Quiet Owls

Well, I’m way behind and trying to catch up…

I wanted to visit Monte Bello to see if we could refind the Long-eared Owl that we had heard on a night hike last year. It was earlier in the year (2/5 versus 3/10/12), but time, unlike the owls, had flown by. Six of us were able to go.

The evening was foggy. We walked the usual route and had dinner at the “gravel pit”, starting out at 6:00.

There were a few mushrooms, coral fungi, popcorn flower, a tick, 9+ deer, Band-tailed Pigeon and Wild Turkey. The sag pond at the nature trail intersection barely had any water; the area around it was soggy.

Near the gravel pit, three newts rambled into three separate holes in a row in the side of some raised dirt near the trail. We saw around ten newts altogether.

We heard distant Northern Pygmy Owl, and some Western Screech-owl calls, but no other owls.

Surprisingly, we saw a bat. Not surprisingly, the fluorescent millipedes (probably Xystocheir dissecta in the order Polydesmida), were out. Other finds were turret spiders, harvestmen, some small beetles, tiger beetle larvae (Omus), California Slender Salamander, Arboreal Salamander, and distant treefrogs called. We found some different fluorescent lichens.

The highlight, for me, was when we reached the old walnut grove. A Western Banded Glowworm (Zarhipis integripennis) larva or larviform female, was in the middle of the trail! Unfortunately, it wasn’t glowing.

Western Banded Glowworm (Zarhipis integripennis)

This was the first one of this family that I’ve seen on MROSD preserves. Here is a paper on their natural history. Page 244 says actively hunting larvae don’t glow. In the excitement of the moment, we (I) forgot to look for compound eyes or genitalia, which would distinguish the female from a larva.

We got back at 10:00.

Night on Froggy Mountain, Skyline Ridge

2/24/12, Friday, was warmer than on our scouting hike. The temperature ranged from about 63F down to 55F. The sky was clear, but got partial clouds later. Out of 31 people who made reservations or were on the waitlist, 13 canceled, 11-16 expected, only 4 showed up, including a friend of one of the two docents (JW and LE) who joined us.

We started off at 4:40. We stopped at the northwest corner footbridge of Alpine Pond, and found a pair of newts in amplexus. Rounding the corner, we stopped to check the view, and found a male Bufflehead, Ring-necked Duck, and a female Hooded Merganser sharing a resting spot. Red-winged Blackbirds were singing, and one treefrog called briefly.

At 5:00 we came out into the open on Ipiwa Trail. A coyote, presumably the same one that we’d seen on the 18th, patrolled the ridge, and a few deer were downhill. We examined the various animal scats along the way. It was clear enough to see the ocean as we approached the overlook. We turned left to have dinner at 5:20 along the wide trail above, deciding not to disturb the curious deer ahead of us by making another left. Three heads peered over the rise of the trail, and a few browsed to the north.

Sunset over Ipiwa

Close to 6:00, around sunset, we proceeded back down to the overlook and around the chaparral. Silk Tassels were showing tassels, manzanita had blossoms, and buckbrush was in bloom and fragrant. We stopped to have a sniff of a Holly-leafed Cherry (Prunus ilicifolia) leaf, which smells like almond. According to the USDA, native peoples did use parts of this tree as food and medicine, prepared properly. Parts are toxic, and the leaves contain hydrocyanic acid (explaining the smell). A question came up about other organisms with cyanide, and I mentioned the millipedes we often see. We also had a discussion about  using wild plants (in places where it is legal to collect/pick) for food, and the possible dangers of doing so.

We heard a Great-horned Owl briefly; as we waited unsuccessfully for more calls, a pair of Wrentits in the shrubs near us had a long twittering conversation.

At 6:15 we reached the Sunny Jim intersection, and at 6:40 we stopped before turning right to go to Horseshoe Lake. Venus, Jupiter and the crescent moon were up. A bat or two flew by. [edit: There was also a brush rabbit who, in typical rabbit style, remained mostly motionless even though out in the open with eyeshine reflecting off my red flashlight. ] We could hear the treefrogs calling, and we played calls of Sierran Treefrog and California Red-legged Frog for the participants. Someone asked about bullfrogs, and we explained that they aren’t native here in California, and eat the native frogs and other animals.

