I was planning on writing about the butterflies and wildflowers in bloom but I had to postpone that blog due to some great visitors in our backyard in recent days. First, the White-headed Woodpecker. It is one of the woodpeckers birdwatchers hope to see when visiting our mountains. It's not a frequent visitor to our yard but it has enjoyed foraging for bugs the last few days in our big, old Black Oak Tree.
Another desired bird on the checklist is the beautiful, elusive Mountain Quail. They have been strangely absent from our yard for the last week... We are hoping that the delay is a result of new chicks not the numerous predators that are present on the mountain.
This little Steller's Jay chick did not look happy yesterday. Probably jumped the nest abit too soon...We were worried for its safety since it seemed quite alone and unable to fly very far. It hopped all thru our yard until it rested on this drainage pipe. After about an hour, 4 concerned adult Steller's Jays arrived. Two appeared to be on lookout duty while the other two guided this little one to the safety of underbrush with quiet little calls only a chick could understand.
Since moving to our new home, one of our goals has been to plant native wildflowers for the hummingbirds and butterflies. We have been warned to plant everything in gopher proof wire cages so they don't become lunch for a gopher. Although we have never seen a gopher, we followed that sage advice. Today, we saw our first little gopher emerge from the ground for a snack. Yeah, for gopher cages!
People always give well-meaning advice like check your boots for scorpions or black widow spiders before putting them on ...I have a new one. Check your gardening gloves for lizards before putting them on. We watched a curious lizard escaping the heat by crawling into a pair of our gloves that were removed momentarily..ha
Finally, the most exciting sighting occurred a few hours ago....A San Bernardino Mountain Kingsnake appeared in our yard. This was my very FIRST sighting of one in the wild! This harmless snake is the most colorful snake on the mountain and rarely seen. Wow! Be sure to look for surprises in your own backyard!
Click on photos to enlarge. Photos and content by Robin Roberts.
Click on photos to enlarge. Photos and content by Robin Roberts.
