Elkhorn Slough, Early September

I took a walk through Elkhorn Slough a couple of weeks ago. I realized when I got there that it was about the same time of year I had been there a year ago when I had not seen many birds, except for an exciting show by some Acorn Woodpeckers.


This time I took a different trail, hoping to see a different variety of wildlife. It was a hot day dry day, and although I remembered to bring plenty of water, this time I forgot to bring a hat! I took the Long Valley loop trail, which sloped downward from a grassy meadow which was filled with dry grasses gently blowing in the wind.


I spotted a few butterflies along the trail, feasting on thistles and dandilions.
There were several skippers and a small, whitish butterfly I couldn't identify.


Further down the trail, the poison oak was plentiful, with leaves turning red and berries ripening. I kept my distance but observed a bird who was making a lunch of the berries.

Down by the lake, there was an egret on the opposite shore, but too far away to get a good photograph. The trail followed along the lake, which was otherwise deserted, for a short distance then rose up again as it led back toward the visitors center.

More thistles along this sun-soaked slope and they were busy with bees and butterflies.

A little further up, there was some commotion in a live oak: a fledgling Hutton's Vireo was demanding another meal from a parent. They chattered for a bit before the parent flew off, leaving the youngster alone.


I passed by the five fingers trail at the trailhead, since it seemed to circle back to the same lake, and instead headed back to the trail I took a year ago, hoping to see more woodpeckers. Along the trail, it was virtually empty, except for the ocassional fence lizard. But the sun soon became too hot and the trail too long and I decided to turn back to return to the shelter and air conditioning of the truck. I will have to remember to return after the fall migrations have begun or in the spring during the breeding season to try and catch a greater variety of wildlife.



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Consumnes River Preserve

Grebe Eating Crayfish
Originally uploaded by Spike n Mouse.

I took a trip out to the Consumnes River Preserve this past weekend to see what kind of wildlife was around this time of year. I have made the trip just about every month to see how the varieties of birds in the area change and I think this time I saw very little variety. Of course in a month or so we'll start to see the migratory birds arrive again for the winter.

I took a hike along the river trail behind the visitor's center. The day started off cool and breezy but quickly became quite warm and I was sorry I forgot to bring some water with me. Along the trail on one side, there were brief glimpses of a stream but the view was mostly obscured by shrubs, vines and trees and was very shady. On the opposite side of the trail, the sun was shining brightly on cattails and wildflowers. I caught several glimpses of bees and cabbage butterflies feasting on purple and yellow flower which I couldn't identify, and dragonflies perching a top tule grass stems. Also in this area were lots of blackberry vines with fruits of green, red and purple. On the stream side of the trail, wild grape vines bore many bunches of small grapes.

Awhile down the trail I approached a larger pond area which was being fished by a great blue heron. Also swimming in the pond was this pair of pied-billed grebes, which darted into the cattails when they saw me approach but later came out in the open to resume diving. I didn't realize it at the time, but they were diving for what turns out to be their favorite meal: crawfish. In this photo you can see the grebe on the right attempting to swallow a fairly large crayfish.

At the pond's edge, I could see tiny fish and an occasional very large tadpole break the water surface. In the mud, there was mosaic of bird and mammal footprints and I believe I saw several river otter prints.

I continued along the trail and came across and area that was blanketed in cotton, like fuzzy snow. Leaves and ground and branches were all coated in the fuzzy white stuff, which I assume was created by some of the cottonwood trees. Also in the area I happened upon a hole in the ground with hornets buzzing in and out and was thankful that I saw it before I stepped on it.

I crossed a small bridge over a stream that connected the pond on the left with another pond on the right hand side and continued down the trial a ways until thirst got the better of me, and since I had no map or indication of where the trail was headed, I turned around to head back. Then I saw what I had missed the first time around: crayfish crawling across the open mud. This was the first time I had seen crayfish that weren't in a pot or on a plate and I watched them for quite awhile as they crawled, swam, and dug into burrows in the mud.

I backtracked to my car and stopped to photograph a few more dragonflies in the parking lot before heading out to an area down the road where I had seen quite a few migrating ducks, geese and swans last winter. I had seen fewer and fewer birds here as the year progressed and this time there was practically nothing there. I did catch a glimpse of a Northern Harrier diving in the air over the now-dry wetlands, but he soon flew out of range of my camera. I drove further down the road to where I had watched a kestrel and a white-tailed kite hunt from power lines earlier in the year, and had seen in separate occassions a red-tailed hawk and a kingfisher in the same area, but this time only a lone mourning dove was present.

I stopped to photograph a monarch butterfly which had rested on a milkweed plant, then turned to look on the other side of the road, where several curious cattle were watching me.

I was pretty hot and thirsty at this point so I rolled up the windows and cranked up the AC and headed out to the road to find someplace to buy a giant soda.