the past week the mother protecting the egg sac has been gone. Did she perish in the cold weather? Temperatures have been in the mid-30s to 40s at night. This spider species only lives about a year and adults typically do not survive winter weather.
According to several university websites, females lay their eggs in an egg sac in autumn. We saw this egg sac in the second week of November. The female guards the eggs for 2 weeks until they hatch. The mother opens the tough webbing of the egg sac to release the spiderlings and she provides protection and sometimes food for the next 2-3 weeks. See University of CA, Irvine photos. When the young spiders disperse, her job is done. The youngsters will overwinter, but their mother will die.
Last year we had an unusually warm December and early January. We discovered our first green lynx spider in the yard with her egg sac on the scented geraniums in the vegetable garden. By February, drenching winter rains destroyed the egg sac.
This year it has been almost 2 months since I first discovered the green lynx spider and her egg sac, but again the spiderlings have not hatched. I don’t know if the female realized the eggs were not going to hatch and abandoned them or if she died. Typically, a female will guard her egg sacs until she perishes from starvation. Last week the female was looking very thin.
What happened to these eggs? I decided to open up the egg sac and see whether or not the eggs were viable. Looking through my microscope I could see that about a third of the eggs seemed infertile, they were dark and showed no development. Another third or more appeared plump and ranging from an orangy-yellow to pale white. A few appeared to have been forming into spiderlings, the shape of the carapace was somewhat apparent. But these embryos on their way to becoming spiderlings, seemed slightly dried-up.
Considering we had nearly a week of rain in mid-December, this seems odd. But something with the weather was not right for these eggs to develop. For a second year in a row beautiful green lynx spiders have failed to reproduce in the garden.
Are there more green lynx spiders in the yard and I’ve just missed them? Are their other spiders failing to reproduce? This leads me back to the Backyard Biodiversity Project.
Are there creatures to waiting to be discovered right here in a backyard in Los Angeles, California? I think so. I plan to take a scientific look at the creatures and plants living in our small yard in one of the largest cities in the world. I’ve started the Backyard Biodiversity Project before only to be interrupted by acceptance to graduate school. Now I’m plunging into the year with the intention of spending the next 12 months on this project.
What’s in your backyard?
I love spiders. They are fascinating in behavior. Their webs are works of art. Females are devoted mothers, risking their lives for their offspring (Green lynx spider, trapdoor spider). Yet I have to admit this large jumping spider startled both my husband and me.
Jumping spiders in California are typically the size a pencil eraser. They prowl the rosebush like ocelots stalking prey in the forest. With the best eyesight among spiders, most books say they can see up to two feet away from themselves, in vivid color. And when they call them jumping spiders, they are referring to their ability to jump about six inches, leaping rapidly to grab any insect prey before it can escape.
Once it realized I wasn't a threat it continued its journey up the side of the house. I don't know where it was going. They supposedly build their burrows at ground level. This large female was headed toward the peak of our second story roof. Fast moving and on the prowl, she was climbing toward a golden polistes (Polistes fuscatus aurifer) wasp nest at the roof line. I don't think I would have wanted to be a wasp facing off with this voracious spider. But that is what natural balance is all about and the more we create a chemical-free habitat with native plants, the more biodiversity we are seeing in our backyard wildlife sanctuary.
I've been wanting to do this for over a year, build a nesting box for native bees and other insects. My friend Doug Welch from A Gardener's Notebook had sent me various plans and ideas. I had a wooden wine box with a sliding lid and it seemed perfect.
Finding the western bumble bee nest in one of my bird houses finally prompted me to just do it.
I drilled holes of 3/8", 1/2" and 5/8" in the lid. Different bee species prefer different size holes. Then I filled the box with hay and dog hair. These were the kinds of fibers in the bird house that the bumble bees had liked.
I mounted two hooks on the back of the box so I could hang it on the fence at the side of the garden.
In this location we can see any activity at the nest box, it is near the vegetable garden, but it is out of the way enough that people won't be crossing any bee traffic. We probably won't see any action until spring, but we finally have our bee nest box up.