This time we walked along the shoreline trail, but in one spot that was accessible, I didn’t see any newts or frogs. We went back to the bridge, and while some were star watching, I checked the area below the bench. There were a couple of newts in the water, but I couldn’t find any treefrogs visually, despite a few of them calling from nearby. The bulk of them seemed to be calling from the other sides of the lake, and many more called than on Saturday. It was far short of being deafening though. KG spotted a large owl flying by high overhead.

It took from 7:20 to 7:40 to get back to the big intersection, then to 7:55 to the overlook. We found newts still in land phase, around four from here back into the woods. One, near the overlook, was right next to a very cold banana slug. It had gotten windy, and we didn’t hear any more owls.

We looked for the small dirt turret with two beetle larvae holes, and found those along with some nearby small, fluorescent honey mushrooms. There were around seven Polydesmid millipedes (probably Xystocheir dissecta taibona, common in Santa Clara County according to Rowland Shelley). The first one was in the area that we had stopped at, and I picked it up to show. This one felt threatened for some reason, as it released defensive secretions, a brown goo. Someone remarked that it had pooped, so being me (and knowing that some millipede poop looks like pellets), I smelled it to see if it had the odor of almonds. It did, so everyone had a sniff. It was a nice connection to the Holly-leafed Cherry. These millipedes don’t have eyes, and they produce hydrogen cyanide.

Back at the Alpine Pond crossroads at 8:45, we went around the east side this time, stopping at the deck to try for bats over the water, without luck. Some frogs called.

We arrived back at the lot a bit before 9:00.

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See  Secret Weapons: Defenses of Insects, Spiders, Scorpions, and Other Many-Legged Creatures , page 43, by Eisner for more on millipedes and cyanide.

Skyline Ridge OSP, Alpine Pond to Horseshoe Lake

Despite the temperatures reported by a couple of websites, it was chillier in the Russian Ridge parking lot. KG and I scouted a new route for our frog hike. We talked to the ranger for a while, then crossed over to Skyline Ridge at 5:00.

We noticed that much of the cattails seem to have been removed along the east side, leaving a clear view of Alpine Pond. A Wrentit called softly from the top of some remaining cattails. We continued up the hill to Ipiwa Trail. We dawdled a bit by finding spider turrets and tiger beetle larvae burrows. One spider turret was decorated with lichen–not just stuck on the sides, but Usnea along the rim of the turret, clearly purposely arranged.

Six deer

As we came into the open grassland at 5:30, we heard a Great Horned Owl, and six deer grazed uphill. We weren’t perceived to be a threat, and one deer came down to graze on the trail in front of us. When the breeze was just right, I could hear her chewing. As I listened with my ear cupped, I couldn’t hear anything so I looked up to find the deer alert with ears forward, looking uphill. At the top of the ridge, a coyote intently watched something unseen. It made its way downhill through the oats, finally making its way to the curve of the trail. The deer had moved uphill by then. The coyote looked over its shoulder three times at us while continuing up the trail.

Some scratching caught our attention; the outline of a Spotted Towhee’s kicking revealed duff flying in the air behind it. Two California Towhees joined it nearby.
When we reached the intersection near the overlook, an unexpected newt crossed the trail, heading downhill. Even more surprising was a banana slug in the middle of the trail, and another on the side. A few more steps past the overlook, and another newt had already crossed the trail, also heading downhill. Both newts’ eyes popped out from the outline of the head when viewed from above, and they had bumpy skin, probably making them California  Newts.

At 6:15, we reached the big intersection with Sunny Jim Trail. As we approached, a few deer pronked away down into the woods. We wondered if they were the same ones we saw earlier. We turned right down the hill to the lake. It was past sunset by 25 minutes. One or two treefrogs gave land calls as we hiked down.

Arriving at the bridge at 6:40, we decided to sit and eat. My small thermometer said ~40F. I hadn’t put my light gloves on for a while, so my hands were cold. A Northern Saw-whet Owl tooted distantly as we ate. Only one or two Sierran Treefrogs called from the water.

Half an hour later, we started off to check the water level at the footbridge. It seemed more open here as well. I checked the water at a few places along the trail, but didn’t see anything in it. In one spot by one of the benches, a bat flew over the water in the beam of my flashlight. We found a few fluorescent millipedes under UV. The footbridge now has railings, something added since the last time I was there. There was no water below, so we turned around.

