Drycreek Blog

Steller's Jays and Back Yard Trees

2011-04-16T12:02:00-04:00

Locally, the Steller's Jay (Cyanocitta stelleri), also called the Long-crested Jay, the Mountain Jay, and the Pine Jay is related to the Crow and Magpie and is usually associated locally with the higher conifer forests of the Sierra, but on occasion they do visit the lower desert valleys. In fact, it's not uncommon to see the Steller's Jay anywhere, from the Truckee Meadows to the summit of Mt. Rose.

This photo was snapped this week while three birds visited a backyard orchard of apple and pear trees in the old southwest section of Reno. You can see its crested top (the only crested jay this side of the Rockies) and cobalt blue body feathers. It's such a pretty bird, even if it is a bit noisy and aggressive toward other birds.

It's good to offer water in your garden for Blue Jays and other wild song birds. This jay, for example, will eat insect pests. Of course, it will nibble on nuts, seeds, apples, pears, grapes and other fruit, too, so be sure to grow enough to make everyone happy.

The Steller's Jay builds its nest usually mid way up the tall pine and other conifer trees. The nest is open, bowl-like, made of forest debris including twigs and pine needles. The clutch usually consists of three to five eggs.

The California Quail in Nevada

2011-04-10T14:06:00-04:00

The California or Valley Quail (Callipepla californica) are out and about, always a welcomed sight in spring. Very soon the roving coveys will include a line of chicks.

Quail are a common sight, often seen even in the downtown neighborhoods of Reno, Sparks and Carson City, although, since they are ground dwellers, they are vulnerable to fast moving autos, garden poisons and prowling house cats.

A signature pastime for Quail is the dust bath. The covey searches out a nice sunny spot of bare dirt where they belly down, twitch, wiggle, flap their wings and fluff their feathers. It's quite a sight to see. Giving Quail a space for this ritual is just one more reason not to have traditional grass lawns in the desert. Provide some shrubby landscaping and a nice sunny patch of soft bare dirt and you just might get them to visit.

According to Desert USA, the origin of the latin name, Callipepla, means "beautiful robe" which is certainly the case with our Valley Quail. We are lucky to have them as our neighbors.

Caught In The Act

2011-04-04T14:28:00-04:00

Each year in spring, it seems both the Golden-crowned Kinglet and the Lesser Goldfinch make it a habit of collecting the hairy filaments off the leaves of several types of hardy yucca. We think the bird pictured here is a Dark-backed Goldfinch (Carduelis psaltria), the smallest of the Carduelis species. This beautiful American seed eating songbird is common in the Sierra and is often seen in Reno backyards. They often gather in small groups around bird feeders and baths.

Interestingly, in 2009 UC Berkeley published a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences about the effects of climate change on the birds of the Sierra Nevada. The study found that 48 out of 53 bird species studied actually migrated, following or "tracking" the climate the birds preferred. The study goes on to say the birds that didn't relocate, such as the Western Scrub-Jay, were ones able to live amongst the humans.

The Lovely and Talented Yucca

2011-03-29T16:33:06-04:00

There has been local song bird action around this Perry's Agave and Hairy Yucca. It seems the Kinglets and other small birds like to snip the filaments for nest making.

Both of these pictured plants are cold hardy for our area (approximately zones 5 - 9). The yucca will grow to about twenty inches high with an almost three foot spread. The agave will grow to about 9 inches high. Both are beautiful plants and are great for rock gardens and other types of xeric landscaping.

The flower pedals of many different types of yucca are edible and some are considered to be delicious (no guarantees...). You can try putting freshly picked flower pedals into your summer salads. You can find recipes that call for harvesting the entire flower stalk as it emerges in late spring, early summer. The tips resemble the look of asparagus tips, but you won't get to see the flower stem bloom with this technique. Many types have long lasting flowers, some extending into late summer.

Apparently, especially in earlier times, many native American tribes utilized the yucca for food and for weaving, making baskets, weapons and clothing and also for making soap (hence the common name, Soapweed). Many Yucca types are incredibly easy to care for. Most do not uglify during the winter. They are natural born bird feeders and they will make your garden landscape look like you know and love the environment within which you live.

Hawk In The City

2011-03-27T14:44:00-04:00

Is this a Sharp-shinned Hawk? It sat in the apple tree for awhile recently, came to startle the usual birds, the Stellar Bluejay and the Robins reappearing again now that it's spring. Hanging out by the dripping water, there have also been a few Kinglets and the Lesser Goldfinch. There are no bird feeders close by, but the water attracts the song birds. It makes sense that the Sharp-shinned Hawk and other birds of prey come looking round the water source for some small treats to eat. It's fortunate that there are trees in and among the landscape of yards in the city for all the birds to use. Life in the menagerie.

