The birds & the bees (& the squirrels!)
Today was a very animal-filled day! :) It began with the bees. Then it was squirrels, and finally it was birds! I even learned/saw some new things today connected to these animals, and that was very cool. Click below for the rest of it...
Bees
I attended a pool party/BBQ in the grassy playing field area of a community center today, where unfortunately someone set up the BBQs and the canvas pavillions (for shade) in close proximity to what folks were calling a "subterranean beehive." Is there such a thing as subterranean bees that live in lawns? I don't know of any bee species like that, so I'm wondering if perhaps it was wasps, hornets or yellow jackets instead? Or maybe it WAS bees -- can anyone help?
I was curious, but NOT curious enough to go close enough to look! :O After several folks got stung, one brave guy took a large plastic garbage can and turned it over right on top of the opening the bees were going in and out of. Those bees who were stuck outside of the hive/nest/whatever refused to leave the spot -- they wanted back in, poor things! So the end result was that the BBQs, the food and drink tables, and the pavillions ALL had to be dragged to a "safer" spot. Certainly more excitement than we bargained for! heh
Squirrels
In the late afternoon, I peeked out the window and saw a squirrel dibbing around in the grass. Hoping it was Peanut or Goober, I went outside with my bag of peanuts and my other bag of Rainier cherries and small apple chunks. I called out to the squirrel and shook the bag and he came jumping and running joyfully right to my front step, where I was sitting. :D I say "he" because at that point, I saw there was no notch in the right ear, so I knew it wasn't Peanut, and the only other squirrel who runs to me, aside from Pea, is Goober. Plus I've gotten so that I recognize Goober by his facial features and his tail fur as well. Most folks think all squirrels look alike, but it's NOT true at all!! You just have to be very patient and very observant, and eventually you'll notice MANY types of differences. (I suspect ctsquirrel, flyingwolf, hollywinter, purplesquirrel and stardances might agree! heehee)
Anyhoo, Goober and I had a nice visit, and he enjoyed a few peanuts, a few apple chunks and a whole cherry. I think he likes the cherries best, because he always runs away with them! *giggle* He doesn't go far -- just to the base of the big camphor tree, but it's like he wants to be at least semi-private with his special treat. He knows I'd never take anything from him, but I think he's worried that some other squirrel might take the cherry from him, since it's so special and not something they get around here. They love the cherry-sized fruit dropped by the purple-leaf plum trees (which, when planted in the complex years ago, were assumed to be "flowering ornamentals" - HA!), but I guess Rainier cherries are even better!
While Goober was dining, I looked to another part of the landscaping and saw a squirrel who, by the pattern of fur on the tail, looked a lot like Peanut! I hope it WAS Peanut, because I haven't seen that little girl in over a week, and I really miss her. :( But we've done the "ships passing in the night" thing before, and she always returns, so I'm not too worried. At any rate, when I called to the squirrel in question, it totally ignored me, because it was maniacally YANKING GRASS UP BY THE ROOTS! This squirrel ended up with so much grass in its mouth that it looked like it had a big green moustache and beard! *giggle* Then it ran up the jumpin' juniper (another popular squirrel haunt in the landscaping) and from there jumped onto the roof of one of the nearby townhomes, a one-story end unit. I don't know where it went from there.
I know squirrels live in tree trunk cavities and/or tree nests (called "dreys") year-round, but I'm wondering why this squirrel was so determined and preoccupied all of a sudden? It's not like there was windy weather that could have knocked its nest down and forced it to build from scratch. What I'm GUESSING might be the case is that the squirrel is either in heat, and/or pregnant, and is sprucing up its nest in anticipation of babies. I remember reading that Eastern Gray Squirrels, which is what we have locally (despite the Western Gray being native), generally have two litters per year: one in spring, and one in late summer. So I wonder if that's why the squirrel, whether Peanut or someone else, was so intent on Hooverizing that grass! ;D
Birds
Not long after this, but after I went back in the house, I saw some movement near the base of the camphor tree and thought it might be a squirrel again. However, it was a bird! And not just any bird, but a Nuttall's woodpecker! (I have never seen this bird species in the complex before). It was dibbing around near the base of the tree, and kept pecking the trunk. I was upstairs and could still hear the pecking, although the bird was rather small and didn't seem to be using much force as it pecked.
I talked out loud about the colors and patterns on the bird, so I could remember them better when I checked my field guide, since when I first spied the bird, I had NO idea what type of woodpecker it was. Later, I checked my field guide and narrowed it down to three: Nuttall's woodpecker, ladder-backed woodpecker, or downy woodpecker, although the ladder-backed species is supposedly not found in Northern California. Anyhoo, then I did a Google image search on each of these three birds, and that clinched it -- it was a Nuttall's, which was my first guess after using the field guide anyway. :) Although I never really called myself a "bird-watcher", I've always enjoyed watching and identifying birds, so I guess I'm one after all!
