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.
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.
Butano Fire Road ridgetop (click for a larger image)
On 2/21/12, we tried out a new trail for DWB’s class. The Butano SP map doesn’t show the mileage since it’s a fire road, but my GPS said 7 miles (Google also measures out to about the same). It didn’t seem like it at the time, as the climb was gradual. But I could feel it afterwards.
The coast was partially foggy, but here the sun was warm. In the shade of the woods, it was sometimes cool enough to want a jacket.
I took a slight detour off the main trail and saw a cottontail run as it was flushed by the group ahead.
There was a lot of Ramalina hanging, and thick Usnea. Some plants blooming that I didn’t photograph but noted were Woodland Pea, Milkmaids, Spring Vetch, and Pink-flowering Currant.
We passed more than ten banana slugs; one was munching on one of the various mushrooms. I got a glimpse of one long-furry-tailed rodent running across the trail.
Bird-wise, we passed Red-tailed and Red-shouldered Hawks along the coast. I heard Bewick’s Wren, a Selasphorus hummingbird’s wing buzz, Hutton’s Vireo, Golden-crowned Kinglets and Pacific Wren chatter.
We had no winter rain when we did our scouting trip on 1/9/12. JO, DP and I hiked the Stevens Creek Nature Trail loop from 10:25-3:10 and found few slime molds, and some dried up fungi. On our old Madrone, we found a couple small patches of yellow slime mold fruiting bodies, and the Stictis and tiny fungal bells that we’ve seen in previous years.
Stictis at El Corte de Madera
We saw another set of fruiting bodies, few milkmaids in bloom, a small slug, Slender Salamanders, and a couple sets of puffballs in different places. The highlight of the scouting trip was a new millipede species for us, under a log. There was also a strange, stiff hair-like bunch of something on the cut end of a log. The water in the creek was very low, and the small sag pond was only damp.
The rain came on 1/19-20, but there wasn’t enough time to allow for much to happen by 1/21. The temperature was in the low 40′s according to weather.com; it was certainly less than 50F, partly cloudy. Two participants joined us, including one other docent.
We started off at 12:45. Someone spotted a large, rose-like Polypore, of which there were a few at the bottom of a tree. We found several instances of Tremella, a yellow jelly fungus that is parasitic on other fungi. The hair-like stuff was now pliable due to the recent rain. There was also a brown jelly, slime mold sporocarps, Calocera cornea which had rehydrated, and a white jelly resembling Pseudohydnum gelatinosum. This time we saw three newts, one Slender Salamander, and one small slug.
Once we reached the creek crossing, we knew that we had passed the best section for slime molds. The group decided to finish the loop but walk at a faster pace. The small sag pond now had some water, but it was brown and still low.
We did see birds’ nest fungi on the Canyon Trail, and the bottom layer of a patch of slime mold fruiting bodies on a piece of fallen wood. When near the large sag pond, we heard a Pileated Woodpecker. We arrived back at 4:30.
On Friday night, 9/23/11, KG, JO and I led a group of 11 through Skyline Ridge. A few had been on night hikes, and all had been on hikes on these lands before. The weather was mild and warm, probably ~75F after dark. Some high clouds partly obscured the sky throughout the hike. We haven’t done a night hike here since 2008, and even though we added some trails that we don’t hike on much, we were able to keep with the schedule.
We set off at 5:45. There was a lot to look at on the first stretch: A patch with lots of tracks: two tracks of a mammal that we guessed was raccoon, small passerine tracks, perhaps made by a California Towhee hopping, larger walking bird tracks, probably quail, deer, and lizard scat. We looked at a lot of scat along the way–the hard, shellaced bobcat scat, furry coyote, and a few unidentified scats. There were many latrines. Frit flies, as usual at this time of year, bothered us.
We stopped to smell and look at plants along the chaparral area: Vinegar weed, yerba santa, yerba buena, pennyroyal, holly-leaf cherry, skunkweed, silk tassel, seeding chamise, sagebrush, mugwort.
We had dinner on the trail above the overlook that leads down to the water tank. The quail flock farther down the trail was also having dinner, like they did on our scouting trip. While we ate, a curious deer popped its head above the quail flock from down trail. Dampwood termite alates fluttered around.