As we hiked uphill the way we’d come, a coot grunted, a few more frogs called, and a Barn Owl shrieked. It was far enough away that we couldn’t hear the entire range of the call; it sounded more like one note. Out in the open, Jupiter and Venus were bright in the western sky, and Mars in the east. There was no moon, but the ambient light made it possible to walk without flashlight much of the time. However, we didn’t want to step on anybody crossing the trail, so we had our lights on most of the time.

As we headed toward the chaparral, Great Horned Owls called from the canyon. When we rounded the corner, we heard more, as well as another Saw-whet. A Western Screech-owl joined the chorus. I wanted to record that, but my batteries weren’t cooperating and by the time I got things working, they had stopped. There was a lot of air traffic.

Entering the woods again, a couple of wailing calls came from the trees. It sounded like another Saw-whet, but I wouldn’t have expected one there. It wasn’t that far from where we’d heard the toots in the chaparral though. Here are some toots and wails from an owl at Gazos Creek.

I refound the spot where we’d seen some turrets, including one small undecorated one. A spider perched at the entrance, and two tiger beetle larvae waited at the mouth of their burrows for prey to stumble by. A few more millipedes showed up.

It was pretty quiet at Alpine Pond also; only a couple of treefrogs made themselves known. We didn’t have time to check out the water in other parts of the pond.

When we got back to the car, I noticed the back window was frosted. The paint felt icy, and when I looked at the top of the car, it had a pretty good layer. I had to scrape the front and back windows. When I got home, I checked the Alpine Road Weather Underground station, which said 36F. Some other La Honda temperatures said 46F, but given the icy car, at least some areas were that cold. Perhaps that’s partially why the frogs were relatively quiet.

More photos are here.

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Last year’s frog hike at Picchetti Ranch was cold also. You can read about that here.

Monte Bello OSP

On 5/27/11, Friday, JH, KG and I scouted for our June night hike. I’ve done this hike in the beginning of June for several years now, hoping to find glowworms. It’s hit and miss, but we can always hope. My record for seeing glowworms in the Santa Cruz Mountains:

6/25/03 no moon at LR, one glowworm
6/28/03 crescent moon MB, EH and BN saw glowworms
6/17/05 76% moon at MB, 46-55F, (SCNT intersection)
6/5/09 96% moon at MB, 56-65F, glowworms galore
6/4/10 no moon at MB, 66-75F, no glowworms

It has been cold and often overcast or foggy on our recent night hikes, and Friday was no exception. It seemed, to me, slightly warmer than the other hikes, but still left me wishing I had grabbed my gloves.

We left the trailhead at 6:30. A new flower (but non-native) found along the beginning of the trail was crimson clover. At the sag pond, there was an insect that looked at first glance like a snakefly, but was actually a San Francisco Lacewing.

We got to where we decided to have dinner (“gravel pit”) at 8:00. Sunset was around 8:19. Clarkias and jewelflower were in bloom there. We were there for half an hour, then made the short trek to the Indian Creek intersection. It was just light enough there to be able to see the blue of some larkspur.

It wasn’t dark enough so we went up the hill. We didn’t go quite as far as where we had dinner the first time we went up there. A couple of bats flew around, and an unidentified owl (about Barn Owl size but not light, no visible “ears”) flew around in large circles 2-3 times. The last time, it flew up the trail toward us, then turned sharply away, over the canyon. We saw no glowworms, and didn’t hear poorwill. We did hear some Barn Owl screeches.

From about .3 miles past that intersection, we turned back at 9:00. If we go that far, we need to start back earlier, at least 15 minutes.

On the way down, we heard twittering coming from oaks in a section that didn’t have a steep dropoff. This was a Barn Owl vocalization. We

We could hear treefrogs calling from the seasonal pond. We arrived there at 9:50. There was some eyeshine that seemed bigger than a treefrog’s would be. The frogs were quiet then, but when one started up suddenly, it made JH and I jump.

We found one scorpion, and a shoulderband snail, and heard Western Screech-owl.

At the sag pond, we checked the hole we’d found earlier, and were able to see spider legs.

On the last leg of the trail, we were surprised to find a small solifugid.

Back at the lot, we heard coyotes yip.