The body of the Sharp-shinned Hawk is especially shaped to hunting and catching prey in close quarters, inside and between trees. According to Wikipedia, their numbers greatly dwindled during the late 1960s and 1970s, most likely due to the accumulative effects of the widespread use of poisons such as DDT. After DDT was banned, numbers of all three species have come back strongly in the United States and Canada, back to the point where, if the right habitat still exists or is renewed, the Sharp-shinned Hawk is expected to re-localize and re-integrate.

This particular bird had the habit of perching with only its right claw. It's left claw was kept tucked away, used occasionally to fuss with feathers. It sat in this spot for almost five minutes.

Along with news of social trends moving toward small things -- from sporty fuel efficient autos to recycled lumber and tiny houses, comes a story from Los Angeles about a group of neighbors in one of the super super rich canyon areas of L. A. banding together to try to stop a new mystery neighbor -- they suspect perhaps a foreign prince -- from building a residential compound the size of a Wal-Mart: 86,000 sq feet across several adjacent lots. The lots themselves are worth millions each. There will be a 42,681-square-foot house, a 27,000-square-foot villa, a guest house somewhere around 4,000 sq feet. It's as if Reno's new American Gothic mansions and Tuscany styled villas have suddenly become appropriate only for weekend guests. If it's inevitable that a superstore sized residential compound be built in the already compacted hills around L. A., the hope would be that the landscaping plans accommodate birds like the Sharp-shinned Hawk and California's amazing song birds.

Kinglets, New Snow, More Snow Coming

2011-03-22T11:23:00-04:00

Today the streams coming down from the Sierra are silt colored and flowing above their usual waterlines. There are flood warnings in California and amazing amounts of snow in the high mountains. It is exciting. The little Kinglets have come down closer to town. It feels like a natural, serendipitous goodness coming into spring. It is, in spite of the crazy universe, a hopeful year with the surroundings, the wet, snow covered, saturated ground, the perennials showing green. Maybe, hopefully, it will be a good wildflower year and a good vegetable year and a wonderful gardening year all around.

Everyone hopes for a good year. Of course! Of course! Who can not hope for an abundant and juicy sweet food for the summer to prolong the hope for an even more abundant harvest come fall? And thus, the relationship between the weather and the land and the birds -- the unpredictability of so much seasonal mortality -- energizes the heart. Spring wakes us, a result the body feels immediately like the crisp clear air enough to incite the mind to wondering. It's true, the snow is high and such a necessity for where we live. How great to be living in a place where the end of a drought coincides with the beginning of the growing season, even as always temporary as it is in this arid landscape, this scarcity of erratic and uncertain moisture. So much snow. It hearkens back to other memorable winters here. The summers always followed with hiking the high country delayed, due to snow packed passes, high water creeks and roaring rivers. We can live with that. We want to live with that.

Western Tanager

2010-05-26T13:06:00-04:00

This Western Tanager (Piranga ludoviciana) -- one of a pair -- was photographed this week sitting on a backyard fence in the Old Southwest section of Reno. The same week a pair was also sighted on the John Cooke Trail during one of the windy, rainy days of late.

This beautiful finch-like song bird feeds mostly on insects and can be seen fly catching. So far the Tanager isn't threatened, perhaps because the bird is almost always on the move, commanding a range that extends from Southern Alaska and Canada's Northwest Territories, through the entire Western United States, all the way to Southern Mexico and Costa Rica. The bird likes to nest in the open, extended branches of pine and other conifers. They are somewhat rarely seen because they tend to move from branch to branch and tree to tree very high off the ground. Sometimes, though, they flit through the forest's understory, especially to drink and to nibble on fruit and berries. If you get to see one up close, consider yourself lucky!

Source: Peterson Field Guide to Birds of Western North America, Fourth Edition

Local Quail Sightings

2010-04-07T13:29:00-04:00

This is the time of year for the local birds. The Robins are pecking holes looking for new crops of insects. The Mourning Doves are collecting twigs for their nests. The localized California Quail are busy, too, This photo of an ever watchful male was taken yesterday just off Plumb in a backyard between Arlington and Plumus.