Sunset
Some heard a Western screech-owl as dusk fell. Lots of harvester ants busied themselves, and we saw two bumble bees and some dragonflies.
We found two centipedes (not stone centipedes) on the downhill past the intersection. We managed not to miss an Iridium satellite flare.
Centipede
A Jerusalem cricket and Calisoga spider showed themselves on the way to the lake. We looped Fir Knoll, finding many forest scorpions. KG and I found a large moth by its pink eyeshine, but it was too far off the trail in a tree to see clearly. It seemed to be about the size of a sphinx moth, but was perched vertically. As on the first wooded section in the beginning of the hike, there were a few small orb weavers, plus jumping bristletails.
Circling around the back of the lake didn’t produce much except for a large spider hole in the middle of the trail, with a flat collar of live oak leaves (two days later in the daytime, we weren’t able to find the hole). On the way back from the equestrian lot, a large wolf spider carrying babies crossed the trail. I haven’t seen one that large with babies in a long time, last probably at Long Ridge.
Birds seen/heard: Band-tailed pigeon, CA quail, ducks (probably mallard), western screech-owl, wrentit, Bewick’s wren, western scrub-jay.
First, the scouting trip on 8/9. KG and I left the trailhead at 6:00. It was relatively warm, maybe 75. We were going at a somewhat slow pace, but kept moving except for a couple of stops. There was an orange velvet ant on the Ridge trail, and a brown beetle. We heard a couple of Western Bluebirds and saw one.
Clarkia was blooming, and there were a few pink thimbleberries. We reached the deck at 7:25. It seemed like the view was better than it was the last time we were there; we couldn’t remember being able to see sunset, but we weren’t sure why. After the sun went down at 8:15, the temperature was about 68F. We thought we could get through on the trail on the Mindego side of the hill, going past the windmill, but at the top, there wasn’t a visible trail connection. We returned to the deck and back to Hawk Hill the way we had come.
Harding grass and the moon
Harding grass filled the area looking towards Borel Hill. Warm air and chilled air wafted across the trail as we walked. A distant Great-horned Owl called from below. Crickets, small ground beetles and darkling beetles were plentiful on the trail.
A couple of deer bounded away in the grassland. As we approached the Ridge trail again, we spotted a small-medium spider which, at first glance, looked like a wolf spider. But after a photo, we discovered it was actually a small Calisoga, a surprise. Returning on the Ridge trail, a Barn Owl called. We arrived back a little before 10:30.
The actual hike occurred on 8/12, with KG and KP. We had 20 on the reservation list, with two cancellations. 12 actually showed up. A few were new, and a few had not been on a night hike. We started on the trailhead at 5:50. The temperature was similar to Tuesday’s.
As we approached the telephone wires, a huge flock of Violet-green Swallows got stirred up, perhaps by a family in front of us. There were hundreds of them; I don’t remember having seen such a sight there before.
Hundreds of Violet-green Swallows
We stopped on Borel Hill and pointed out landmarks. We stayed there a bit longer than I’d planned, so we kept a good pace on the way to the deck. Small, light-colored insects aggregated in low swarms. (If this had been another type of hike, I would have taken the time to catch one to see what they were.) A lone Red-tailed Hawk perched on the snag below the Caltrans vista point intersection.
The bulk of the group arrived there around 7:13, close to schedule.
The air above the oats in the meadow north of the deck was filled with small insects, perhaps the same ones we’d seen on the trail. Dragonflies patrolled also. Coyotes yipped from nearby, surprisingly early. Two American Kestrels called from nearby. We speculated that one was a young one bugging its parent. A flock of Bushtits flitted between trees. Straight out, a vertical arc shined in the sky.
In keeping with the theme, we enjoyed treats and butterfly tattoos. We headed off towards Hawk Ridge. We heard the owl again. Just after sunset, we came upon a young rattlesnake in the trail. When I shined my light on it to see it better, it slithered into the grass.
Once under tree cover, we distributed glow bracelets. Because the moon was out, it was still somewhat light even under trees. Bats flew around ahead of us in the open. Back in the grassland, we saw deer cross the trail again. Crickets and katydids serenaded us.