We covered 3.5 miles.

These are the birds that we heard:

Purple Finch
Wild Turkey
Lazuli Bunting
Song Sparrow
Orange-crowned Warbler
Lesser Goldfinch
Ash-throated Flycatcher
Spotted Towhee
Black-headed Grosbeak
Owl (unconfirmed ID, but dark and size of Barn) flyover
Barn Owl (and “kleek” calls)
Western Screech-owl
Acorn Woodpecker
American Robin
Wrentit
California Quail

And the wildflowers:

Crimson Clover
Mariposa Lily
Popcornflower
Owl’s clover
Purple Sanicle
Iris (white)
Lupine
Tarweed
Jewelflower (gravel pit dinner spot)
Clarkia
Flax, narrow-leaved
Monkeyflower, Seep-spring (guttatus)
Blue-eyed Grass
Larkspur (blue)
Phacelia (gravel pit)
Zygadene lily

See photos here.

Picchetti Ranch (or, I just can’t help myself! said the treefrog)

It was Sunday, 2/20/11, a cold, dry day after 6 days of showers/rain preceded by an extended dry period. By the afternoon, it was cloudy. It turned out  a pretty interesting scouting night. The number of cars in the lot surprised us. A California Thrasher sang from up in a tree.

MB and I left the lot at 4:50. Just past the restrooms, a man watched two rabbits browse. At 5:04, we turned left to go around the pond, stopping first to watch two more rabbits play ahead of us. A flock of Golden-crowned Sparrows foraged.

We could hear people with kids. There was shallow water in the middle of the basin, with a large dry area surrounding it, where the kids were playing in a pile of wood. American Robins gathered at the tops of a tree. We carefully walked down to the water’s edge to see what was there. Pieces of dry grass from the basin covered the surface. Underneath, newts swam, and we saw a newt ball. At the top of the pond area near the trail, a banana slug stretched out.

Pond water level

Pond water level

After we left the pond at 5:20, we crossed paths with a gravid female newt. Then, another. We saw more than a few that all appeared  female, on the trail between the time we left the pond and on the way back while it was dark.

We reached the gate at 5:30, got to the first bridge at 5:35, the second bridge at 5:40, and the third and final bridge, our dinner spot, at 5:50. Along the way, we noted a patch of liverworts with umbrella-like fruiting bodies, as well as blooming Hounds Tongue. The water was rushing loudly at our stop.

Sunset was at 5:53, but it was dusky in the woods. It was chilly, and after dinner, I finally put on my gloves. It was probably around 45F-47F; last year on the same date it was around five degrees warmer.

At 6:15, it wasn’t quite dark, but dark enough in the woods to use a flashlight. We slowly made our way back, taking our time to let the dark settle. Our first find was a spider turret at the base of the trailbank, with a cup fungus attached at the base. Nobody was home (or at least willing to come to the door). At 6:45, we heard a soft Western Screech-owl trill from the oaks. Coyotes yipped from somewhere ahead.

We arrived back at the gate at 6:54. We could hear the treefrogs already. Past the gate, a Great Horned Owl hooted, then a female called from the other side of the trail. As we approached the pond, the frogs got louder and louder. When we got close enough for them to detect us, they quieted. We stopped, and waited for the chorusmaster to start. Unfortunately, there was a lot of air traffic that disturbed the quiet.

The chorusmaster started up, then another, and another, and soon any air traffic that was passing over was drowned out. We carefully made our way to the water, with good cause, as we found our first little brown frog sitting on land. In fact, quite a few of them were chorusing from land. With all that noise, you’d think it would be pretty easy to spot them in the water, but I couldn’t see any eyeshine. Newts slid through the water, and it was easier to see the light color of the males. We found a frog close to shore, vocal sac inflated, not caring that we were nearby. He did call, but he also sat there with the sac inflated for a while, long enough for me to get a photo.

Here is the recording; you can hear the Great Horned Owl in the beginning. If you listen with headphones, turn down the volume because the treefrogs start up about halfway through, and they are deafening!

We picked our way around several other frogs on land, some larger, and after seeing a few pairs in amplexus on land (what’s up with that?), I figured that the larger, fatter, quiet ones were females.

Then, something totally unexpected appeared in our lights: a female newt waddled up the basin, a treefrog on her back! We watched, transfixed by the sight.