The California Quail (Callipepla californica) -- The California Quail's range extends into northwest Nevada. Nowadays, the bird is a common sight along the entire length of the Truckee, in the river's riparian flood lands. Since they build their nests on the ground, the California Quail prefers brush land areas, whether grassland, woodland, or Big Sagebrush desert. This bird will even set up residence in city and suburban backyards -- if there's cover. They are often seen walking fences and running in their small coveys across city and suburban streets.

This beautiful bird eats seeds, small buds, berries and insects. In the city, they seem to prefer bare dirt to grass lawns. Since the new born chicks are unable to escape predators through flight for their first month, both parents are very protective of the chicks.

Other quail in Nevada:

The Mountain Quail (Oreortyx pictus) -- The Mountain Quail's original range was huge, with year round populations extending north to south from Canada to Baja California, east to west in the mountain ranges of Idaho, Nevada, California, Oregon and Washington. During the last half of the 20th century, the Mountain Quail declined dramatically and continues to do so, due mainly to loss of habitat in combination with extensive hunting. According to the Audubon Watch List, hunting this beautiful bird is now banned in Idaho and eastern Oregon. The Nevada Department of Wildlife is attempting to reintroduce Mountain Quail to what remains of their original habitat. The Mountain Quail is larger than the California Quail and lives in higher elevations (as high as 10,000 feet). They do migrate downward when the temperatures drop in the autumn, traveling in coveys of up to 20 birds. As their habitat continues to dwindle due to housing and commercial developments in the mountain regions of the west, there have been attempts to protect the species by officially adding it to the Endangered Species List. So far they remain unlisted, although their extermination is all but complete in Idaho. In Nevada, with a permit, hunters can still kill the Mountain Quail, but with a daily bag limit of two.

Gambel's Quail (Lophortyx gambellii) -- The Gambel's Quail is a true desert quail, preferring the warmer climates of the southwestern deserts. In California and Nevada, this bird can be found in the Mojave Desert as far north as Beatty and throughout Death Valley National Park.

Scaled Quail (Callipepla Squamata) -- The Scaled Quail, also called the Blue Quail was introduced into Nevada as a game bird and remains a favored bird for shooting even though populations are declining range wide. This quail is also a popular aviary bird.

Mute Swan Visits Virginia Lake

2010-03-27T11:20:00-04:00

Recently, a beautiful swan has been hanging out with the other water birds at Virginia Lake in Reno. The swan seems to love having its picture taken, as it stays close to shore and seems to pose for all the interested photographers. So far, no one seems to know where this particular swan came from. This week the Reno Gazette-Journal posted a series of photographs and identified the bird as a 'Mute Swan' and conjectured that it is possibly the offspring of a pair from south Reno.

According to Wikipedia, the Mute Swan (Cygnus olor) was introduced to North America from Europe, and is referred to as "mute" because it's less vocal than other types of swan. On walks around the lake, we've seen this swan three or four times and so far, true to its name, we have not heard a single peep or honk.

There are two native swans to North America: The Trumpeter Swan and the Tundra Swan. According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Trumpeter Swan is the largest waterfowl in North America with an eight foot wingspan. They mate for life and the male takes care of the nest building.

By the turn of the twentieth century, the Trumpeter Swan had been hunted almost to extinction -- the lowest count for a worldwide population dwindled to less than 70 birds -- but there were major attempts to save the species. In 1918, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act was passed to protect traveling birds from over hunting. The passing of the bill contributed greatly to saving the Trumpeter. Federal controls have allowed a remarkable comback: the Trumpeter's present population stands at over 16,000. Nevertheless, because of their size, all three species remain extremely vulnerable to illegal poaching.

The Red Shafted Flicker

2010-03-17T00:00:00-04:00

We built this bird house out of old fence planks seven summers ago. The dimensions of the box and the hole were calculated for attracting the Red Shafted Flicker, a local woodpecker and helpmate for keeping the insect populations down during the spring and summer.

Although this bird house was built specifically with the Flicker in mind, it's perch hight is too low, too close to the ground. Each spring, the Flickers find the house, check it out, even go inside to test its comfort and safety, still, none have ever actually set up housekeeping. Next year, perhaps, we'll relocate the house high up in a backyard tree. But that would entail having to climb it!

There are two types of Flickers in North America. The Yellow Shafted Flicker (Colaptes auratus), also called the Yellowhammer, resides in the eastern part of North America. In the west, we find the Red Shafted Flicker (Colaptes auratus cafer). Both are types of woodpeckers and although they will eat seeds, they're great insect eating birds.