We arrived at the cleared area at 8:50, giving us 20 minutes to sit and enjoy the rest of our treats under the almost full moon, before heading back towards the Caltrans entrance trail and around the side of the hill.
When we reached the main trail again, someone spotted a small Calisoga spider, and we stopped to take a look at it. A little further along, and we saw a Jerusalem Cricket, and then a medium-sized wolf spider predating a cricket. (We don’t see that too often. I’m not sure how well that went over with the “girls”, but I thought it interesting.)
Back at the lot by 10:30, everyone appreciated the beautiful night.
As we drove down Page Mill, a Barn Owl flew across the road and landed about 10-12′ up. We stopped the car underneath the tree, and got a quick look at it looking down at us before it took off. A hare also ran across in a different spot.
Despite overcast sky and relatively cold temps for summer, I decided to check out the tanoaks at El Corte de Madera on Monday (8/7/11). It was foggy driving along Skyline, but some sun started to break out as I neared the preserve.Once I got past the kiosk, I decided not to wear my jacket as it was warm enough in the sun.
It was 11:00 when I started off. I headed directly to our tree about 1.5 miles to the right. Along the way, spider webs glistened with fog drip, and I could hear drips hit the leaf duff. A few birds gave voice, but there wasn’t much insect action. And, except for an Agelenid and the numerous Sierra dome (Neriene) webs, I didn’t notice any arachnids.
Downhill past the nettle corner, I stopped to look at the underside of a tree on the trailbank. I noticed something odd–three tiny insects hanging from a silken thread. Then I noticed two more, near one end of the 2′ thread. It looked like tiny bug laundry, hanging out to dry! Later, I learned that these are Gall Midges (Cecidomyiidae), and certain ones like to hang on spider silk. Who knows why. I’ve found mention of this or photos of this behavior in various countries including France, China, and South America.
Gall Midges (Cecidomyiidae) hanging from a spider thread
Gall Midge
Like my previous visit, the 1.5 mile tanoak was in shade. There was one lower branch that had some catkins, but there were no obvious insects visiting. There was a tiny spider in a web, and upon shaking with the net, a lacewing larva fell out. There are larger 2 cm. acorns as well as younger ones. The smaller tanoak across from that one had low catkins. I didn’t see insects there either, despite that branch being in the sun, but when I looked at my photos, I saw another tiny spider as well as a small insect, possibly a beetle, on a catkin. These catkins still had their stamens, but just a little pollen left.
Birds calling: California Quail, Dark-eyed Junco, Spotted Towhee, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Steller’s Jay, Band-tailed Pigeon, Pygmy Nuthatch, and Allen’s? (or some other Selasphorus) Hummingbird.
Insects out: lots of Sierra dome webs, a few native bees in the lower meadow at yellow composites, two bumble bees on the way out, many grasshoppers, and a few butterflies (California sister or Lorquin’s admiral, blues/hairstreaks, skipper, swallowtail) and dragonflies flying around. I did find a triangle web spider, Hyptiotes, which we had been searching for here in the redwoods. There were a few small wasps searching for prey in the leaf litter under the small tanoak. One had blue markings.
And, one August banana slug found a moist place to hang out.
On the way out, I stopped to look at the Helleborine orchids in bloom. Also in bloom were sticky monkeyflower, a large patch of Clarkia, a few buttercups, and forget-me-nots. By then it was warm enough in the sun for the smell of yerba santa to permeate the air. My small thermometer said ~68F. I got back to the trailhead at 2:00.
Here are photos. The tanoaks are first, then insects and other things.
On 6/22/11, JO and I checked out the progress of the tanoaks at El Corte de Madera. For this years’ study we will try to collect some pollinators for ID, not for quantity. I brought a 45ml plastic tube. I put it in a ziplock bag, but at some point it leaked. I didn’t collect anything since there weren’t any insects at the one tree we’ve had a lot of activity at later in the year.
It was pretty warm (forgot to look at the temp but weather.com TruPoint said 75–may have been higher).