Bees
I attended a pool party/BBQ in the grassy playing field area of a community center today, where unfortunately someone set up the BBQs and the canvas pavillions (for shade) in close proximity to what folks were calling a "subterranean beehive." Is there such a thing as subterranean bees that live in lawns? I don't know of any bee species like that, so I'm wondering if perhaps it was wasps, hornets or yellow jackets instead? Or maybe it WAS bees -- can anyone help?
I was curious, but NOT curious enough to go close enough to look! :O After several folks got stung, one brave guy took a large plastic garbage can and turned it over right on top of the opening the bees were going in and out of. Those bees who were stuck outside of the hive/nest/whatever refused to leave the spot -- they wanted back in, poor things! So the end result was that the BBQs, the food and drink tables, and the pavillions ALL had to be dragged to a "safer" spot. Certainly more excitement than we bargained for! heh
Squirrels
In the late afternoon, I peeked out the window and saw a squirrel dibbing around in the grass. Hoping it was Peanut or Goober, I went outside with my bag of peanuts and my other bag of Rainier cherries and small apple chunks. I called out to the squirrel and shook the bag and he came jumping and running joyfully right to my front step, where I was sitting. :D I say "he" because at that point, I saw there was no notch in the right ear, so I knew it wasn't Peanut, and the only other squirrel who runs to me, aside from Pea, is Goober. Plus I've gotten so that I recognize Goober by his facial features and his tail fur as well. Most folks think all squirrels look alike, but it's NOT true at all!! You just have to be very patient and very observant, and eventually you'll notice MANY types of differences. (I suspect ctsquirrel, flyingwolf, hollywinter, purplesquirrel and stardances might agree! heehee)
Anyhoo, Goober and I had a nice visit, and he enjoyed a few peanuts, a few apple chunks and a whole cherry. I think he likes the cherries best, because he always runs away with them! *giggle* He doesn't go far -- just to the base of the big camphor tree, but it's like he wants to be at least semi-private with his special treat. He knows I'd never take anything from him, but I think he's worried that some other squirrel might take the cherry from him, since it's so special and not something they get around here. They love the cherry-sized fruit dropped by the purple-leaf plum trees (which, when planted in the complex years ago, were assumed to be "flowering ornamentals" - HA!), but I guess Rainier cherries are even better!
While Goober was dining, I looked to another part of the landscaping and saw a squirrel who, by the pattern of fur on the tail, looked a lot like Peanut! I hope it WAS Peanut, because I haven't seen that little girl in over a week, and I really miss her. :( But we've done the "ships passing in the night" thing before, and she always returns, so I'm not too worried. At any rate, when I called to the squirrel in question, it totally ignored me, because it was maniacally YANKING GRASS UP BY THE ROOTS! This squirrel ended up with so much grass in its mouth that it looked like it had a big green moustache and beard! *giggle* Then it ran up the jumpin' juniper (another popular squirrel haunt in the landscaping) and from there jumped onto the roof of one of the nearby townhomes, a one-story end unit. I don't know where it went from there.
I know squirrels live in tree trunk cavities and/or tree nests (called "dreys") year-round, but I'm wondering why this squirrel was so determined and preoccupied all of a sudden? It's not like there was windy weather that could have knocked its nest down and forced it to build from scratch. What I'm GUESSING might be the case is that the squirrel is either in heat, and/or pregnant, and is sprucing up its nest in anticipation of babies. I remember reading that Eastern Gray Squirrels, which is what we have locally (despite the Western Gray being native), generally have two litters per year: one in spring, and one in late summer. So I wonder if that's why the squirrel, whether Peanut or someone else, was so intent on Hooverizing that grass! ;D
Birds
Not long after this, but after I went back in the house, I saw some movement near the base of the camphor tree and thought it might be a squirrel again. However, it was a bird! And not just any bird, but a Nuttall's woodpecker! (I have never seen this bird species in the complex before). It was dibbing around near the base of the tree, and kept pecking the trunk. I was upstairs and could still hear the pecking, although the bird was rather small and didn't seem to be using much force as it pecked.
I talked out loud about the colors and patterns on the bird, so I could remember them better when I checked my field guide, since when I first spied the bird, I had NO idea what type of woodpecker it was. Later, I checked my field guide and narrowed it down to three: Nuttall's woodpecker, ladder-backed woodpecker, or downy woodpecker, although the ladder-backed species is supposedly not found in Northern California. Anyhoo, then I did a Google image search on each of these three birds, and that clinched it -- it was a Nuttall's, which was my first guess after using the field guide anyway. :) Although I never really called myself a "bird-watcher", I've always enjoyed watching and identifying birds, so I guess I'm one after all!