Spring returnees

Yesterday, while out doing a site visit to the restoration sites at the former Unocal parcel (between Colima Rd. and Hacienda Blvd.), a flock of about 10 Violet-green Swallows blasted overhead, heading west along the spine of the hills. These are early-returning birds which winter in Mexico and nest in the local mountains (and throughout the West).

Also present along Arroyo San Miguel was a small group of Purple Finches, probably feeding in the recently-sprouted willows. I don't remember seeing one all winter in the hills, so these may have just moved in (or maybe I've just missed them).

Salamander season: open

While walking in Powder Canyon today with fellow Habitat Authority staffer Suzanne Avila, I mentioned that last week's heavy rains probably pushed some salamanders up to the surface. Flipping over my first piece of fallen oak bark revealed a tiny black-bellied slender-salamander curled up in its typical pretzel shape.

These worm-like amphibians (genus = Batrachoseps) are among the smallest vertebrates out there, and California boasts nearly all of the known species, from the garden slender-salamander you might find in your backyard if your property was never graded, to isolated races and even full species still being discovered in out-of-the-way spots in the southern Sierra Nevada.

Here in the Puente Hills, it's just the black-bellied (Batrachoseps nigriventris), which makes a living on shady, moist slopes under thick layers of leaf litter (mainly oak and toyon), though they do range into chaparral and even coastal sage scrub. During the summer and fall, it seems almost unbelievable that they're around, as the same dusty leaves crackle underfoot. But after a few good soaking rains, they emerge from inactivity to feed on slugs, spiders, and other tiny critters beneath slabs of bark or light rocks.

Of course, this is ecology, and everything's connected, so what eats them? Turns out it's a little snake, the ring-necked snake, a dark, slender (and totally harmless) serpent with a bright pink belly and a fondness for shady oak woodland.

What's in a towhee?

Coming into work today, I heard the distinctive, loud "chink" call of a California Towhee (pictured) from a yard behind the Habitat Authority office (downtown Whittier, near Washington and Mar Vista).

Towhees (all 3 species in California) are rarely found in urban habitats, though both the California and Spotted towhees are resident in the hilly neighborhoods around the Puente Hills. In the Hollywood area where I used to live, I almost never saw them south of Sunset Blvd., though small numbers are resident in an isolated population in the Baldwin Hills (north of LAX). In the San Gabriel Valley, where I grew up, I never saw one in my backyard, though they were resident at the overgrown grounds of an old mansion a few blocks away, and along the landscaped flood control of Eaton Wash.

All of our animal species exhibit some degree of tolerance to urbanization, from birds like Band-tailed Pigeons and crows that seem to favor built/planted areas, to those like the California Quail and the gnatcatchers which simply can't make it away from native vegetation. I think of the California Towhee as sort of intermediate in terms of sensitivity, and one that may respond very quickly to native plantings in backyards.

Still, I was surprised that this individual made it so far south into the "flats" of Whittier. I wonder if they make it south of Whittier Blvd., and if so, where?

Golden-crowned Kinglets - the invasion continues!

This fall has proven to be one of the most dramatic ones in recent years for several montane (mountain-dwelling) species in the lowlands of California.

Every few years, individuals of species normally found in the high mountains drift down to the lowlands, mainly living in planted pines for a few months before disappearing in early spring. Some, like the Mountain Chickadee, irrupt nearly every year, and are probably present more winters than they're absent (I had a small flock at the edge of the hills near Schabarum Park a couple weeks ago). Others, like the Golden-crowned Kinglet, are on a longer cycle, here in the lowlands every 3-5 years and totally absent otherwise.

So it was a nice surprise to find two of these kinglets this morning at The Park in La Habra Heights (along Hacienda Blvd. just north of East Rd.). Their calls are very faint, but distinctive once learned - a three-note "see-see-see", invariably coming from pines.

Based on sublte differences in calls and plumage, these montane invaders often represent Great Basin or Rocky Mountain forms (rather than nearby Sierra Nevada/Transverse Range ones) of the species involved, indicating that their irruptions are part of a larger, region-wide phenomenon when they occur; not just local birds moving down from Mt. Baldy or Lake Arrowhead. Indeed, one of the best places to see montane species like Red Crossbill and Red-breasted Nuthatch during these "invasion winters" is far out in the Mojave Desert, where ranchyards planted with Aleppo pines are the only trees for miles around. Here in the coastal lowlands, they often occur in Canary Island pines, which became hugely popular as street trees in the L.A. area in the 1960s.

Another weasel shot

Jeff Allison just forwarded me this photo of a weasel carrying a rodent at his house (in La Habra Heights). I wonder how common these things really are?

Eagle over Sycamore!

I was surprised to see a Golden Eagle soaring about midway up Sycamore Cyn. today around noon. Beautiful bird (immature, with a white base to the tail and white "flashes" in the wings), which really dwarfed the ravens that were harrassing it.

Have folks seen one around so far this fall? It's a semi-regular spot for them in late fall, probably owing to the extensive grassland up there and behind Rose Hills Cemetery. I wonder if they drift east along the corridor to forage at Powder Canyon or elsewhere.

Raptor migration in the hills

Yesterday while doing fieldwork in La Habra Heights, I was surprised to see a young Northern Harrier sail overhead. These hawks are uncommon migrants in the hills, and a handful may winter. They require large blocks of undeveloped grassland and low scrub, and not surprisingly, have very little habitat left in the Los Angeles Area. Ten years ago, we found them nesting in just one spot in the Puente-Chino Hills - a single pair in the wet grasslands of upper Tonner Canyon, visible from Grand Ave.

Wintering areas are now almost as scarce, and folks should let me know if they run across any this winter. Males are pale grayish above and clear white below, while females and especially first-year birds are brownish below. Both sexes have bright white rumps, which may be seen as they tilt back and forth.

In the same area of La Habra Heights, I also observed an Osprey circling, and then later in the afternoon, another first-year harrier over Turnbull Canyon. Late fall (October) is when hawk migration peaks through our area, and folks may be seeing increased numbers of raptors these days. They aren't being displaced by fires, but are just following well-worn pathways through the sky, heading southeast into Mexico.