The wrong way

The right way

I thought I’d heard something earlier, so I wanted to check out the other side. I made my way over there, avoiding more little brown frogs which were difficult to see. Another female newt paused with a treefrog on her back! Maybe she figured if she didn’t move, he’d leave. Or she tired of hauling around eggs and a frog.

Since it was only 7:45, we decided to go around through the oak grove and headed up the Vista Trail. The grove seemed a good place to hear owls, but we didn’t. It was a good place to find Polydesmid millipedes though. [Added] While figuring out which trail to take, we noticed a cavity at the base of a tree, in it a pool of water filled with wriggling mosquito larvae–maybe Ochlerotatus sierrensis, Western Treehole Mosquito. That’s a new one for me.

We heard another Great Horned Owl once back on the straight trail leading back to the winery. More millipedes twinkled like stars on the ground under UV light near the bathrooms around 8:00.

See more photos here.

This is last year’s post for the same date.

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See CR’s post of another frog-and-newt encounter.

Night on Froggy Mountain 2011

We had a small group on 2/12/11. KP, CB and I led a small group of five, including RF and friend. One person didn’t show.
This is the last time this route will be available for this hike, as the new trail will be in place soon. The sky was clear, and the day had been relatively warm. It hadn’t rained since our scouting hike, so we weren’t sure what to expect.

We left the lot around 5:15. By that time, the sun was behind the mountains, though sunset wasn’t until 5:45. It was probably around 50F, cooler at the pond. It seemed warmer at the pond on our scouting hike.

We observed a few animal tracks in the dried mud in the trail. Dark-eyed Junco, Bewick’s Wren, Red-tailed Hawk, White-tailed Kites, and calling Red-shouldered Hawk caught our attention. After we turned to go downhill, American Robin song, and a Great-horned Owl’s hoots were detected by some. Three deer down the trail moved away. We could hear distant Coyotes yipping. A dead Jerusalem Cricket was found by RF in the middle of the trail. As we neared the pond, Red-winged Blackbird song could be heard, and I saw a duck fly towards the pond.

We stopped briefly at the pond to see whether there was any activity. I could see one newt in the water. The outlet by the sign was dry. Last year, we did this hike at the end of the month, and the water was higher.

Since it was so foggy two weeks ago, we weren’t able to see that the hill that we’d had dinner on last year was now covered with Yellow Star Thistle. We had dinner not far from the pond, on the trail. More deer were up on top of the ridge. The moon was overhead, and Orion and Jupiter were visible.

The treefrogs first started up earlier than I expected, about 15 minutes after sunset instead of 30 minutes two weeks ago. They intermittently called as we had dinner.

Some time after 6:15, we moved down to the water. We could see several newts in amplexus, and someone spotted a couple of newt egg clusters. We saw no frog eggs, but we also hadn’t seen any newt eggs two weeks earlier. After some observation, we took a stroll to the other side of the pond. We heard more Great Horned Owls calling. Something relatively large splashed into the water. Presumably since it has been dry, there were no newts or frogs seen on land.

Most of the treefrogs were on the other side, so we turned around and went back. We found more egg clusters, and the treefrog calls punctuated the quiet. A couple called from close to land, and I vowed to find one of them. It took a while to find the frog that called from about 15″ away in the middle of some Pennyroyal, and I only spotted him because his inflated vocal sac moved a piece of grass! He was the color of mud, and not easy to see even knowing where he was.

Close to 7:30, a Red-legged Frog started to call. One or two of us had heard it earlier, but just briefly. It called regularly with some pauses. Everyone was able to hear it.

P. sierra with R. draytonii below about 700Hz

We headed back after that. We made one stop to look at a fluorescing Polydesmid millipede. I only found one, compared to the approximately 25 on our scouting hike. One of the participants spotted an owl flush from a shrub in front of us.

Back at the lot, we found a small group of astronomers again.

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Did you know that we’re losing our amphibians? Watch this PBS video.

One of the reasons is Chytrid fungus, which you can read more about here. If you visit different marshes and ponds, you may want to clean your boots to help prevent the spread. The suggested cleaning is the same or similar to that for Sudden Oak Death.

For more on cleaning protocol, see this page at Pinnacles. And for more in-depth information on these diseases, see this site.