When I went to clean out one of the bird nest boxes, I was surprised to find that a western bumble bee (Bombus occidentalis) had made its nest inside. Typically this kind of bumble bee makes its nest in the ground. But here was the clump of waxy cup-shaped cells described in the books nestled in the dog hair and sticks that the Bewick's wrens had been using to build their nest. (This could explain why the wrens decided to move out and rebuild their nest in the pot next to the back door.)
Alarmingly, all of the bumble bees, adults and juveniles, still developing in their wax cells, were dead. What killed them? Was is the cold weather snap we had in October/November? There was a garden spider in among the corpses. Had this small spider preyed on the bumble bee nest? I can't imagine that it could have gotten to the juveniles in their waxy cells. Was there some kind of mite or fungus that caused the death of all ages? I don't know.
During the winter the queen bumble bee hibernates in a protected location all alone. She will emerge in the spring to start a new colony and then usually die. I hope that there was at least one survivor from this western bumble bee nest. (More on bumble bees: xerces.org) Our native bees are vital pollinators and typically are not susceptible to the same diseases and environmental conditions that threaten European honey bees. Most are not aggressive and are not a threat to people.
We have noticed carpenter bees nesting in the yard before but this is the first time for bumble bees. I've wanted to create a native bee nesting site for some time. It seems now is the time to finally take on that project.
Last December I did 31 days of Green Holiday Actions. One of my favorites is our live holiday tree. This is our 5th year with our live spruce tree. (2nd Year photo)
Is she a little wild looking? Yes. And we love her all the more for it.
Has she grown over the five years? Yes, and this is probably the last year we will be able to bring her in. But when you consider we have invited her in for five years, she was a great investment financially and environmentally. She is a carbon sink, storing carbon in her wood as she grows. How to bring in a live tree.
If you are thinking about a live Christmas or Holiday tree, take the plunge. The Earth will thank you.
Ladybugs are insects that even a toddler can identify. Their red and black markings are distinct and their rounded shape appears nonthreatening. As predators of aphids and other garden leaf-eaters, ladybugs have one of the most positive insect profiles. Everyone loves ladybugs.
But across the country native ladybug populations are declining. What is happening to these important and beloved insects? Citizen scientists can play an important role in helping scientists sleuth out this environmental problem.
Go looking for ladybugs or just keep your eyes open and aware during your daily activities. When you see a ladybug, take its picture and report it to the Lost Ladybug Project
I spotted this ladybug on a lavender plant on December 9th. Ladybugs hibernate over the winter as adults and typically they group together in a protected location. One year we cut down a live Christmas tree and brought it into the house only to find that there were about 100 ladybugs hibernating in a clump at the center of the tree. The ladybug I took a photo of was out in the warm winter weather. (Climate Change in California) If it gets caught without a protected place to stay when the temperature turns cooler, as it is expected to do this weekend, will it survive the colder temperatures?
Scientists need your eyes to help solve this mystery of Missing Ladybugs.
Other Citizen Science Projects.
I know most people think of Southern California as having year-round warm weather. And while it is true that we don't have snow in the lower elevations, we do actually experience cooler winter temperatures with a winter rainy season.
Over the past few years I have been noting the signs of autumn: leafing out of the wild currants, ripening of the toyon berries. The winter hibernation of the western fence lizards and desert tortoises mark the seasonal change as well. While the tortoises are fast asleep, this morning I saw a young fence lizard out warming itself in the sun.
I've also been recording signs of spring: hummingbird nesting, blooming of the manroot and more.
Last year the Allen's hummingbirds in our yard started to seriously nest in January. The earliest date we have recorded. A lone chick survived from these early nests because winter storms did arrive in early February. Winds tossed youngsters out of nests and sudden cold temperatures overwhelmed young chicks. The one Allen's hummingbird chick was the earliest recorded wild bird hatchling in North America in 2010.
This year we had some early autumn rains, cold weather and then December has had some record warm days. Last year we recorded the manroot blooming the first week in January. On Sunday, December 12th I took these photos of the manroot not only emerging from the ground, but getting ready to bloom. Will this plant survive to fruit in summer if it emerges so early from the ground?
The male hummingbirds are performing breeding displays. Will we see nesting even earlier this year? If so, will the chicks survive when winter temperatures return?
