Woodpecker Heaven

Posted on April 22, 2013 by joanienaz

The foothill country of the Sierra Nevada Mountains in California is woodpecker Heaven. The oaks and conifers are the big attraction here. We have been inundated by Acorn woodpeckers since our arrival last fall. They spent weeks pounding on the eaves of our cabin to store their winter food.

GV Nuttall's woodpecker

Last November I photographed this smaller woodpecker that stood out among all the others in the neighborhood. I misidentified it as a Downy. While viewing a number of photos posted on the Facebook page of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology today, six months later, I remembered my photo and realized that it is actually a Nuttall’s woodpecker. Notice the ladder back. What a great way to spend Earth Day: learning something new about the world around us.

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Pollen Pollen Everywhere

Posted on April 18, 2013 by joanienaz

My nose knows there is pollen in the air. And what good is pollen without some pollinators? While the wind doth blow, and sprinkle pollen not only on the business end of flowers but everywhere else as well, sometimes it needs a little help. I am always pleased to see bees going about their business, doing their part.

bee two

Every day I check the lavender bush near my front porch for buzzing insects. The bees are always there, busy as, well, you guessed it. Sometimes there is only one, but often there are several. They stand out nicely with their yellow trim against the pale violet flowers.

According to EarthSky, bees don’t see the same colors that we do. Colors look different to them, and they can see ultraviolet light as well. It helps them to find nectar in a flower. Just thought you should know!

bee four

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Ant Beauty

Posted on April 11, 2013 by joanienaz

Ants tend to show up in an army, with flags unfurled. They invade every crevice and surface of your kitchen, or any other place they feel at home. Sometimes they appear out of nowhere. You walk away from a sinkful of dirty dishes, and the next morning the food-encrusted plates and cups are animated by insects. On other occasions, one or two show up here and there, and you might ignore them. Don’t. You can never be sure there aren’t more on the way to join these scouts.

bathroom ant

The ants here in the Sierra foothills aren’t the puny ones we have out on the North Coast. These are hefty. They remind me of the ants of Southern California that used to bite me on the toes when I was a kid. I discovered one on the bathroom vanity the other night, and before I removed it (I won’t go into the details of its demise), I photographed it. It was a beautiful creature, don’t you think?

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A Poppy Paradise

Posted on March 30, 2013 by joanienaz

Sonoma County poppy

The poppy is the state flower of California, and a symbol of the good life. We have an ideal climate here. There is a lot to be thankful for in the way of natural resources and mild weather, not to mention beautiful scenery.

Sonoma County poppy 2

What could be more fitting than a celebration of the season that includes poppy portraits? These flowers are commonly seen along the side of the road, whether a single lane winding through the foothills or a massive interstate freeway. The poppy also shows up in fields, vacant lots, and sidewalk cracks.

Sonoma County poppy 3

A pretty determined survivor, it is among the first spring flowers to arrive. Hooray for Spring. Hooray for the California Poppy.

Sonoma County poppy 4

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The Not-so-plain Oak Titmouse

Posted on March 20, 2013 by joanienaz

In honor of the first day of spring, I sketched an Oak Titmouse, formerly know as the Plain Titmouse, from a photo I took last week here in the Sierra Nevada foothills, when the weather was warm and clear. Today it is raining, so I needed to remind myself that the birds in my yard will be back soon.

plain titmouse

This Titmouse is a dull gray bird, but the one that I found hopping around in a bare oak tree was animated and quite charming. It posed for me in an interesting way, so I will celebrate this not-so-boring bird as a harbinger of the season.

I seem to have reduced the size of the noggin of this big-headed bird, and it appears to be smiling a bit in my drawing. Please forgive the artistic license. Chalk it up to a case of Spring Fever.

plain titmouse

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What’s So Great About Egrets

Posted on March 11, 2013 by joanienaz

The Great Egret is one of my all-time favorite birds. It is both primitive and elegant. Like a giant raptor of ancient times, it rises over its aquatic habitat with majestic dignity and expansive wings. It stands guard at the water’s edge, a silent sentinel in its patient search for food.

egret in flight

I interrupted this bird as I drove past the pond where it was the only visitor. It settled down onto a nearby rock, and when I approached on foot too quickly, it flew away across an adjacent field. It was magnificent in flight!

egret profile

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North Coast Music

Posted on March 6, 2013 by joanienaz

It’s a blustery day here in Northern California as a cold storm with the promise of snow blasts through the area. So curl up with something warm wherever you are, and check out this indie band from Humboldt County. The banjo player is my son.

http://www.reverbnation.com/gunsafetheband

Gunsafephoto copyright Chuck Johnson

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A Pair of Bufflehead in the Pines

Posted on February 27, 2013 by joanienaz

This pair of wintering Bufflehead was diving and scooting around the pond at the Nevada County fairgrounds when I stopped to take a walk yesterday. I enjoyed watching them swim and dive for half an hour. They were moving around a lot faster than the Mallards and Canada Geese. There were a couple of other Buffleheads on the pond as well, but I noticed that they were staying on the opposite side of the pond, which was about fifty yards wide.

pair of buffleheads

In this photo you can see how very small these ducks are compared to this Canada Goose. They also have a large head relative to the size of their body. I think they are the cutest duck, and worthy of modeling for a child’s stuffed toy.

goose and bufflehead pair

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Bryant’s Savannah Sparrow at MacKerricher State Park

Posted on February 24, 2013 by joanienaz

My first love was the Pacific Ocean. Then I discovered the Sierra Nevada. So although I enjoy living in the foothills, I was thrilled to spend an afternoon along the coast last Sunday.

I spotted this Bryant’s Savannah Sparrow at MacKerricher State Park just north of Fort Bragg as we joined a number of others strolling the wooden walkway. It was a cool, breezy day, but mild for winter. The trails that lead down to the water and through the coastal grasslands from the parking lot near the campground were sprinkled with families enjoying the false spring.

Here is an interesting blog with a sketch of this bird that helped me to identify it. The sparrow was on the move. I was fortunate to capture it at the moment it paused.

sparrow

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A Snow Day in the California Foothills

Posted on February 19, 2013 by joanienaz

After spending the long weekend on the coast enjoying a false spring, we returned to the Sierra foothills in time for a day-long snow frenzy. After a rainy fall it’s been a dry winter, so the precipitation was welcome. I was hoping to wake up to snowflakes this morning, but it was just cold and gray. An icy rain was trying to amount to something and not quite succeeding, so I went back to bed.

By noon Sam called to say it was snowing like crazy a few miles away at the school where he teaches. Several inches of snow on the ground by early afternoon shortened the school day as students headed home before traffic got any worse on the steep, narrow, winding local roads. California snow is a big deal.

snow in pickup

Where we live southwest of town there were only flurries. I was disappointed until Sam arrived home with his truck bed lined in the fluffy white stuff. So of course I had to make a snowperson. I lugged buckets of snow to the front of the cabin and built my small but robust figure. What fun!

February snowoman

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