There was one tree to the left from the entrance (Gordon Mill) that had new foliage, and to the right one with catkins at the top (way up). We don’t remember if there was a dead one to the right last time, down near the tree that we observed the most before, but there is now. And that tree that we observed the most last time, about a mile in before a small meadow, has a few dead leaves, and had no obvious insect visitors. It was mostly shaded around 2:00.There are old dark brown catkins, and some green female flowers around .25″ and larger, and I think there are a few catkins at the top.
Birds calling: Hutton’s Vireo, Dark-eyed Junco, Black-throated Gray Warbler (I think), Wilson’s Warbler, Spotted Towhee, Brown Creeper, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Steller’s Jay, Warbling Vireo, Band-tailed Pigeon, and a distant thrush.
Insects out: lots of spiders, some bees, flies, beetles, grasshoppers, and a few butterflies and dragonflies flying around.
We saw two garter snakes. One was dark gray with a yellow stripe and slithered into the grass before I could get a photo, and the other was more colorful. It slid into an insect net by itself. After taking some photos for ID, we quickly let it go.
Here are photos. The tanoaks are first, then insects and other things.
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
It was a cold but not stormy night, 2/26/11. KP, MB, and I took a group around Picchetti Ranch. Picchetti had a light dusting of snow the previous evening, which was melted by the time we got there. The forecast ranged from 47F (felt like 43F) at 5 p.m. to 41F (felt like 38F) at 9 p.m., and that seemed correct. We originally had 23 on the reservation list including 8 on the waitlist. There were some last-minute cancellations so we ended up with 7 (including a kid and a teen).
This was the first time we’ve done a frog hike here. On a different hike last year at the same time, it wasn’t as cold, and there were adult toads swimming in the pond and on land on the shore. We saw no toads on our scouting hike or last night.
While waiting in the lot, a coyote cruised through and went into the brush uphill, and someone spotted a rabbit browsing. We started our intro at 4:30 and left the lot around 4:50. At the restroom, three more joined us until the dinner spot, deciding to leave since they hadn’t brought dinner.
The spring in the middle of the trail was bubbling out. We stopped to watch a White-tailed Kite hover, and a California Towhee popped up from a shrub. At the pond, the water level was about the same as it was a week earlier. There were four Mallards at the water’s edge, sifting for food. Close to the edge, a treefrog peered at us from the water. Newts swam. We didn’t see any critters on land.
Continuing to the dinner spot, we saw black cup fungi on the trailbank, and we stopped for liverworts, Hound’s Tongue and Tremella (Witch’s Butter). We got to the dinner spot at 5:50, ten minutes before sunset. After dinner, we refound the turret with the cup fungus, but didn’t see an occupant.
Black cup fungi
KP heard a Great Horned Owl near the second bridge/stream crossing, but when we stopped on the other side of the water, it was quiet. We talked about night vision there since the trail was a little wider.
Past the gate around 6:50, we made another stop to talk about the frogs and newts, wanting it to be a little darker. As we approached the pond, we could hear the frogs. We stopped short of the pond and heard one of the Great Horned Owls that we’d heard the week before.
I checked the shore again to make sure there weren’t too many critters around to get closer easily, but still didn’t see any on land. It was markedly different from the previous week. There were still newt balls in the water, and some frogs calling, but not nearly as many. It seemed like 50 versus hundreds or a thousand. We spotted a couple of them calling from their floating perches on top of the water, and a few were calling from land. Finally someone spotted a newt out of water, a female, moving extremely slowly. It seemed to be having trouble, but whether that was due to the cold or something else, we couldn’t tell. I spotted a frog in a hole with some water in it, a couple of inches from the water’s edge.
We stopped to look at the treehole mosquito larvae again, then proceeded up the loop. There was a budding Zygadene Lily along the trail. There was one Polydesmid millipede in the oak grove, and we stopped to look at it. There were hardly any near the restroom like there usually are. These are blind and it doesn’t seem like Picchetti’s event lights would have bothered them. Maybe the cold affected them too.
We got back to the lot around 8:00.
==
Knowing there are frogs in other parts that are adapted to freezing, I went searching. I was curious how our local amphibians would be affected by freezing temperatures. I found this abstract (Hyla regilla is a previous name of our treefrog), but didn’t find anything on newts.
